All magazines have their flaws, but there is one magazine I feel that speaking as a woman is very flawed, this magazine is Cosmopolitan Magazine. Let me explain a few of the problems I have:
- Any and all articles which discuss sex only discuss heterosexual sex, with an emphasis on pleasuring your man. Where are the articles for female (maybe even male) readers who do not engage in heterosexual sex? Where are the articles that discuss pleasuring the woman as opposed to the man?
- There are many articles which feature sections such as how to score a man – again there is the suggestion by this magazine that only heterosexual women read this magazine.
- The list can continue based on any given issue.
One of the biggest problems I have had with Cosmopolitan Magazine comes from the March 2011 Vol.250, No.3 issue. The article in question is entitled “101 Things About Men” and it features a poll entitled “Why Guys Deserve Sex…According to Them” on page 61. The poll came about after the trending topic #sheowesmesexif gained popularity on the social networking site Twitter. Cosmopolitan Magazine does say they want to see a Twitter craze of “#hedeservesakickintheballsif” but then they continue to list responses from men as to why men feel entitled to sex. It is absolutely disgusting for a magazine to print reasons why men feel they are entitled to sex, because the reality is NOBODY is entitled to sex no matter what they think. An article such as this simply reinforces the rape myths that society loves to cling to when a woman is raped or assaulted.
I myself have never been raped or assaulted, but I have worked in a setting with women who have, and an article such as this one is truly damaging to a survivor of rape or assault. We need to have empowering articles for women in magazines, not articles which could damage a woman’s self worth. One thing I am thankful for is that I did not purchase this magazine, because had I done so I would not be able to stomach the fact that my monetary contributions would allow such a distasteful article to be published.
After reading this article I was reminded of my very first women’s studies class in my first semester of my first year: 53-100 Women in Canadian Society. In this course we were introduced to the feminist Jean Kilbourne whose work focuses on women in advertising, and then we had to prepare a group project which examined women in advertising. By the time the course ended, I found myself thinking “I will never ever purchase or read another magazine” and for the most part I have done a good job. I believe that this is my feminism shining through and shedding light on what to accept and what to reject. Back in high school I had a yearly subscription to Teen People, and looking back at those issues now all I can think is “why did I allow myself to read such garbage?!”
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