Cosmopolitan Mag Gets 18th-Century Makeover
Someone at the humor website Historic LOLs had some fun giving Cosmopolitan magazine an eighteenth-century makeover. It’s a far cry from the sex-obsessed magazine of today, but this new old version of it is something that even Jane Austen might approve of:
Well, that may be taking it too far. But that’s what makes this cover so great: By placing the magazine in a more prudish context, but using similar headlines as those of today, this cover highlights just how absurd and over-the-top Cosmo‘s contemporary covers are.
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Parody is one way to respond to Cosmopolitan magazine. But there’s another way, too–one that six New York women have hit upon. If you’re interested in a real fashion magazine for women that is classier than those on the stands today, then check out Verily magazine, a new publication that is bucking the Cosmo trend. Managed by six New York professionals, the new magazine is seeking to engage “in conversation on what it means to be authentic women in the 21st century.”
What that means, the editors of Verily believe, has not been expressed by the current offerings in women’s magazines:
Like so many things in NYC, Verily was born over a gathering of friends for brunch. We ended up on the topic of women’s magazines – in particular, how most of them didn’t seem to reflect our lives or our philosophies as women. Here was a diverse group hailing from all over the country and working in everything from fashion to medicine to philanthropy. We had gone through the learning curve of our first jobs, navigated life in a new city, and been on more first dates than many of us would like to admit. If this group of modern women were all feeling overlooked, surely others must feel the same way?
Research would indicate so. In their paper The Paradox of Declining Female Happiness, researchers Betsey Stevenson and Justin Wolfers at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School found that “women’s happiness has fallen both absolutely and relative to men’s in a pervasive way.” In Dove’s 2004 study, The Real Truth About Beauty, Dr. Susie Orbach notes, “When it comes to strictly physical attributes, the images of manufactured femininity are rejected as being too narrow, as inauthentic and as insufficient.”
So we set out to create a real alternative for modern women. What started as Kara & Janet meeting over coffee in their East Village apartment quickly grew to connecting with Mary Rose, Ashley, and Krizia to plan out and create the first issue. We have been so fortunate to work with dozens of talented people, from writers to photographers and stylists, to all the amazing women who have shared their perspectives with us. We look forward to growing with all of you and look forward to engaging in conversation on what it means to be authentic women in the 21st century.
The first issue of the magazine is available to read online. What do you think? (Click here for the cover). I like the soft and natural aesthetic, and many of the feature articles, including one on the women of Downton Abbey, are interesting reads.
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Comments:
Jun '10
Re: Cosmopolitan Mag Gets 18th-Century Makeover
The modern response: Women have faces? Huh.
Re: Cosmopolitan Mag Gets 18th-Century Makeover
Wow, it looks like a magazine put together by young conservative women (or at least women with brains and principles). Things that popped out at me as I skimmed through:
Impressive. I like.
Apr '12
Re: Cosmopolitan Mag Gets 18th-Century Makeover
Reaching a mass audience requires appealing to the lowest common denominator. Cosmo (and so many other forms of media) achieve this with a visceral impact. If they're satisfied with a smaller market, maybe they can keep some dignity.
Apr '12
Re: Cosmopolitan Mag Gets 18th-Century Makeover
Thank you.
Aug '10
Re: Cosmopolitan Mag Gets 18th-Century Makeover
I may have an insufficient x-chromosome count for this discussion, but I think it's worth noting that most of the women's magazines seem to be intent on shoe-horning women into the wingtips of male sexual predilections. As promising as that may be at first blush for cads, rakes, and bounders (i.e. gentlemen like me), it seems to put women in a position that feels unnatural to them. Who would feel happy or comfortable trying to live according to a set of values that are not only unnatural, but diametrically opposed to all of her natural inclinations? I think the conflict comes from conflating untethered fantasy with the real-world effects of a particular lifestyle.
Yes, such-and-such would be fun in the abstract, but in the real world, its unpleasantness confirms everything that my instincts and intellect told me it would produce.
Nov '11
Re: Cosmopolitan Mag Gets 18th-Century Makeover
Thank you, Emily! Subscribing for two of my 20-30-year-old nieces...
Apr '11
Re: Cosmopolitan Mag Gets 18th-Century Makeover
FWIW: sent the link to three of my sisters.