Cosmopolitan today
In recent years the magazine and in particular its cover stories have become more sexually explicit in tone as well as covers with models wearing revealing clothes. Kroger, America's largest grocery chain, currently covers up Cosmopolitan at checkout stands because of complaints about sexually explicit headlines. Walmart, Wegmans, and other retailers do this as well.
The UK edition of Cosmopolitan, which began in 1972, was well known for sexual explicitness, with strong sexual language, male nudity and coverage of such subjects as rape. In 1999, CosmoGIRL!, a spinoff magazine targeting a teenage female audience, was created for international readership. However, it ended print production in December 2008.
Real-world stories are recounted ("Real Life Reads") first-hand by survivors, safety tips for risky or dangerous situations (such as living alone) accompany stories of hidden risks, health myths and urban legends are debunked. Sections such as "Health Check", which has featured articles such as "Cosmo Gyno" and "Your Body: What An Abnormal Pap Smear Can Mean", are there not only for entertainment value but to help women understand their bodies and even recognize possible health problems. Less serious regular features include "Guy Confessions" (pages where men share embarrassing stories or shameful things they've done); celebrity gossip; "You, You, You", which contains a wide variety of fun facts and advice.
The magazine currently features topics such as sex, makeup and hair tips.
Cosmopolitan has readers in more than 100 countries and offers editions, both published by Hearst and/or a licensing partner in 34 languages, including Finnish, Spanish, Korean, Hungarian, Bulgarian, Portuguese, Swedish, Polish, Hebrew, Estonian, Romanian, Georgian, Russian, German, Italian, French, Greek, Malaysian and Indonesian. It was banned in Singapore until recently.
Cosmopolitan has traditionally been a women’s magazine discussing such topics as sex, health, fitness and fashion. Recently the magazine is sharing their focus with men’s issues as well. “Cosmo for your guy” is featured in every issue with exclusive advice for the men. Cosmopolitan also recruits men as a part of their staff to answer their female readers' burning questions they just can’t ask the men in their lives. The “Guy Confessions” add men’s embarrassing mishaps to those submitted by women.
It should be noted, that when the season's issues stack up chronologically, the spines of the magazine reveal a typical Cosmo-guy lounging on your shelf.
