Worth the money? (Cosmopolitan)

Member Name: MadKat

Product:	Cosmopolitan
Date:	06/07/01 (188 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Nice paper, Sometimes get a 'free' gift

Disadvantages: Full of sh!t, Contradictory, Half of it is advertisements

To start off with, I am a bloke, and yes I am writing a review of a woman's magazine. But this review goes for most magazines, just substitute the word 'Cosmopolitan' with the title of your 'favourite' magazine.

Cosmopolitan, or Cosmo as it is commonly known, was first brought to my attention through a media studies project I was doing. It is essentially a woman's magazine, which features classy fashion and a distinct sense of 'careerism' within women. Oh, and, of course, lashings and lashings of sex, why else would it sell so well?

Cosmo contradicts itself on so many occasions that it's not funny. For example, a strong message carried through the magazine is how women should be independent, and therefore manless. Yet there are articles devoted to the various ways to 'get' or to please you man.

The thing that is so blatantly obvious about all of these glossy magazines, which people fail to realise, is their focus. The editors, in general, couldn't care a toss if they printed something which was to ruin your life/career for years to come, simply because you did things the 'Cosmo way'. You see, the foucus of these magazines is to make money, like and business. How do they make money? Through advertising, the more you respond to the ad's in the magazines, the more money they can charge for advertising space and the more money the company makes. How does Cosmo increase the 'response' to the advertisements which consist of nearly 50% of its content? By filling the other 50% with articles which make you 'realise' how much you need to go out and buy the product you see advertised on the opposite page.

Comsopolitan, and many many magazines like it are out to make money at their readers' expense. Simple as that. So be careful what you trust in what you read.

You have been warned

Summary: