For Wishful Thinkers... (Cosmopolitan)

Member Name: nicola21

Product:	Cosmopolitan
Date:	14/04/01 (731 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: None that I can see.

Disadvantages: Reinforces your "place" in society.

When you think of Cosmopolitan, images of beautiful clothes, hair and make-up come to mind, but is this small injection of glamour into the average life, even worth spending £2.70? No doubt there is a small margin of the female population that Cosmopolitan actually applies to, but for the rest of us, it is just a glimpse at what we could have. I have bought this glossy "fashion" magazine a few times now, but I refuse to buy it ever again. I will explain why.

Lets take a look at the issue for February 2001. A glamorous model on the cover with a girly pink background, and several large headlines including "Cosmo's 7 laws of relationship success", "18 show-off sex positions", and a "Cosmo man survey" which points to the "sealed" section in the centre of the magazine. Okay, well lets take a basic look inside.

Hmmm... lots of page-long make-up and perfume adverts right from the start, and some more adverts for new fashionable mobile phones and expensive cars. In fact within the first 25 pages there are a total of 14 glossy ads for various fashionable items. This gives a good picture of what the rest of the magazine holds. If they cram this many ads in the first few pages, how many can they fit in the remaining 202 pages?

Ploughing on through the rest of this hefty publication, we first come to the "Cosmo Confessions" page, full of stories sent in from the readers about what they get up to in bed with advice on "Love & Lust" from their "Go-For-It Guide To Getting It On". Okay, so maybe some people need help in this area, do they? Some more ads and then a page advising readers how to dress like various celebrities including Tara Palmer-Tomkinson and Jade Jagger. Well, if that's what suits you.

Half a page of film reviews, a long review about women who sell themslves on internet porn sites and bag £5 million a year for their trouble. Good for th
em, but I can't see an influx of women wanting to do this for a living. Some more ads, and some more secret sex confessions. More adverts, then an article on women who date too many men in a very short space of time, another article on women about to meet their internet cyber-lovers, the life story of pornstar Anna Nicole Smith, and more reader confessions. In-depth articles concerning the cover features ensue, followed by a mandatory agony aunt column, then more ads and reader confessions.

All content so far is trash and we're on page, well many pages are not numbered, so I have no idea what page it is, but next up is the fashion section which is about fifty pages of ridiculously expensive items that will be in fashion for two minutes and set you back a months wages each. For example, a glittery Gucci dress is a snip at £910. £200 can get you a pair of Dior sunglasses or some Kurt Geiger boots. Some Miu Miu bargains at over £150 for a small top, a Chanel dress at £500, another Chanel top at £910, a Missoni top at £1380... I shall not go on, but all I can say is that the clothes are not practical and who can afford to spend so much on posh clothes? It is ridiculous. The remainder of the magazine is simply some hair and make-up advice if you can afford £40 for a lipstick, more adverts and some classifieds.

What have I benefitted from reading Cosmopolitan? Nothing, except I want that Gucci dress but there is no way in hell I could ever afford it to wear only a few times before it goes out of fashion. It is glossy trash pretending to be a bible to young women. How many women out there can afford the clothes and products that Cosmo promote? It basically caters only to a select few of the super-rich. If you want to share in other people's sex tricks and sexual experiences, whilst dreaming of what you could have if you were rich enough, and being bombarded with glossy adverts, then Cosmo is for you. If you are just another woman, steer clear
of this painful magazine which ultimately reinforces a "wannabe" status where people are sucked into buying "must haves" in the form of pricey accessories and other such products. Why else are so many people in so much debt in this country?

British women are surrounded by celebrity riches and fashion and told by mags like Cosmo that this is how they should live their lives. Cosmo does not give advice on life, or any advice that is of any use to anyone in the real world. It has delusions of grandure and probably causes many women to feel inadequate becuase they do not match the fashionable criteria set by such glossy magazines. If they were to give good advice, the first piece would be a warning not to waste even a few pounds on the rubbish that they print.

It looks pretty and you may feel that you need to keep up to date in the world of celebrities and the super-rich, but apart from being tat, I believe that these magazines present more problems than solutions. Advice on "life" at the cost of realising that you'll never be a part of the "Cosmopolitan" lifestyle. Goodness knows at how young an age some girls start reading these magazines.

My advice is to steer well clear of these types of "wannabe" magazines, and spend the money on something a little more worthy. Cosmo is purely for wishful thinkers and sorry, it's going straight to Room 101.

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