No Longer a Cosmo Girl
Whenever I visit the magazine stands, I always look for women’s magazines, which is natural for most female beings. I usually alternated between Cosmopolitan, Cleo and Her World for my monthly girly infos.
Thing is; I’m not big on fashion. I rarely shop unless I need to buy something. But I, like any other girls in the world, love the sight of beautiful clothes, fancy make-up and creative photo-shoots. I love looking at beautiful women as much as the next man (himself) and even though I know I’ll never be able to look anything like the models in the magazines, I still devour the pages and look at them longingly.
But something has changed now, and I don’t know exactly how it started - I’ve simply lost my interest in Cosmo and the likes. Maybe it’s the fact that each month, the magazines are getting thicker with advertisements pages (which make them heavier to carry around or to read in bed) or the fact that they give little paraphernalia like pads or mini shampoo bottles (thanks to these magazines I’ve tons of them and I don’t even use them) that make the whole magazines look somewhat cheap and shallow. I’m the firm believer of less is more but of course for magazines like Cosmo it is a no-go.
I often scorn at some of the featured articles in those magazines, especially the ones talking about love, sex and relationships. Titles such as “How to Give the Most Amazing Blow Jobs” and “How to Control Your Man” are enough to make me return the magazines back onto the displays.
Don’t get me wrong, I’ve nothing against blow jobs and the likes, but I don’t see the necessity of it being printed on the cover in such large fonts and in shocking pink color. It makes women sound so obsessed with sex (which is probably true) and I’ve observed that all year round, the same articles will be featured more than once, only with different titles and adjustment here and there. Essentially though they have the same purpose - to teach women about sex, love and relationships. But do they really?
If you’ve read Marian Keyes’ novel called Sushi for Beginners, it shows a lot about how women’s magazines are actually produced. Keyes actually did a research and work experience at an actual women’s magazine before she wrote the book, and there was this term that kind of stuck in my head after I finished reading the book, which said that the typical over-crowded magazine covers that used words like (again) blow jobs, orgasms etc., are the typical dumbed-down magazines.
As a collector of women’s magazine myself, I have to admit that my stacks of Cosmo don’t have a lot to do with the way I live my life in terms of being in love and in a relationship. They don’t exactly nourish me or satisfy me in any significant way, except the fact that I have something to read for a few days or so before I finally get bored of all the celebrity gossips and beauty tips that are laden with hidden advertorials. My closet was full of half-empty bottles of body lotion and what-elses which were mentioned on the magazines’ recommended beauty items list, and I ended up using the same items again and again, and wasted my money on things I didn’t even need.
A friend once told me that those magazines were really just 80% advertorials and 20% content and I’ve just realized that he was right. Of course there’s nothing wrong with that - we live in a much more consumptive world these days and Cosmo is just going along for the ride. When there used to be only one type of shampoo to wash your hair with, now there are at least six of them - there’s one for dandruff treatment, unruly hair, dry and oily hair and even curly and color-treated hair.
But with or without the aid of Cosmo, there is no escape to advertisements. They are everywhere - on televisions, on billboards, on x-banners in front of the chemists and especially on the internet, where they come in animation and interactive settings.
Just the other day, I went to the shops to buy some vegetables and I noticed Herbal Essences had launched a brand new packaging look for their new flavored shampoos. They were put on a nice display in blue (you know how much I love the color) and the packaging was so nice, that I decided to buy one. See that? The power of packaging. I once worked at a pharmaceutical company where they mostly refused the idea that packaging design could be that important, and they were mighty wrong. So wrong. Packaging design was just a part of an ad - hey, it made me buy the product after all!
But the expensive shampoo and skincare won’t matter much when I don’t even take care of what’s on the inside. A special shampoo for straight and smooth hair will probably help to make my hair looks better temporarily, but in the long run, it’s taking care of my body and what I put inside it (refrain your thoughts from anything dirty) that’s much more important; such as drinking plenty of water, eating more vegetables and less junk food and exercising at least three times a week.
