Rant about Cosmopolitan Mag.

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-19-2003
Rant about Cosmopolitan Mag.
13
Sat, 11-25-2006 - 10:43pm

So I'm on a business trip and I decided to run a bath and flip through a Cosmo I picked up on the way here and unwind. I used to subscribe but cancelled cause I got sick of all the sex articles. Well, I noticed one more totaly annoying trend that is truely making me consider writing to the editor myself: the whole magazine appears to cater exclusively to coupled women or women who are in serious relationships.

I kid you not, page after page is yet another article about pleasing the man in your life.

Cover stories: 4 Facts Men Wish Their Girlfriends Knew, How to Keep Your Guy Totally Turned on by You, The Sexiest Things to do After Sex. There's a special section call Man Manual with the article, How to Tell if He's Into You and on nearly every single page is a reference to a boyfriend:

p.22 The Big O: find some of your favorites
p.30- Reading his body language
p.64- Guy Spy: Will your chemistry sizzle or fizzle?
p.66- His Point of View: he hates when you nag about...
p.70 Cosmo for your Guy
p.123 Couples How to Bond Across the Miles
p.124 Cosmo's Most Creative Sex Positions
p.128 What Smart Girlfriends Never Do
p.132 CopyCat Couples
p.136 How things to try after Sex
p.144 Love and Lust: Ask him Anything (couples Q&A)
p.148 Bedroom Blog
p.171- 10 Signs you Need a Vacation (with photo of a women draped on top of a man gazing at him lovingly)
p.180 How to Scare off a Man Eater
p.201 The Hottest Couples Spa Treatments
p.206 Cosmo Weekend- You & Him
p.224- Red Hot Read- Tis the Season for Seduction

Not to mention nearly every pic or photo features a woman with a man. This is the Dec. 2006 issue and it left me feeling like everyone must be coupled up but me.

I really think they should feature more single-friendly content and maybe some features on what its like to have never been in a relationship, to be 30+ and single, to be perpetualy dateless or meeting only the wrong guys and how to cope when you aren't getting any sex, having to deal with long-term singleness and can't get a date to save your life. I know tons of women facing this and I know we can't be that unusual. I'm just so sick of seeing all these images of women couples up like it is really that daggone easy to "snag a man"or like most of us have one.

So I was thinking of writing up something with these examples to the 'You Tell Us' editorial section. What do you think? Will it just make me seem like a bitter, angry single or is there something to be said here?

I mean I know plenty of beautiful, successful, well educated, fun loving women who haven't had boyfriends or real relationships in years. Where are our articles???

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iVillage Member
Registered: 11-13-2006
Sat, 11-25-2006 - 11:37pm

They are practically non-existent. I think it would be a good idea for you to write to them on that because yes, most of their articles are oriented to coupled women and how to make their relationship and themselves better for it (superficially). It is very superficial and that's why it sells.

Women will buy those magazines until the cows come home for any little question, and these companies know the range of questions to publish each time to get attention from almost anyone. It's what sells. This doesn't mean that single women don't want to read articles about themselves, these magazines just don't see them as loyal customers who will buy them repeatedly. And besides, married people and those who are coupled generally get more respect from society than those who are single.

Go For It!

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-25-2004
Sun, 11-26-2006 - 6:52am
being that the number of single women in the population has increased over the last several decades and the number of single women buying homes is also increasing, you should write a letter to the editor. unmarried women are not some sad little group on the outskirts of society anymore. we have powerful jobs-- ie, oprah, martha stewart-- and we live full lives (according to some married friends of mine I have an amazing life that they envy). i think a lot of single women are mistaken to be "failures" on the marriage front and therefore, do not have any issues to be addressed other than, how can we fix their marriage situation. to the contrary i say-- in a lot of cases single women are the ones who haven't settled for the wrong man, which many, many married women do.
I think there should be a magazine specifically for single women-- that not only have articles about dating (with titles-- how to avoiding settling for the wrong man like your married friends), but about home buying, adopting, all sorts of articles that are geared to our lifestyle. there are enough famous single women out there for the covers.
Avatar for cl_shywon
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-20-2003
Sun, 11-26-2006 - 10:39am

I think it's a great idea!

Avatar for cfk_3
iVillage Member
Registered: 05-14-1999
Sun, 11-26-2006 - 3:53pm

I have never understood why women read those magazines. I have always detested them. Then again, some people hate the rag mags such as People and Us. I used to be completely addicted to those!

