He Doesn't Want What?

Let’s take a look at Cosmo magazine’s website. It’s one of the most—if not the most—widely read women’s magazines and it boasts a new representation of women. Now it’s online, accessible to everyone. And what are the main links on the pages? There’s ‘Sex & Love,’ ‘Style & Beauty,’ ‘Hot Guys,’ ‘Celeb Style,’ and ‘You, You, You.’ And under those links there’s a myriad of subtopic choices.

The first headline article that flashes across the site asks, ‘He Doesn’t Want Sex?’ and continues on to explain to the desperate reader five reasons he is uninterested. One doesn’t need to even read the article to see the same tired stereotypes at play. There’s the confusion of a man not wanting sex—because of course all men always want sex all the time. Media and popular culture make it almost taboo for a man not to want sex all the time. If media didn’t perpetuate this stereotype, why would anyone find it necessary to write and then to read an article about the hidden reasons a man didn’t want sex? If it didn’t, perhaps people wouldn’t balk at the idea of a man not wanting sex.

Back to those main links at the top of Cosmo’s website page: ‘Sex & Love,’ ‘Style & Beauty,’ ‘Hot Guys,’ ‘Celeb Style,’ and ‘You, You, You.’ Again, same tired stereotypes. Here are all the things women are expected to be interested in. Unfortunately, this list doesn’t exceed men, beauty, or clothes. Again, the media is making, forming, and maintaining the idea of a perfect woman. And ladies, if you’re not preoccupied with men, clothes, and beautifying and feminizing yourself, probably you should sort out your priorities. That’s the message. For as much as Cosmo totes its depiction of fun, fearless, independent women, the women on the website and on the pages of the newsstand magazine fit the stereotypes out there exactly. What Cosmo is selling is a false sense of empowerment.

Although this isn’t just Cosmo. There’s a surprising lack of women’s magazines out there that tackle issues beyond men and make-up. And magazines like Ms. or Bitch certainly aren’t selling nearly as many issues as something like Cosmo is. Media perpetuates and reinforces stereotypes so completely and so well that often people stay within these pre-molded frames, or don’t realize there are other options.


For further reading, some links:
Cosmo: http://www.cosmopolitan.com/
Ms.: http://www.msmagazine.com/
Bitch: http://bitchmagazine.org/