Since its initial magazine launch in 1886, Cosmopolitan magazine has been one of the most widely known content platforms geared towards women. Growing up, I was not allowed to read Cosmopolitan because my Mom thought it was too adult and raunchy. While flipping through it at the grocery store I did not really realize what I was really even seeing. My Mom was right, historically, Cosmopolitan has focused on some subjects that are normally considered taboo.
Previously, Cosmopolitanâs content mainly focused on female self-improvement and tips. The caveat to this âimprovementâ is that it is intended for a man’s enjoyment. Most articles are along the lines of âlose weight to keep your man,â or âdifferent ways to please your guy,â these articles are geared towards answering questions that women often ask, but are written with the intention of teaching the women to change themselves for someone else. The verbiage is also often derogatory towards the women themselves.
These articles prey on female insecurity and while they are intended to be helpful, they are primarily intended to just be read. The more clicks and magazines sold further enforce the narrative to Cosmopolitan that this sort of content sells and needs to be further replicated.
In a study conducted analyzing the content on the Cosmopolitan website in the past, it is highlighted that âthere are three overarching themes that emerged under the section on Lust. They are: (a) womenâs responsibility for the manâs sexual pleasure, (b) womenâs responsibility for her sexual pleasure, and (c) the coupleâs responsibility for their sexual pleasure.â When combing through a lot of these articles, while the overarching theme of these articles is evident, they are definitely skewed more heavily towards encouraging women to alter their lifestyles for men.
âCosmopolitan has been a resource for millions of readers, providing information/advice on contemporary male/female relationships and sexuality⊠Findings indicate that women are consistently receiving stereotypic messages about relationships. One of the main messages women received about relationships was that they were responsible for changing men and themselves in order to improve and maintain couple relationships.â
Gupta, Zimmerman, & Fruhauf
Now more recently, there has been a stark pivot from this original and antiquated content from Cosmopolitan. The current Cosmopolitan website now not only provides advice for relationships and women written in a more empowering lens, but there are now individually denoted sections for topics regarding fluid sexualities, the LGBTQ+ communities, and race.
These articles are now written with the goal of empowering and liberating women with titles regarding âsex after 60â and âhereâs what the term âqueerâ really meansâ, highlighting the expansion into more inclusive content.
Beyond the realm of sex and relationships that is expected of Cosmopolitan, the website now also includes career advice, voter information, and personal op-eds catered towards women. The website now includes a large variety of content that further enforces the pivot away from the prior impression of Cosmopolitan as a male-gaze-centered platform to a platform for women and by women.
Not having a lot of experience with Cosmopolitan before looking through the current website, when comparing it to writing samples of previous articles or what I remembered seeing as a kid, Cosmopolitan has definitely taken leaps and bounds towards creating a more inclusive and female-driven platform to educate and inspire. And while I was not a reader before, the vast variety of content provided on the website as well as the magazine makes me interested in really seeing what Cosmopolitan has to offer.