You should definitely write in! On a side note, I wonder how a single women's magazine would fare? It seems like a really novel idea! It seems like there used to be a poster among us who worked for a women's magazine. Maybe it was another board.




Edited 11/26/2006 7:52 pm ET by bbw_26
iVillage Member
Registered: 05-19-2003
Sun, 11-26-2006 - 6:33pm

Ooh! Thanks for the link. When I get back home, I'm going to write something more cohesive and submit it. I don't think they have really thought about the single chicks. And while I've read in othe rmags about the impowered single chick who is single by choice, what about those that aren't, who are still looking and can't find him, that worry about whether they'll ever marry and raise children. We are everywhere.

And kudos on the new man. Hope things progress.

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-01-2005
Sun, 11-26-2006 - 7:15pm

I'm with Shy. Even as an attached person, I think that mag is a complete rag. I havent honestly read it since high school. I just cant handle it, its too much about "pleasing him" and nothing of substance for a woman.

I'm going to sound old for my age, and I cant stand the woman or her tv show but I really like the Oprah magazine. She has really good articles, good celebrity interviews and real women advice about everything and not just sex. When sex is talked about it, its realistic and useful, not at all like the other mags. My other favorite is Marie Claire. Sort of like Cosmo or Glamour but not as bad and with decent articles.

You can send an email in but I'm sure it wont matter except to make you feel better. Sex sells and it works for Cosmo. They market towards younger girls and women, where the concern IS all about a man.

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iVillage Member
Registered: 08-16-2005
Mon, 11-27-2006 - 8:37am
Cosmo is a ridiculous magazine. Try just switching to a better magazine. Marie Claire is one that I would recommend. It has some great articles about real things that affect women and not just "how to win him in 10 easy steps" I think Cosmo lost all credibility years ago, I consider it kind of trashy and only buy it when I want a trashy magazine like Star.

Smile,

Deirdre

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-16-2006
Mon, 11-27-2006 - 8:47am
wow i can't believe there are so many articles in ONE issue that all relate to boyfriends. i don't read cosmo anymore but that still kind of annoys me. i think you definitely should write a letter. i thought the magazine was supposed to be for strong, independent, smart women?
iVillage Member
Registered: 04-29-2003
Mon, 11-27-2006 - 9:56am

Hi, Shywon. It doesn't surprise me in the least that when you searched for a link to Cosmo, a link to Ivillage came up. Ivillage too, seems to be all about having babies and chasing men, at least from the banner and pop up ads, that I am inundated with every time I come on here. also, I get tired of the same kinds of links to articles in Ivillage that Cosmo has, all about "him" etc. I happened upon a couple of sites for women, not geared to "him" (the pursuit of and/or the pleasing of "him") and it is such a nice change not to be bombarded with banner ads and links to articles about things that are just not what I am chasing in my life right now. Go figure, these other womens' websites---their message boards are interesting but very SLOOOOOW as far as people posting very often.

I haven't EVER taken Cosmo magazine seriously. I think I have them so tuned out that I don't even notice them while standing in line at the stores.

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-26-2004
Tue, 11-28-2006 - 11:34am

It's too true - everything about Cosmo is related to the utopian ideal of the heterosexual couple. Occasionally yes, there are some features that do address the single woman, but, most of the time articles takes the stance on how to find the perfect guy.
But is there such a thing as a 'perfect' guy, insomuch as a thing like the 'perfect' girlfriend?

Secondly - even though the magazine usually has one or two articles regarding how to boost your self-esteem, rarely does it have an article about the importance of self-love. It takes more than just smiling and saying compliments to yourself in the mirror. Knowing how to please yourself and recognizing the sexual life energy within is crucial to self-esteem, in my opinion. And, once knowing the sexual you, the better you become in expressing those needs in a relationship with open communication. It also means being happy with one's body with all goodness and its faults - and how can we not compare ourselves when the woman on the cover is a scantilly-clad hollywood stick figure ready to reveal to you her latest tip to sexually seduce men?

I used to read cosmo when I was younger - and used to think the tips on how to turn on men were important in making me a good lover; until I found one suggested "guaranteed satisfaction" position extremely difficult to do with my guy who was over 6 feet tall (me being 5'2"). I found that communication was a lot better for great sex.

I say go for it. write to the editor.

or better yet, let's all read a good, fiction novel.

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