Fun, Fearless Females in Journalism: How Far We Have Come

As an avid reader of Cosmopolitan Magazine, I have always had an interest in writing for women.

This is because Cosmo dares to be different when it comes to society's norms: they take subjects that most women think about but wouldn't dare talk about and publish it for the world to see. Cosmo has trademarked the "Fun, Fearless Female" and they continue to inspire women to be just that.

There is a lot of debate with whether or not Cosmo is pornographic or degrading towards women but I believe it is just the opposite: empowering. Women have been battling for equality for what seems to be forever and magazines like Cosmo and the writers behind it have helped independence become sexy, not rebellious.

I'm all for writing about sex, love, careers and other things that every person on this earth should be capable of. Why should female journalists be afraid to write about the things men's magazines talk about just because it is "uncomfortable" or "not ladylike"? Feminism seems to be all the rage within the media today and the empire that continues to play a huge role in the movement is based right out of an office building in New York City: Cosmopolitan. Cosmo has always been known for it’s raunchy covers and heavily sex-based stories; however something a lot of people don’t realize is how big of a role the women’s magazine is playing in female empowerment. History has proven that females have tended to get the short end of the stick when it comes to their careers and aspirations—sex was taboo and only to be done within the bounds of marriage to please your man and it was unheard of to even talk about it outside the bedroom. Cosmo and other big players had and still have a big role in emancipating women all over the world. The ongoing issue that remains is that of female empowerment, sexual liberation and gender equality—how far is it allowed to go and how did we get to where we are today?

History of the independent journalist Now let's pause for a little history lesson about the badass women that started this trend...

Women have been active in journalism for centuries, dating all the way back to the 1700s when Elizabeth Timothy became the first female publisher of the South Carolina Gazette. Sarah Joseph Hale became the first woman to become a magazine editor and wrote a magazine called “Godey’s Lady Book” focusing on females. Advice columns were introduced in 1896 when Elizabeth Meriwether Gilmer became the first female to have her own, which was heavily based off of humor and sarcasm regarding topics about men and female issues (sounds like a 19th century Cosmo if you ask me).

More information on Timothy and the rest of these ladies can be found in Bill Lucey's article: Women in Journalism.

So, when did the fun, fearless female that Cosmo prides itself on really get its start?

The feminism movement had many early spokespeople in the journalism world: Gloria Steinem being one of them. Her influence began in the late 1960s as a columnist for New York magazine and the founder of Ms., a feminist women’s magazine. Steinem’s earliest articles featured subjects like contraception and how women are forced to choose between marriage and a career. She prided herself on writing about female equality and why women shouldn’t be pressured into getting married and having babies—they should have the freedom to decide what they want to do. Steinem has written articles for women’s magazines including Esquire and Cosmopolitan and was the first woman to ever speak at the National Press Club, an organization for journalists and communication professionals (Gloria Steinem's website here). Steinem isn’t the only female journalist who was all about empowerment; according to the article “99 Ways to Be Naughty in Kazakhstan: How Cosmo Conquered the World” in New York Times Magazine, Helen Gurley Brown was the queen.

Known as H.G.B. or the original “Cosmo-Girl,” Brown was the original poster-child for female empowerment and sexual liberation at Cosmopolitan and in the media (read up on H.G.B. here). She was the author of the scandalous book “Sex and the Single-Girl” in the early sixties and one of the early editors for Cosmopolitan, beginning her career in 1965 and ending it in 1997. During her time as an editor, women’s magazines were mainly about how to be the perfect housewife: always about pleasing other people, especially men. Brown was the one who decided it was time to write about how to please yourself as a woman and how to get what you want: the birth of the fun, fearless female.

Invigorating or Pornographic?

This debate about what is and is not appropriate to write about in women's magazines is still happening today.

Nicole Weider, a model and founder of Project Inspired, an organization that aims to support girls and educate them on the pressures of media, has been battling to ban Cosmo from underage readers for years now. Weider believes Cosmo is a “full on pornographic magazine” and puts a tremendous amount of pressure on young girls who read it all because of the racy headlines and sexual stories. One thing Weider would like to see happen is having the magazine sold with a wrapper on it, blocking all cover content to girls who are underage. See more of Weider's debate here.

According to this article, Weider is not alone; heiress Victoria Hearst, who is the daughter of the founder of Hearst Corporation-th-e company that publishes Cosmo--teamed up with her to get the magazine off the shelves because of it’s pornographic content. Hearst’s reasoning related to her religious beliefs.

More than print

Cosmopolitan isn’t the only source of media that has been apart of the female empowerment movement, there are many blog sites dedicated to the cause, the main hub being Feministing.com, a site for women to go and stay updated on the latest feminism debates.

Even some men's magazines are taking a stand for feminism...here's a sentence you never thought you'd read: Playboy is feminist?

In this article published by the Columbia Journalism Review, freelance writer Sara Benincasa talks about how Playboy.com is actually a positive website for women. Her main argument has to do with the fact that due to the risky content, Playboy is seen as disrespectful toward women, when really she sees it as a “fairly respectable publication.” Playboy.com re-launched about a year ago and according to Benincasa, a lot of their content is actually pretty female oriented. Cory Jones, the senior vice president for digital content at Playboy said the brand is all about being a gentleman and claims they have many feminist writers. To wrap it all up, female empowerment, sexual liberation and gender equality has become very prevalent in today’s society and has been up for debate for centuries. Females in the journalism industry are rising up to educate young women on what it means to be successful. Cosmopolitan is not only published nationwide, but worldwide as well in 22 different countries, making the women’s magazine one of the most popular in the world and it’s goal is to promote feminism within every issue. Feministing.com publishes new stories every single day and the number of supporters for female liberation within the media is growing with it.

You go, girls.