Magazine makes fun of cancer survivor's tutu

SELF Magazine 'shames' fad in article about running in tutus

SAN DIEGO, Calif. – A runner and cancer survivor says she was snubbed by a popular women's fitness magazine after they used a photo of her running in a tutu to make fun of the latest fashion trend. 

Monika Allen, a San Diego resident, says she was excited to see an email from SELF Magazine asking for permission to use a photo of her running the LA Marathon in an upcoming issue. She was dressed as Wonder Woman and wearing a tutu.

Allen, a brain cancer survivor, was running the LA Marathon to bring awareness to the cancer. The race fell in the middle of her chemotherapy treatments, and she said the outfit gave her motivation to run.  

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When the April issue came out, Allen was stunned and offended to see that the photo was actually used to shame runners who run in tutus in a section of the magazine called "The BS Meter" that said in part: "People think these froufrou skirts make you run faster. Now, if you told us they made people run away from you faster, maybe we would believe it."

"I feel like we were misled in providing the picture. Had I known how the picture was going to be used, I wouldn't have wanted to send it," she said to NBC 17 in San Diego.

Social media sites caught wind of the story, and exploded. Runners have been posting photos of themselves running in tutus, and publicly announcing that they are canceling their subscriptions to SELF Magazine.

"I am personally mortified," Self Editor in Chief Lucy Danziger told USA TODAY. "I had no idea that Monika had been through cancer. It was an error. It was a stupid mistake. We shouldn't have run the item."

The increase of attention to Allen's Facebook page, Glam Runner, has been growing significantly. Glam Runner has been created as a fund raising effort for Girls on the Run San Diego.

Allen said she emailed SELF Magazine on Tuesday night, and as of today she has not received a response back.