The Psychological Effect of Women’s Magazines on Females
Magazines create unrealistic, unhealthy portrayals of female sexuality, sexual health, and shows unnecessary female sexuality on an immense level. Take the women’s magazine Cosmopolitan for example, they always have a celebrity on the front cover in a sexually suggestive stance with a lot of cleavage and skin showing. Most women are unaware of photo editing and how much these magazine editors rely on it. How does this affect women? And more importantly, how does this condition young girls in becoming an adult?
Cosmopolitan began in 1886 as a basic general interest magazine. Then came the 1960s- Peace, love, and sexual liberation became the norm. Helen Gurley Brown, an author, became editor-in-chief of the failing Cosmopolitan Magazine in 1965 and made it into the "must-read for young, sexy single chicks". Its popularity skyrocketed and it eventually became the number-one-selling monthly magazine on newsstands (Anthropology of Media).
As a socializing agent, the visual imagery provided by these magazines can have a powerful impact on our attitudes, values, beliefs, and behaviors, since it can contribute meanings and associations entirely apart of how to live and what to look like.
Lack of identity is a major concern for adolescents and women’s magazines such as Cosmopolitan because they are constantly telling them who or what to act and look like. Statements such as "I wanted my magazine to be their best friend, a platform from which I could tell them what I'd learned and talk about all the things that hadn't been discussed before. I wanted to tell the truth: that sex is one of the three best things out there, and I don't even know what the other two are," Helen said (Anthropology of Media). When teenage girls read statements such as these, and read sexually oriented magazines telling them what they should base their lives on and what is for “sexy women” or what the “best”...