So now, when I visit the magazines display, I end up coming home with Fitness, Shape and Prevention. I’m trying to live healthy by exercising regularly these days, so I need as much help and information as possible. Of course, there are adverts on those too, we can’t escape them after all, but if they are able to get me off my lazy ass and start burning some calories, they can’t be that bad.
It’s either that, or I’m awarely acknowledging that I’m actually getting old.
September 24th, 2008 at 12:20 pm
Agree with you that packaging is part of an advertisement and it can persuade people to buy the product.
Try women’s health, there are a lot of exercise programs in it so you can try it out if you’re bored with your current one.
September 24th, 2008 at 1:47 pm
Lately I bought Cosmo only for the sake of its fashion tips like the clothing style and where to get them. The tips, the hints, the articles remain the same from year to year they just pimp things here and there to make it different. It’s not just Cosmo really, almost all kind of female magazines are like that (it’s kinda more like men’s magazines with babes, gadgets and cars)
September 24th, 2008 at 2:13 pm
I used to buy cosmo, glamour, vogue and marie claire every single month. from 94 to 2005. Eleven years I have wasted away money for magazines that have THE SAME things in them every single edition.
Stupid, huh? Now I dont buy magazines anymore, but I just buy books. Much better.
It is all advertisement with nothing useful inside. Reader’s digest I still buy sometimes, also times and newsweek, but girl magz, not anymore. I have had a revelation, I am not a dumb girl and nor would I let myself be dumbed down.
September 25th, 2008 at 9:20 am
I am way too much of a dag and a cheapskate combined to buy cosmo and friends. Although, they make excellent toilet reading, and like you, I love staring at the pictures wishing they were my legs.
These days I borrowed past issues of Practical Parenting from the local library along with books for my kid. Again, blatant advertising, but at least the article is informative. Like, how to say no (err…), how to negotiate with your 2 y.o, why 3 is the new 2 , how to get a good night sleep, etc..etc He..he…
katadia’s last blog post..Constipated
September 25th, 2008 at 2:04 pm
Started bought Cosmo in college, when Indonesian edition was not even present, so it cost a lot of money for me that time since they were imported. After 3 years reading Cosmo and decided I liked it, Indonesian Cosmo was launched, and the very first article they published was the translation of the article of American Cosmo 2 years a go. I knew because I never threw my mags away. Only bought 1 copy of Indonesian Cosmo and never after that - I felt I was tricked. There is nothing wrong to publish the same article across the globe but it is usually published in the same edition, not like Indonesia, picking up from outdated article from 2 years a go!
Nowadays, for fashion, I subscribe to Instyle and sometimes buy Glamour. I read their reviews because I feel overwhelmed by, for example, 2,000 hairspray choices in the market and need some guidance :). Those two, plus interior and decoration, cooking, fitness, and sometimes trashy gossip magazines….
And yes Therry, stop buying Cosmo is the early sign of getting old LOL
Finally Woken’s last blog post..We are Fasting. So?
September 26th, 2008 at 5:16 pm
I only buy Cosmo only for the fashion articles. Somewhat I miss the consistency of the articles there, for example op page 47 there’s an article on how to be content with your life no matter what size you have but on page 100 I see an article about diet methods readers must do to be able to fit in the fashion trend of the season, my reaction is ?!!???.
Now the glossy mags I read now are Marie-Claire and Red (just the right combi of fashion, celebrity gossip and high quality articles).
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September 27th, 2008 at 5:13 pm
I have to say that I have never bought a single copy of Cosmo in my life. Honesty. I would pick the mag up, saw what’s inside and put it straight back down. I’m against buying mag that has more ads than article, why pay for ads? With the revenue received from those ads, they should be able to afford to issue the magazine for free.
But that’s just my opinion, I’m more partial to more mature magazines that actually has articles I can read, plus lots of recipes since I’m obsessed with clipping them. Nowadays I buy Femina and Australian Women’s Weekly.. I know, I know, I’m such a grandma :p For fashion etc, Instyle is probably the best for me.
