Does anyone agree that Cosmopolitan is offensive?

Dudess

Well? Would you not prefer this magazine aimed at young women to be informative and interesting rather than jam-packed with tips on how to be a ditzy gender stereotype?
I happened to glance at a review of The Tudors recently and it actually opened with something like "We weren't too interested in a historical drama about King Henry VIII but when we saw the smouldering Jonathan Rhys-Myers without his shirt we leapt to attention!"

I mean, really... That sh*t depresses me.

watna

I haven't read Cosmo in years. I found all the sex stuff a bit much. You know, all that "Sex with your boss - fun and frolics at work" and "31 positions for a raunchy month" . I'm tired. I want to put my jammies on when I go home from work and watch Grey's Anatomy of Family Guy downloads. I don't have the energy to keep up with cosmo and the sex lives we're supposed to lead!

star-pants

I can't really say because I've barely read it. Maybe the odd glance or two if I'm bored and someone has it / in a waiting room. I don't buy magazines as they're usually full of stuff I don't care about.
But based on what you said about the review, that sounds stupid. They should advertise Mills & Boon.

topper75

Doesn't matter if you are male or female - being dumb is always 'cool', not being smart. Being smart only makes others feel uncomfortable. Being dumb means you can be everyone's friend. Cosmo have to sell magazines.

Marksie

watna wrote: »

I haven't read Cosmo in years. I found all the sex stuff a bit much. You know, all that "Sex with your boss - fun and frolics at work" and "31 positions for a raunchy month" . I'm tired. I want to put my jammies on when I go home from work and watch Grey's Anatomy of Family Guy downloads. I don't have the energy to keep up with cosmo and the sex lives we're supposed to lead!

LOL, they dont know what they are talking about for a start.

But it was even longer ago that i read it (1990-1992)when someone brought it into work and it juts put men down all over the place.

It was so bad we christened it "man haters monthly"

the woman who brought it in WAS negatively affected by it. Everything guys did was taken in a poor light.

xzanti

Sure there's nothing in it, it's just all ads

Crumble Froo

can't really say. remember picking up my mate's sister's cosmo a few years ago, and found it quite entertaining. though, like desperate housewives, i found myself laughing more at it, than with it. i'd be worried about anyone who took it seriously.

LadyJ

Don't ask me, I'm just a girl!

citytillidie

I think that mag should be treated like lad mags like loaded. You hear all these female politicians in England trying to ban these lad mags because of the sexual content, however Cosmopolitan is never mentioned. I think its just as bad.

Crumble Froo

but lads mags have good articles.

Marksie

Crumble Froo wrote: »

but lads mags have good articles.

I dont know if this particular bon mot is appropriate so delete if not:

It was on the subject of womens mags:

Cosmo will teach you how to have an orgasm
Marie Clare will teach you to have an orgasm with style
Womens own will teach you how to knit one

Crumble Froo

what about women's way? or bella? can't remembe rwhich one, but one of them told me about someone who ended up on disability benefit cos she mangled her limbs twisting into too many sex positions. i think it makes for some important reading...

Archeron

LadyJ wrote: »

Don't ask me, I'm just a girl!

Lets sort out all our problems with a big bowl of strawberry ice cream.

Dizzyblonde

The thing that concerns me most about Cosmo is the legions of women out there who take it seriously!

Dizzyblonde

Archeron wrote: »

Lets sort out all our problems with a big bowl of strawberry ice cream.

ROFLPMP :D

WindSock

Archeron wrote: »

Lets sort out all our problems with a big bowl of strawberry ice cream.

I wish they taught shopping in school.


I just don't buy those mags. I'll flick through them if I am in a waiting room.

jam_mac_jam

It's not offensive just stupid really, what is far worse is the likes of Now, hello etc but they have a much higher readership. At least cosmo is funny and escapism the other ones are much worse Oh look at posh she is only two stone what a great person. Cosmo is mostly harmless silly magazine for silly girls, how is that offensive, its not really harming anyone.

Rob_l

Not one of the ladies here will admit to reading and buying these mags Hmmmmmmmmm

Dudess

Wouldn't buy it unless you paid me a substantial amount, and then it would go into the recycling bin. But I have flicked through it in waiting-rooms or at friends' houses. Although I've even stopped doing that now.
jam_mac_jam, I have to disagree. I think sending out signals on how to be a bint is offensive.
And yeah there is a vibe going on in there of "if you don't have a sex life like Samantha in Sex and the City you're a loser". I bet there are plenty of vulnerable 19-year-old girls whose bible it is and who feel seriously inadequate.

Marksie, I'm surprised there was so much negative stuff in it about men back then. It seems to scream to me of "you HAVE to get a man, you HAVE to get a man!"
It has notions of being all about empowerment, when in reality it just panders to the male ideal of female sexuality.

Oh, and in keeping with the spirit of things: "Thinking too much gives you wrinkles..."

Maple

Don't read it. Don't buy any of those girly magazines, lots of superficial content about bagging a man, getting rid of a man, holding on to your man, keeping your man happy, how to eat chocolate and never gain an ounce, wrap yourself in clingfilm every night to ensure peach smooth skin so as not to lose your man. Blah blah blah.

They're crap. And out of 200 pages of trivial bs, there'll be one "serious" article about the dangers of plastic surgery or something like that.

