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# Patrick McEvoy-Halston
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English207lF0l
Dr. Blank
17 November 2004

ChristmasComesEarly: My Time With CosmopolitanMagazine

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Cosmopolitanis a glamour/lifestylemagazine.(Its\targetaudienceappearsto be mostly-

but not exclusively-white, career,middle class,heterosexualwomen who like to imagine

themselves(and hopefully are!) as fun, fearless,and downright fabulous.Ctlgtrttnted in New

^Q to
York and is publishedmonthly at $4.99 Canadian.($is 8" by 11" in size,and is approximately

300pagesin length.Fontbpe andsizevuffi throughout.Mostpagesareglossy,andhave

large, brightly coloured fonts to grab your attention and interest. Indeed, there are bright, bold

colours to be seenthroughout the magazine-especially pink, red, blue and orange. The

mostly for beautyproducts.

magazinebeginswith fifteen straightpagesof advertisements,

Advertisementsthereafterfeaturethe sameas well as alcohol, cigarettes(Camel),hair products,

perfume andjewellery. Advertisementsare lively, colourful and portray attractive women

looking either satisfied,delightedor sexually aroused. Toward the end, and as the magazine

beginsto featuremore articleson women's health,different productsare featured: we get

tampax, birth control and cold sore advertisements. Some of the advertisementsalso feafure

productsostensiblyfor men (men's cologne,for example).

The magazinehas severalphoto spreads.One featuresboyish looking half nakedmen

(skippedthat one). One featuresa sensuous,ostensiblygenteelyoung woman clad in lace,

corsets,and other seductivewear'(ponderedover this awhile). Another featuresa handsome

goup of peopleout at the cabin (threegirls, two guys: delved into this one). Though images

predominate,thereis quite a bit of text as well, including articlesaboutpleasingyour mate so as

to pleaseyourself, about secretconfessions,about "maxed -out passionpositions" and other

good stuff.

The imagesencounteredby readerslikely do not reflect how they (reader$ look or feel
6bout themselves,for otherwisetherewould be no enticementto buy the productsproffered in

themagazineas passportsto self satisfactionand sensualbliss. Someof the articleswhich do

excite either desireor stressare immediately followed by advertisementswhich featurethe

appropriate"remedies." For instance,the one food advertisementin the magazinefollows an

article on "cool party snacks." As well, a cold sore advertisementshortly follows a short article

on the dangersof cold sores.

Since there is no doubt that the magazinedraws (and maybe manipulates)readersto

purchaseproducts,Mamists surely despisethe magazine. (Mamists, however, sometimesseem

to get their kicks from being perpetualparty poopers.) Feminists,however, ought to be careful

not to be too eagerto condemnit. Yes, a legitimate argumentcan be made that while the

magazinefeaturesindependentwomen it actually createsdependencyby getting readershooked

on products,but we should not too quickly skip over how wornen are portrayed in the magazine.

They are not portrayed as demurebut rather as sexually active and assertive.The magazine

salutescouples,but most certainly (andperhapsespecially)celebratesthe life of the single

woman. And the magazineclearly doesnot suggestthat women are to be contained,that they

should be domestics.Rather, it encouragesthem, so-to-speak,to "first take Manhattan,then take

the world," that is, to roam wherethey will.

The cover girl exemplifies how women are portrayed throughout the magazine. She

appearsconfident, self-possessed,untamed and sexual. The cover girl's (Sharon's) breastsare

hof
about asbrazenas her eyes. But she likely doe@ inspire readersto get breast implants, for

readerssurely know that her breastsare simply surfacemanifestationsbuckled up for public

displayby her dynamic inner spirit. So endsmy ideological critique. (592 words)

Work Cited

White,Kate,ed. Cosmopolitan.December2004.