Media Analysis: Cosmopolitan

The bottom line in today’s American society and culture is that sex sells. Cosmopolitan has made it socially acceptable for a woman to talk about sex and read about sex. They have removed the gendered stigma that only men can think about sex often and ultimately have sex often.
What Message has Cosmopolitan given their readers on dating throughout the year of 2009?
Magazine Covers:
2009
January: You & SEX
February: What SEX feels like for guys
March: His biggest SEX secrets
April: SEX that brings you closer
May: SEX he craves
June: best SEX ever
July: 100 SEX questions
August: 125 SEX moves
September: 50 SEX tricks
October: Bad Girl SEX
November: What he thinks during SEX
December: His #1 SEX wish
2008
January: Dirty sexy SEX
February: the most satisfying SEX position
March: Sex tips
April: be a SEX genius
May: SEX Q&A
June: His G spot
July: taboo SEX
August: SEX poll
September: 100 SEX truths
October: How long guys want SEX to last
November: Total body SEX
December: The SEX factor

On every magazine cover for the years 2008 and 2009, the word that is printed the largest, sometimes even larger than the title is SEX. Since cosmopolitan is one of the top selling magazines in America, it proves that readers/ consumers will buy sex. On the cover of every magazine an air-brushed, hyper-sexy woman is revealing almost everything. When comparing Cosmopolitan (a magazine typically consumed by women) to Maxim and or FHM (a magazine typically consumed by men) I observed similar characteristics. All of these magazines only post women on their covers that are wearing low cut shirts, tugging at their jeans or shorts and are posing in ways that enhance their features. The idea that sex has become masculinized in America’s culture is observed with these magazines because not only men are viewing racy, sexy photos of women but women are too. My analysis is that men view these photos in order to fantasize, but what are women viewing these photos for?
In order to get a better understanding of the message Cosmopolitan is sending to women I analyzed 25 articles that all had directions or “how to’s” for women. Most of these articles focused on the bedroom with titles such as Post sex moves he will love, The two hottest things you can say in bed, and How to become a sex goddess. In these articles the author explains and points out certain things that will be sure to make your relationship stronger and your love life better. The idea that women have to enhance their sexuality and be ultra sexy when in a relationship in order to keep their men satisfied is a main idea within Cosmopolitan. Another major topic of this magazine is ways to get noticed by men which are described in articles such as 8 things guys notice about you instantly, Get hit on all the time, and A dating coach gives no BS tips. These articles range from the early stages of dating by explaining how you should sit or stand while at a bar in order to get noticed by a guy, things you should and should not say during a conversation, and things you can do to ensure that he will ask you out again. In my analysis of this section I noticed again that the focus is on women and how they need to act, dress, etc in order to achieve what they want out of a relationship. In my opinion the media emphasizes over and over that women must work overtly hard in order to keep men satisfied in order to get long term commitment from them. An important note is that this is a major shift in the kind of attitudes from about 10 or 20 years ago. In history we have observed men being the pursuers and constantly having to work very hard to impress women.
An interesting article was recently published on Cosmopolitans website entitled Why Men Cheat on Hot Women in response to Tiger Woods affair on his beautiful model wife. Is there ever just one reason why a man cheats though? Does it actually have anything to do with the women they are in a relationship with?
They took a stance that some men are just programmed to cheat. Men in high status or powerful positions are used to being in control and having certain entitlements so sleeping with many beautiful women furthers this idea in their head. In addition, these men are typically in careers that have them away from home for long periods of time and their status attracts a variety of women who offer them sex without any attachment. So what about the men that cheat, but are not in positions of power? Well they have simply been influenced by their fathers to cheat. A more extreme position from this article is that cheating is a mental disorder for sex addicts, and an emotional one for those men who were not loved as children.

written by: Brittney Payne