Cosmo’s youngster covergirls reflect paradigm shift
Published: Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Updated: Thursday, February 9, 2012 13:02
Sometime during the whirlwind that
was sophomore year, my friends and I would slip into an easy routine.
Lunch for Nacho Friday in Dougherty was mandatory, and one of us would
supply a new copy of Cosmopolitan magazine.
We would laugh at some of the more
ridiculous articles, take mental notes on the fashion trends of the
season and loiter over the horoscopes. It was comforting female
camaraderie, a happy time that I always recall with a smile.
I eventually slowed down on my
magazine reading, probably because life got busier, or because we got
lazy about setting aside that time to play. I also began to favor the
writing in other publications. Yet, I still pick up a new Cosmopolitan
issue now and then, and I see it in the drugstore or grocery and scan
the cover for a second while I select a pack of gum. Which is what
brings me to my current query: What is going on with their latest cover
selection?
Last month, Cosmopolitan selected
Dakota Fanning as their cover story and received turbulent commentary.
Fanning is a talented actress, who has arguably completed more work—and
more skillful work at that—than many of the adults in her profession.
That being said, she is simply not
an adult---not any way you spin it. Thus I found myself surprised as I
stood in line at the grocery store recently and saw that Selena Gomez
was gracing their cover this month.
One could make the argument that
Gomez, approaching 20, is also an accomplished young woman. She has both
a music and a film career, she is a skillful comedienne and could have a
promising career ahead. But once again, that career—that adult
career—lies in the future. Gomez is still a young actress and recording
artist. Approaching 20 does not equate to a 20-something. What does her
image on Cosmopolitan stand for?
In my opinion, this is not even a
question about the duality of the young women on the cover and the
suggestive nature of the headlines that are emblazoned next to them,
though I can see why many might find that especially jarring.
What seems most surprising about these cover choices is that these young women are following a series of 20-or 30-somethings,
and their presence on the cover, one after another, could reflect a new
trend. If the public was surprised and mildly horrified to find Fanning
on the cover, why make Gomez your follow-up act?
My concern is not that a younger
crowd, seeing Gomez on the cover of Cosmopolitan, will pick up the
magazine with content that is far too adult. I wish to make that clear.
Rather, my interest in this topic
lies in what this says about our culture. Cosmopolitan, a magazine for
women, is banking on selecting enviable women for their covers who are
at a peak professionally and personally.
Do they intend for these women to
embody womanhood? Perhaps. Can a young adult embody womanhood in this
society? Without walking out onto a slippery slope about female infantilization in American culture, I might posit that these are two very separate female identities, and never the twain shall meet.
By selecting these younger stars
for their cover, I wonder if the magazine is promoting an image of
womanhood as youthful and innocent, which is frankly an exclusive
ideal.
Its unattainability
lies in the blanket statement it makes: I am woman, young and beautiful
and in many cases, so far unmarked by most of life's bumps and
bruises.
When my friends and I read
Cosmopolitan together, we knew that the women featured on the cover were
more representative of our future selves, dealing with questions or
conflicts we would not confront for another few years.
Yes, I think it is EXTREMELY important to discuss how Asian women are fetishized and stereotyped in a very demeaning way, but I felt Ying Chu, the author of the article, actually perpetuated those stereotypes. The problem was that she wrote in generalizations, therefore implying that ALL Asian women dating/married to white men are being subjugated, which in turn implies that they weren’t smart enough to not fall into the trap of an unequal relationship. I know that Marie Claire revised the online edition of the article slightly after the outcry, but the original was truly painful to read.
I think Chu’s piece was especially problematic because most of the women she cited in the article are extremely accomplished in their own right. Marie Claire very rarely features Asian models and I find it very disheartening that one of the few times I see Asian women in its pages is when they are being denigrated for their personal relationships. Take Zhang Ziyi, for example. In addition to being gorgeous, she’s already worked with some of the world’s top directors (Ang Lee, Rob Marshall, etc.) and is now a producer, though she’s only 30. From interviews, it’s obvious that she’s extremely intelligent and outspoken. Why not put her on the cover instead of dissing her for being engaged to a white man?
I also think it’s important to note that it’s not just certain white men who think Asian women are submissive. I’ve heard the same thing from Asian men, black men, Latino men… it seems like a pretty universal stereotype, which makes it even worse. Like I said, I think more people need to write about “yellow fever” and how it affects the lives of Asian women, but I think this is a subject that needs to be dealt with a lot more intelligently than Chu was either able or willing to do.
I dated an Asian girl who only dated white men before me. After the white guy gave her STD which she had to be treated and cheated on her, and unfortunately, I found her. After she told me this, I had to leave. I was scared since I only had 1 other girl and she must have had like more than 10. Worst is her white boyfriend are does look like he had a case of yellow fever, since he cheated on her with another Asian girl.
As an Asian American guy, it looks bleak out there. I want to find an Asian girl since I am more comfortable with that, but I don’t want to get STD from promicuous Asian girl who like to go around with whites, and whites men will fuck anything that moves. Case in point, this article that said Asian women have 4X rate of STD than Asian men.
You wonder why women have more STD than men, when to other race it is the opposite.
http://www.bu.edu/phpbin/news-cms/news/?de…92&id=52827