September 28th, 2008 at 2:44 am
That’s why photoshop is such a cool piece of software. You can look like whatever you want!
I noticed last time that I was in Kinokuniya that there is a Cosmo Men magazine now. I guess this means us fellas do not need to feel like we are missing out anymore
If you’re getting old then this is a good thing! It is a good thing because it means that you are still alive.
Rob’s last blog post..Palin, A Stripped Moose, African-Americans, and Jews
September 28th, 2008 at 8:31 am
i haven’t bought any cosmo for ageees…. i buy back health magz too but ended up just putting them up for display lol…too lazy to read these days
October 1st, 2008 at 12:22 am
i like ur last sentence…just like bob marley when he said “time will tell”…:D
October 1st, 2008 at 7:02 pm
Cheers to a [finally] great awakening! Besides, you can always go online if you ever miss that type of reading material again. Plus, less trees to be chopped down :p
October 2nd, 2008 at 2:52 pm
I myself am not much interested in such magazines and have never bought a single copy of Cosmo in my life!
I think they’re just a monthly catalog to the city’s shopping centres. I prefer current affairs / music / entertainment / science magazines than women’s / fashion magazines. The BF collects Vogue, tho. And I have to admit that although it’s filled with ads, the fashion design / photography featured are pretty amazing. But then again Vogue is different from your girly magazines that tell you how to give a good blow job.
It’s like they’re telling us that the only purpose in a woman’s life is to dress up (to impress men), have great sex (to impress men), and behave femininely (to impress men).
October 2nd, 2008 at 3:38 pm
I used to read women mags religiously when I was in my teen. Now I don’t really buy magazine’s but occasionally I buy Reader’s Digest, Flona (flora dan fauna), Trubus, or Sedap (cooking magazine). Generally depends if there is anything interesting on the front cover.
Elyani’s last blog post..Lazy me
October 3rd, 2008 at 4:39 am
Aduh jadi inget kejadian kocak pas pertama kali beli Cosmo(politan) pas SMA… Kebetulan waktu mau beli, gw masih pake seragam sekolah, hahaha…
Berikut sekilas pembicaraan dengan ibu2 penjaga kios majalah;
me: bu, cosmo-nya donk yg baru..
(si ibu handed me over a copy of CosmoGirl..)
me: oh bukan bu, maksudnya cosmopolitan..
(si ibu kaget, lirik kanan-kiri ama anak cowo yg lagi ngatur2 majalah juga, kayak ga mau ngejual cosmo ke anak SMA)
ibu: hah, tapi kan cosmo..
(gw ngeh, trus langsung ngejawab): oh ga kok bu, ini buat mama saya.. tuh yg ada di mobil..
(si ibu tertawa kecil, dan langsung ngasihin tuh majalah)
ibu: kirain kamu yg baca.. ini kan byk (artikel) sex-nya..
Sedikit penjelasan, dulu majalah2 franchise kan blm sebyk skrg.. dulu nykp gw langganan Dewi, jd gw pengen nyoba baca yg lain, bukan krn artikel sex-nya lhooo…
Skrg sih lg langganan Female, tapi emang majalah tuh advertorial smua haha.. tapi knp gw masih beli juga.. hmmm.. ga ngerti juga (^_^)’
Devi Girsang’s last blog post..So Long, Bang Andre
October 5th, 2008 at 8:53 am
as much as i love reading about sex, i’d much rather perform the act itself. erotic stories, on the other hand…
where were we?
honestly, i would rather read about health. that’s what you get for having hypochondriacs as your parents.
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October 5th, 2008 at 6:09 pm
Prefer books rather than magazine…
you can read magazine while in waiting room or in Beauty centre. No need to pay
btw i bought shampoo same as yours, the blue one… the new packing is very nice
and adv on tv is different than others shampoo.. i think its creative and low cost
by using “gimbal man” as model.
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