It's not drastic--which I actually approve of; if it turned into Ms. Magazine overnight they'd just lose their audience--but changes are happening. Each issue has just a little more political and feminist content and just a little less "30 Reasons Your Vagina Is Doing Everything Wrong." This month's issue has profiles of a woman teaching teenage girls to program, a woman campaigning for better equal-pay laws and enforcement, a female soldier who was wounded in Afghanistan and talks about why she still believes women should be on the front lines... this is not the Cosmo I know.
The magazine is still mostly fluff, and the misogyny and general weirdness are far from gone. So I've got enough to write about this month. But if this keeps up, I don't know. I might have to switch to Maxim or something. Which might not be all bad; I've mined the well of Cosmo pretty deep at this point, and could use some freshness. Besides, making fun of Cosmo always has a little tinge of "dammit feminine women, stop oppressing yourselves!" to it; Maximocking (preliminary working title) would be addressing the intersection of masculinity and misogyny.
But for now... Cosmocking's not dead yet!
Purple color! Sofia Vergara! I don't know who she is, but to be fair, the only TV shows I watch are Mythbusters and Doctor Who, so I am not a very good arbiter of pop culture notability! Um... None of these headlines are entertainingly ridiculous! You see why I'm having problems here!
Ah, there's the Cosmo I know and... know. The left-hand image is "sexy," and the right-hand is of course "skanky." And it's a stunning contrast until you apply the slightest common sense: do you think Heidi Montag suntans in that position? She just hangs out that way all day? Or was she shifting position or getting up and the photographer took a picture at the exact moment that looks like she's doing a porn pose? If anyone's skanky here, it's that photographer.
Have Drunk Sex Sober!
Beats the reverse, I guess. The idea here is that you can have all the fun of drinking, but without the actual alcohol, by just acting uninhibited and a little bit confused. Oh, and you should have a red lightbulb. Red light is a lot like being drunk.
Fall into that bleary-eyed, no-words-needed kind of hookup that's the touchstone of drunk sex. Because you'll be in a slightly dreamy state, the next morning will feel almost the same: Did that really happen... or did I imagine it?
Kudos to Cosmo for not encouraging people to do this via actual alcohol, but I've never said to myself "that was pretty good sex, but dammit, I just remember it too well."
Recently, an anonymous NYC guy put up 600 fliers with the hashtag #ThisIsHowYouWinHerBack all over the city to try to get his ex back. His efforts, alas, didn't work, but he's just the latest in a slew of men who are trying to dispel their growing rep as wimpy beta boys by posting love declarations online. "We're seeing some young men use big, look-at-me-antics to publicly take back their status as dominators."
Oh my God that guy's poor ex. I mean, a couple points to the guy for not putting her name or picture out there, but all points immediately subtracted forever because being surrounded by hundreds of public "I won't let you go" messages from your ex is still horrifying no matter how memey-clever they are.
They're right, though, this is a very dominating gesture. And that's not a good thing. That's not "taking back" some God-given right he has as a man. It's putting someone in a submissive position who most likely did not want to and definitely did not agree to be in that position.
[When there's lube on your hands after sex,] use the excess lube to grease each other up. Rub it on his chest and your breasts, since those areas are less likely to come into contact with the fancy linens you scored for 50 percent off at OneKingsLane.com.
1. Ew. I mean, nothing against people who like it messy, but if you're just trying to be neat and tidy, this is... not neat and tidy.
2. Oh man, I want to see someone try this with silicone lube.
3. Really depends on position what parts of you touch the sheets.
4. Smooth product placement there, champ. Barely noticed it.
[How to tell if a male friend wants to date you:] Tell him all about other guys you're dating, and see how he reacts. Or ask about one of his good friends as though you're interested. If he gets annoyed or defensive, there's a chance he may have feelings for you.
Cosmo doesn't describe how you transition the conversation from "I'm dating a ton of dudes these days... by the way, is Steve single?" to "oh, never mind, I was just making things up to upset you, want to go out?" That seems like the difficult part.
Could You Fall for a Guy Wearing Clogs?
See? The new, more political Cosmo is all about tackling the tough issues.
[ETA: The video linked in comments on this post, and the ensuing discussion, deal with sexual harassment and assault.]
