Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Love's Labour's Lost to Lust


I want to write a monthly post in the form of a polemic against Cosmo Magazine... This was inspired by a casual bored skimming of the magazine, the most intellectually and morally bankrupt, slime-depositing skim of my life. I'm pretty convinced that Cosmopolitan magazine is symbolic of so much that is wrong with our culture. Who knows if I'll be able to keep it up month after month, or if I'll even need to? I suspect I might find that they've a shallow bag of tricks and recycled material not worth responding to... nevertheless I'm curious to see what comes of it.

Curious? Let me know if this is something interesting to you, or pretty irrelevant?
Read the "How Cosmo Changed the World" blurb from their website: 


Back in the 60's, young single women were enjoying a new level of freedom. For the first time, they were beginning to bust their butts in formerly male-dominated fields and explore premarital sex. But the phenomenon was still so new that no one was really talking about it.... Enter Helen Gurley Brown. In 1962, the just-married copywriter penned Sex and the Single Girl, a fictional book about a swinging singleton who was leading this new kind of life. Not only did the book tell women they didn't need a man to be happy, but it also encouraged them to enjoy sex with whomever they damn well pleased- without guilt.


Read the whole article on How Cosmo Destroyed the World here.
...This is just the tip of the smutberg.







4 comments:

DesiraƩ Rochelle said...

that just got me all sorts of fired up.

Becka_Bo said...

Wow.
If I disagree on moral bounds, I'm thrown into the category reserved for "prudes and conservatives." Or, I might redeem myself as a staunch (misinformed) feminist.

"The Cosmo girl absolutely loves men." Right - they just don't respect them. Women should "take the lead in relationships and in bed" and "enjoy sex with whomever they damn well [please] — without guilt." Sign me up for being treated this way...
Is this sounding very much like the newest version of "Down With Love" to anybody else but me? (Although, I sadly have to admit that the movie was - just barely - better written than this article.) The desire for women to control men - which is seen as a good thing in Cosmo being the "bible" for women - strikes a familiar chord about some verse in the Bible somewhere in Genesis...
Oh, I don't know - maybe Genesis 3:16.

I wonder where following the teachings of the Cosmo bible has lead women...oh yeah: in the never ending cycle to attract as many men as possible by appearing "sexy." And as aging naturally, unfortunately takes place...we have women getting boob jobs, botox treatments, ever-changing hair color, new purses, and "sexy" perfumes...all designed at attracting that man to her bed...
sign me up. I want to be empowered. (If sex is something to be so flippant about, then why are they working so hard to get it?)

"Sexy" is used 6 times on this page alone, "sexiest" is used twice, and I didn't even bother counting "sex." Interestingly enough, even though the article claims to be about women in the work force, I didn't see anything remotely listed about that among the topics of "Cover Under Eye Circles," "Cupcake Decorating," "Gifts for Boyfriend," "How to Turn Him On," or "75 Crazy-Hot Sex Moves." Maybe the idea is to "work" your way up the ladder of success by sleeping with your boss...(for tips on this, see article on "Sexy Lingerie for Your Shape" or "How to Attract Men.") I guess that's how you "score your dream job."

At the risk of sounding like a snob, the jargon here appeals not to women, but to junior highers. I don't want to be empowered as a "chick" or a "Cosmo girl."

Corrigan said...

Um... so where are the rest of these anti-Cosmo missives. I'm waiting!

Sebastian and the emerald Isle said...

2009 was the last time you Blogged out of anybody I know you have the ability and brain to blog! You really should! I loved this Idea so pick it up again! Love and miss you Loads!