Cosmopolitan Magazine wants to get serious, everyone. They really do. Just ask the head of the magazine. When asked about Cosmo’s plans to cover November races, Editor in Chief Joanna Coles answered:
Yes! We’re going to be covering issues that directly impact our readers’ lives—like, equal pay for equal work. Sixty-two percent of college intake is now women, and no woman currently graduates from college and thinks it’s OK to be paid less than a man for doing the same job. We’re also very keen on access to contraception. Those are the two things that we feel really strongly about.
Emphasis mine. If Cosmopolitan wanted its readers to know what’s at stake, they wouldn’t have myopically picked an issue like equal pay as a litmus test for “helping” women. Cosmopolitan simply wants to tell women whom to vote for without evaluating whether their favored policies help women. This is more elite, left-wing, New York City 1 percenters telling women what they should think.
Considering their history of pushing “5 Ways to Please Your Man,” photoshopping beautiful women to pieces, and telling women what to wear, should we be surprised? No, because this trendy feminism without substance is the exact confection substituting for critical thinking. So it’s perfect fit at flashy but empty Cosmopolitan. When I asked Jill Filipovic, Cosmo’s senior political writer, about how the magazine would evaluate candidates, her criteria was nothing more than Democrat talking points.
Five Mind-Blowing Problems With This Female Political Litmus Test
Cosmopolitan should be selling confidence, but instead will be telling women they can’t get paid, get laid, or use contraception without a politician’s blessing. That sounds pretty creepy to me.
Beware of the party and candidate who thinks it’s their business to “help” you. They may need you to be helpless to remain compelling. Cosmopolitan isn’t breaking ground here. They are just adding another avenue to make choices FOR women: How to dress, how to please your man, how to vote for “their candidate.” If feminism was about overthrowing the patriarchy, beware of the new matriarchy, which wants to call the shots for you.
