Ryan, S.C. (1999, July 20). Cosmo’s little sister downplays s-e-x. The Boston Globe, pp. E1, 6.
OVERVIEW
Helen Gurley Brown created the Cosmo Girl and the Cosmo formula in the liberated 1960s. That formula told "girls" they didn’t have to worry about husbands and children nor restrictive moral sanctions. They could work and have money and buy it all; they could enjoy sex with passion and freedom which would bring happiness and the good life. The message to women was "look great and enjoy sex." Helen Gurley Brown’s message to advertisers was "look at my girls; they have money and will buy."
The writer of this article notes how the "racy magazine" that presented "X-rated board games, man-melting sex moves" and instructions on "snagging a celebrity husband...is now targeting teenagers."
Hearst Magazines, Cosmo’s publisher, recently unveiled CosmoGIRL!, a ‘spunky kid sister magazine’ aimed at 12- to 17-year-olds. ‘We are taking the original Cosmo formula created by Helen Gurley Brown and adapting it for the teenage girl,’ says Cathleen P. Black, Hearst president.
What? A teen ‘zine version of headlines like July’s ‘Sex Tricks He’s Never Seen Before’ and ‘5 Perfect Pickup Lines’?
Relax. As a little sister, CosmoGIRL! is decidedly virginal. The first issue—for August/September 1999—features a modest cover girl (actress Melissa Joan Hart) in minimal makeup, a non-revealing tank top, and khakis. Even her bellybutton is covered up by a headline. The stories are no more daring. Consider: ‘Back-to-School Fashion Blitz,’ ‘The One Thing That Really Bugs Guys,’ and ‘How to Get an Easy A.’ The word ‘orgasm’ appears only once, in a Dr. Ruth column.
We are left to wonder: why another teen girls’ magazine—and why so sexually tame? Aren’t Seventeen, YM, Teen People, Twist, Girl, Jump, Teen, and others enough? According to Atoosa Rubenstein, 27 and editor of the new CosmoGIRL!, teenagers represent a growing age group and growing discretionary income. Teenagers have been an expanding demographic group for several years—have crossed the 30 million mark in the U.S. and will continue to grow until about 2010. They spent, or encouraged their parents to spend, "almost $125 billion in 1998. This is a growing market and the time is right for us to introduce this title," Rubenstein says.
But why is Cosmo toning down the sex? Again, it is a matter of research, according to Rubenstein:
When we did our research, we found out that girls are very embarrassed by sex stories. They don’t want to read about it. We certainly will cover sex as a health issue. But we’re not about advice or anything else on that topic.... I want it to be known that we are definitely Cosmo’s little sister but not in the way that some people assume.
The editor goes on to explain that Cosmo has always focused on the "inner girl."
A lot of other magazines focus on the outer girl—fashion and beauty. We talk to the reader about every relationship in her life. Her changing body. The new way boys might be treating her. Issues with her parents, other girls, popularity, self-esteem. I want to address the language barrier that comes between mom and daughter. When mom says she doesn’t like your pants, it’s not because she hates you. My goal is to step in there as a big sister and give them advice. I’m young enough to understand where they’re at.
Atoosa Rubenstein is amazed that she has this job, at 27, and as someone who never believed in herself. She writes about growing up on Long Island in her editor’s letter:
I was the biggest loser in high school...I had the hairiest legs (Mom wouldn’t let me shave), (bushy eyebrows), the worst skin...and a Pinocchio nose...I could barely get the crossing guard to be nice to me, much less a date!
High school was miserable (she told this writer)...I really felt it couldn’t have gotten any worse. At camp, boys beat me up. I didn’t go to my prom. I took a job at Carvel’s just because I needed something to do the night of the prom. My friends butted me out of conversations. Why? Because girls can be mean.
Coming out of Barnard College Rubenstein interned at Sassy magazine before joining Cosmopolitan. There she distinguished herself as a fashion editor. She works long days (up to 16 hours) and has surrounded herself with a staff of 20-somethings and a 30-year-old.
Under Rubenstein’s leadership, CosmoGIRL! is impressive. Its money page suggests adding Internet tutoring to make more money baby-sitting and how a sweet-16 $500. gift can be invested in mutual funds and bring back $1000. Articles about eating disorder activists, a teenage entrepreneur, and five girls who survived difficult times that changed their lives are found in the first issue (it hit the newsstands June 29, 1999). "These articles need to be heard," Rubenstein says. " ‘When things go bad, as we know they can in teen life, it’s good to have these role models.’ "
QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION AND DISCUSSION
- What can you learn about teenagers and magazines from this article?
- What specifically do marketers know about teenagers?
- Are you surprised about the apparent quality of CosmoGIRL? Does it show that popular culture and the media do reflect where people are at? How important is research to marketing, education and youth work? Who uses research more effectively: youth workers, teachers, or publishers? Why?
- How could you use this article for a discussion with young people?
IMPLICATIONS
- We may decry pop culture and the media, and criticize magazines, but there is much to learn from them.
- Magazines study young people, go to them, respect them, and learn from them. Failures in education and youth work often reflect a failure to do one of these.
- Before we can understand and judge these magazines, we must bring in youthful consultants to help us read and interpret them. Such discussions are highly profitable for them and us adults.
Dean Borgman cCYS
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