Cosmo Magazine Not Helping the Problem

 Cosmopolitan magazine prides itself on being a magazine for a women by women. However that couldn't be further from the truth. Women should spend time uplifting each other and making each other better however cosmopolitan prides itself much like the beauty industry by telling women in order to succeed in love, sex, friendships and life over all  they have to read this magazine or buy this product.  Cosmopolitan magazine commonly known as Cosmo magazine has been selling women dreams and sex for almost as  long as its been around. It's crass, classless headlines draw its readers in every single time. Not to mention putting some of the teen sensations and role models for young girls in skimpy clothing with headlines that read "HIS BEST SEX EVER".  Now I don't know about you but I would hate to see my little sister, niece or my daughter fawning after these unrealistic body imagine goals that Cosmopolitan promotes as well as its various sex goals and tips right on the cover. Even grown women are prone to feeling inadequate after reading some of these articles and seeing this women dressed according to  Victoria Hearst one woman advocating to have Cosmo  pulled from the shelves and even goes as far as to say it's covers rival Playboy Magazine in this article.  Below is just one controversial magazine cover from Cosmo with 17 year old actress Dakota Fanning looking stunning on a cover embedded with several sexually explicit headlines.

Aside from its controversial cover the substance of cosmopolitan magazine is hardly as intellectually stimulating as its competitors such as Vogue and Glamour. The primary focus of Cosmo is sex tips and tricks, beauty tips and tricks, how to get the guy articles  and of course the interview with whoever is on the cover. Below are a few articles pulled directly from the magazine.

Now if sex tips, oversexualized women, unrealistic body goals, and 10 ways to get him to ask you out for coffee is your cup of tea then Cosmo is for you. However as someone who likes a  lot more substance and a lot less self help and sex tips I'd make a a hard pass on Cosmopolitan. If you want to learn about all the over evils of Cosmo here are some more articles to check out.

Cosmo's False Promises

Cosmo Selling Women Short 

#FoodPorn

In advertising, we are told that sex sells, which I guess is true when we think about clothes, perfume, cologne,makeup, and jewelry. However, when it comes to food, how is that sexy? How is sex helping sell a food product?  As american's we sexualize everything all in the name of Sex sells. If sex sells why are we only seeing sexy women in these food commercials? There are very few commercials that have sexy men eating burgers or drinking soda. Women have been used as a method of selling products for men since the dawn of time.  

Sex sells to men obvious way of a sexy woman eating a burger but sex sells to women as well in these same advertisements. Women look at these ads and say if I drink Pepsi like Cindy Crawford ill be sexy like her too. Ad's affect everyone everyone whether you believe it or not. There are people that sit in a room that make sure you do. The bigger question isn't why does sex sell, its why is America So comfortable sexualizing EVERYTHING? Food is supposed to be food, it's not supposed to be sexy.

These are the ad's our kids see everyday, these are ad's that are embedded into the minds of the kids who want these products. Girls are given this unrealistic expectation of they can eat all these unhealthy things and still be thin like the model devouring the burgers, and men expect women to be able to evoke the same sexual emotions they get from eating Nutella, in the bedroom, more unrealistic expectations for women to live up to thanks to these sexy food commercials. What message are we really sending here? The answer unfortunately that sex is associated with everything because it does in fact sell.

  

Bad Bitch?

The word bitch has been apart of our culture for so long and much like the word queer it originally had a negative connotation behind it. Also like the word Queer and the LGBTQ community women everywhere are getting in front of the word bitch and using it to empower themselves or compliment one another. Bitch used to be one of the most demeaning things you could call a woman  but now the terms "Bad Bitch" "Head Bitch In Charge" (HBIC)  and "my bitch" are changing the stigma or at least they think they are.

The re-branding of the word bitch first surfaced in the 90's according to an article on Vice.com exploring the evolution of the word. Now there is nothing in my opinion, wrong with stripping the word of its negative meaning and re-branding it as something completely different. The problem i have and the problem I believe more women should have is the fact that the more negative meaning of the word still flourishes dimming the shine of the rebranded word. A vast amount of people continue to use the word as way of putting women down and as an insult to men.  Women can call another woman they don't like a bitch and there will likely be a fight but those same women can post instagram pictures like the this one

and get  hundreds of likes.  Where is the line? Where is the line with the word Bitch, just like with the word Queer and the "N" word. Who is allowed to say it and who isn't? How do we know when its being used positively or not?

The Music community I think plays a really big role in the word as a whole. Some of the most popular female artists like Nicki Minaj, Trina and even Brittney spears have tried to get in front of the word and make it mean something positive for women, but for every positive reference there's twice as many negative ones out there eating up the limelight. Rappers specifically continue to use the word to objectify and degrade women; in a world where women are trying to wash the negativity away this is not helpful. Some of the very people who are trying to empower women through the use of the word still continue to use it in a derogatory way in their music and everyday life. The solution to the problem should be much like the solution for the N word: NO ONE SHOULD USE IT. However we all know it's not that simple, everyone use the word Bitch whether in a positive light or a negative one, the word gets used no matter what. The question of whether or not the word is empowering women or not, well that just depends on who you ask.