IF i do buy a magazine, its one of those Chat/Take a break ones. They're fascinating. There's a whole other life form of mad people out there, its like Jerry Springer in print. They reassure me that i'm not actually that mental.

Lil' Smiler

Ah now I wouldn't say offensive, it seems to be tailored towards girly girls mostly.


I;m not bothered with it, won't waste my money on those magazines where they're just full of pages ads for breast implants at the back and all throughout pages and pages of the latest styles from the catwalk that are atrocious

they cost too much money for something that has so little in it. if i get a magazine i like to read the stuff in it not have loads and loads of pictures

watna

My name is watna, but you can call me woo woo!

I do think Dudess has a point, not about the thinking too much gives you wrinkles part but about females feeling inadequate! I bet a lot of 18 and 19 year olds do feel like they're losers for not being like the women in Cosmo, or even more dangerously they sleep around loads to try and obtain the cosmo ideal of raunchy sexy females with 12 orgasms a day etc, and in the process endangering themselves or giving themselves low self esteem. I think most girls are smart enough to know not to take it seriously but in the last few months I've met a seriously large amount of girls you seem emotionally years younger then they should be. One is my bf's sister, who is 16 and acts like a 10 year old. She's been getting herself in terrible trouble recently because she thinks she should be out drinking and sleeping around when she's not mature enough for it. It's these kinds of girls I think magazines affect.

Or even worse, has anybody ever read More magazine? It's the one with the position of the fortnight?

Dudess

Yeah, More!'s appalling too. I remember flicking through it when I was 13 and thinking "I'm actually more mature than some of the idiots here" and its target readership is 18 to 24.

Baudelaire

Can't say I read any of them, I generally buy Focus (as implied before, I'm a nerd ) I wouldn't be able to maintain enough concentration to get through some silly bint article, what I do know though is whats even worse is their "Rate your sexlife/man/hairstyle yadda yadda" quizes, like who the fcuk takes that crap seriously? :rolleyes: I'd agree that they probably are a bad influence on 19 year old bimbo's but all it'll take is about her 6th failed relationship and she'll most likely cop on that those type of mags talk utter sh1te and get a real life and log on here and complain about her ex's

Lil' Smiler

Oh More magazine... god!! Picked it up in the hairdressers a while ago

Ya gotta love those quizzes with the blocks and then the arrows pointing to a decision depending on which answer you chose

"is your man cheating on you?"... ha ha imagine going to you boyfriend, here are you cheating on me? and he asks where you get that idea from.. "well, i did a quiz in More magazine and it said that you were"

hmm.... so much sh1te in those mags!!

aonfocaleile

I used to buy Cosmo but I gave up on it about a year ago. Full of ads and pictures of 14 year old models wearing clothes supposedly targeted at women (as opposed to the pre-pubescent kids pictured). Its not relevant to my life so I generally don't bother with magazines anymore, other than Phoenix.

LadyJ

I guess the real problem is that Cosmo is just responding to a society of teenagers who (for the most part) want to read about how to make themselves more attractive to the opposite sex and how to know if their bf is just a bf or really a bff!

If a magazine was published that had articles like "How to keep your self-respect" instead of "How to please your man" then sales would drop I'd imagine. Young women these days seem to want a quick fix for everything. They seem to live to impress men and teaching them self-worth is not something a magazine can do. It has to be instilled in them from day one. You learn what you live and if you have that kind of mindset to begin with (steady and secure, with plenty of self-respect etc) then a magazine won't change it. If not then Cosmo certainly won't help you obtain it.

Dudess

The "do we create the media or does the media create us" debate is a difficult one. I don't know the answer.
But LadyJ, while teens read Cosmo, women in their 30s do too - that's the really grim part. And it's not actually aimed at teens. There's Cosmo Girl for that - shudder to think what its content comprises...

Crumble Froo

watna wrote: »

I think most girls are smart enough to know not to take it seriously but in the last few months I've met a seriously large amount of girls you seem emotionally years younger then they should be.

i was about to ask if any of them were kiwis...

One is my bf's sister, who is 16 and acts like a 10 year old. She's been getting herself in terrible trouble recently because she thinks she should be out drinking and sleeping around when she's not mature enough for it. It's these kinds of girls I think magazines affect.

sounds very familiar. *thinks of some very specific people here*

very very very familiar.

LadyJ

Dudess wrote: »

But LadyJ, while teens read Cosmo, women in their 30s do too - that's the really grim part. And it's not actually aimed at teens. There's Cosmo Girl for that - shudder to think what its content comprises...

I know what you mean but silly girls can just as easily grow into silly women. My point is that no, Cosmo is not a good influence but I would be more worried about it's influence on girls/women who are already insecure rather than those who have been brought up with enough support not to feel the need to go out and sleep around etc.

I guess it just depends on the person but learning self-worth starts at a young age and it will give kids a strong foundation for the future, one that a magazine can't shake.

If, however, this learning has not occurred then Cosmo and the like can probably do quite a bit of damage.

IvyTheTerrible

There are so many things wrong with Cosmo. Too expensive for a magazine half full of ads. Takes itself too seriously. It pretends to be for "independent women" yet it's full of articles about how to get/please/keep your man. Also, as other posters have mentioned, it really isn't good for impressionable teenagers (I mean, have you seen the confessions section - "I met some randommer in the lift/plane/etc and just decided to f*** him there and then"). :rolleyes:

I prefer something silly like Now that doesn't pretend to be something it's not!