The Cosmopolitan is an international magazine first published in 1886. It was originally known as ‘The family’ magazine giving advice and articles on cooking, fashion and issues on raising a family, however, it later emerged as a woman’s magazine in the late 60’s known as ‘cosmo’ giving advice on relationships and sex, health, careers, self improvement, celebrities and fashion and beauty. It is published by Hearst Corporation which is a privately held American based media conglomerate and currently has 58 international editions, is printed in 34 languages and is distributed in more than 100 countries.
Cosmopolitan came under fire in 1988 for posting an article about HIV aids, this caused uproar. Openly talking about sexual ideas has been explored further throughout the years and subsequently is now the main theme of the whole magazine. The topic of sex and beauty seems to be the main focus of the magazine which is used as a tool to target women.
Cosmopolitan’s front cover consistently depicts a famous celebrity sporting a fashionable outfit and styled in a way to make them look ‘fresh’ and ‘sexy’ this is to attract women, who wish to look like this, to buy the magazine. The celebrity would often be showing a lot of skin, this would therefore suggest that the editors are presenting these women as sexual objects. This is because women are fascinated with looking ‘good’ and ‘pleasing men.’ A lot of women are convinced with this idea as they see men believing that every woman is to look like those they see in magazines. So, by making this visible on the front cover, that Cosmo is the magazine to offer advice on how to make you feel good about yourself, women are more likely to buy the magazine which ultimately boosts Cosmo’s profits. The front cover furthers draws attention; pasted all over the front cover are numerous ways on how to ‘please men in bed’ and how to ‘look good for your man’. This further supports the idea of women being seen as sex objects and women wanting men to see them as sex objects.
There has been an explosion of pornography on the internet which has cast women as sexual objects and feminists have argued that this now is the dominant collective identity for women in the media. Case studies of Cosmo underline the fact that women are treated as sex objects in women’s magazines. Although the women are covered up, one could argue that “Male Gaze” theory still applies because the women are portrayed as predominantly young, fresh and quite sexualized in their appearance.
Feminist critics argue that this is a backward step and that young women are increasingly seeing their bodies as being sexual objects for men.
Cosmo also offers fashion advice, this usually consist of affordable, high street brand clothes, these further appeals to women when viewing them as a collective identity. There is no escaping the topic of the credit crunch on the news, so by offering an affordable way to ‘please the one you love’ Cosmo offers this. In particular Cosmo website offers everything from your own views on what is the latest ‘trend’ to the latest fashion news to ‘what’s hot’ in the shops. This generates a wider female audience as it caters for most people’s wants. If they need advice on what is the latest fashion or if they simply want to rate the looks Cosmo provides it.
Beauty is also another extremely important factor for a woman which is why Cosmo’s website provides everything to do with it, from hair makeover classes to what makeup is the best for less money. However, Cosmo also offers a service on a completely different media platform including makeover videos in which those who wish to know what the experts think or how to professionally apply makeup can simply watch online. This means they can target their audience form every area, those who wish to read about it or even watch it online which means they can be linked with Cosmo magazine everywhere they go.
Continuing on from looking at the Cosmopolitan website the adverts also help to portray women as a collective identity. For instance, the main focal and only advertisement on the website is an advert for losing weight and joining a dieting club. This is stereotypically a topic in which every woman discusses sometime in their life. This seemingly suggests that Cosmopolitan, again, targets their audience in a way that would help to sell the magazine. In regards to collective identity they have placed the advert on here to try and attract as many women as they possibly can.
In regards to the future, women’s magazines seem to be moving predominantly in one direction and that is the area of ‘soft porn’ or extremely sexual pictures. It seems that the boundaries of what is acceptable are becoming more lenient with pictures being placed in magazines that would have been totally unacceptable and taboo twenty years ago or even earlier. This seems to suggest that women, as a collective identity are being seen as more sexualized which will only continue.
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