Cosmopolitan (magazine)
Cosmopolitan (stylized in all caps) is an American quarterly fashion and entertainment magazine for women, first published based in New York City in March 1886 as a family magazine; it was later transformed into a literary magazine and, since 1965, has become a women's magazine. Cosmopolitan is one of the best-selling magazines and is directed mainly towards a female audience.[4][5] Jessica Giles (formerly Pels) is the magazine's editor-in-chief since 2018.[6]
Editor
Female
Quarterly (formerly monthly)
3 million[3]
March 1886
United States
New York City
English, Bulgarian, Chinese, Czech, French, German, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, Dutch, Slovenian, Ukrainian
Formerly titled The Cosmopolitan and often referred to as Cosmo, Cosmopolitan has adapted its style and content. Its current incarnation was originally marketed as a woman's fashion magazine with articles on home, family, and cooking. For some time it focused more on new fiction and written work, which included short stories, novels, and articles.[7] Now it is more targeted towards women's fashion, sports and modern interests.[7] Eventually, editor-in-chief Helen Gurley Brown changed its attention to more of a women's empowerment magazine.[7] Nowadays, its content includes articles discussing relationships, sex, health, careers, self-improvement, celebrities, fashion, horoscopes, and beauty.
Cosmopolitan is published by New York City-based Hearst Corporation. The magazine's office in the Hearst Tower, 300 West 57th Street near Columbus Circle in Manhattan in New York City.[8] Cosmopolitan has 64 international editions, including, Australia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Mexico, Latin America, Malaysia, the Middle East, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom[9] and is printed in 35 different languages and distributed in over 110 countries.[10]
Awards and features[edit]
Fun, Fearless Male of the Year[edit]
For over a decade, the February issue has featured this award. In 2011, Russell Brand received the magazine's Fun, Fearless Male of the Year Award, joining Kellan Lutz and Paul Wesley (2010), John Mayer (2008), Nick Lachey (2007), Patrick Dempsey (2006), Josh Duhamel (2005), Matthew Perry (2004), and Jon Bon Jovi (2003).
Fun, Fearless Female of the Year[edit]
The Fun, Fearless Female of the Year award was awarded to Kayla Itsines (2015), Nicole Scherzinger (2012), Mila Kunis (2011), Anna Faris (2010), Ali Larter (2009), Katherine Heigl (2008), Eva Mendes (2007), Beyoncé (2006), Ashlee Simpson (2005), Alicia Silverstone (2004), Sandra Bullock (2003), Britney Spears (2002), Debra Messing (2001), Jennifer Love Hewitt (2000), Shania Twain (1999), and Ashley Judd (1998).
Cosmopolitan Men – The Making of the World's Sexiest Calendar[edit]
Cosmopolitan Men released a video on The Making of the World's Sexiest Calendar in 1994 followed by a stunning 14-month Cosmopolitan Men Calendar. Photographer Richard Reinsdorf shot the entire Calendar and helped direct the video.
Anniversary Male Centerfolds[edit]
Cosmopolitan releases a Male Centerfold issue every few years that features hot male celebrities from the United States. Here is a partial list of the men that have appeared in Cosmopolitan's Centerfold Editions over the years: Burt Reynolds 1972, Jim Brown 1973, John Davidson 1975, Arnold Schwarzenegger 1977, Scott Brown 1982, David Hasselhoff 1990. Male super-model Tracy James[70] was named Cosmopolitan's 25th Anniversary Centerfold[71] in 1995: his centerfold garnered so much attention that Cosmopolitan printed an extra 500,000 copies to meet demand. Cosmopolitan's Editor-in-Chief Helen Gurley Brown sat with James for interviews on America's Talking[72] and on Oprah[72] with Oprah Winfrey, on how the magazine's editors and scouts searched America over the course of a year, seeing thousands of men before deciding on James.
Bachelor of the Year[edit]
Cosmopolitan's November issue features the hottest bachelors from all 50 states. Pictures and profiles of all the bachelors are posted on www.cosmopolitan.com, where readers view and vote for their favorite, narrowing it down to six finalists. A team of Cosmopolitan editors then selects the Bachelor of the Year, who is announced at an annual party and media event in New York. The 50 bachelors generally appear on programs such as The Today Show.[73]
Past winners include:
Politics[edit]
Seventeenth Amendment[edit]
Cosmopolitan played a role in passing the Seventeenth Amendment to the US Constitution, which allowed for the popular election of US Senators (previously they were elected by state legislatures). In 1906, William Randolph Hearst hired David Graham Phillips to write a series of articles entitled "The Treason of the Senate". These articles, which were largely sensationalized, helped galvanize public support for this cause.[84]
Candidate endorsement[edit]
In September 2014, Cosmopolitan began endorsing political candidates. The endorsements are based on "established criteria" agreed upon by the magazine's editors. Specifically, Cosmopolitan will only endorse candidates that support equal pay laws, legal abortion, free contraceptives, gun control, and oppose voter identification laws. Amy Odell, editor of Cosmopolitan.com, has stated that under no circumstances will the magazine endorse a political candidate that is anti-abortion: "We're not going to endorse someone who is pro-life because that's not in our readers' best interest." According to Joanna Coles, the magazine's editor-in-chief, the endorsements of Cosmopolitan will focus on "candidates in swing states or candidates who are strongly in favor of issues like contraception coverage or gun control."[85] In the 2014 U.S. elections, Cosmopolitan officially endorsed twelve Democratic candidates. However, only two of them won their respective political campaigns.[86]
Campaigns against Cosmopolitan[edit]
Victoria Hearst, a granddaughter of William Randolph Hearst (founder of Cosmopolitan's parent company) and sister of Patty Hearst, has lent her support to a campaign which seeks to classify Cosmopolitan as harmful under the guidelines of "Material Harmful to Minors" laws. Hearst, the founder of an evangelical Colorado church called Praise Him Ministries,[87] states that "the magazine promotes a lifestyle that can be dangerous to women's emotional and physical well being. It should never be sold to anyone under 18".[88] According to former model Nicole Weider, who is also part of this campaign, the magazine's marketing is subtly targeting children.[88] Billboards have been hung in states such as Utah urging the state to ban sales of the magazine.
In 2018, Walmart announced that Cosmopolitan would be removed from checkout lines after the anti-pornography organization National Center on Sexual Exploitation, formerly known as Morality in Media, labeled the magazine as "sexually explicit material".[89]
Other editions[edit]
Cosmopolitan Italy[edit]
In 1973 there was a merger between Cosmopolitan and the Italian magazine Arianna, published by Mondadori since in 1957, assuming the name Cosmopolitan Arianna.[92] From January 1976 the masthead changed to the current Cosmopolitan.[92] In 1996 the magazine, owned by Della Schiava Editore, ended its publication, which resumed with Mondadori in 2000, with the editor Silvia Brena.[92] In July 2010 Cosmopolitan passed to the editorial Hearst Magazines Italia, becoming a monthly magazine.[93]