The Cosmo Girl – How Cosmopolitan Pioneered the Women’s Sexual Revolution in the Mainstream Media.

The iconic story of how one magazine broke down barriers and became a bible for the modern career girl of the 60’s.

By Jessica Newberry 

In the midst of the revolutionary society of the 1960’s, which saw social norms and discrimination being challenged left, right and centre, was the women’s sexual revolution. This revolution saw changing attitudes to premarital sex, females embracing their sexual promiscuity and the ability for a woman to control if and when she would conceive, due to the introduction of the birth control pill. Women could finally have sex when they wanted, how they wanted - all without the risk of falling pregnant.

1965 Good Housekeeping cover.

However, the phenomenon of the women’s liberation movement was still so new – and controversial in the patriarchal society of the 60’s – that media outlets were not talking about it, let alone embracing it. Other women’s magazines were written by white, middle class men, whom were not subject to any discrimination in America, and in typical conservative fashion promoted the notion that women were concerned with little other than housework and motherhood. Topics would generally cover dull, sexist themes such as banning the birth control pill, ‘really fun’ recipes and tips on how to raise the children.

The 60’s were crying out for a magazine like Cosmopolitan!

Cosmopolitan took a new approach to its publications when Helen Gurley Brown was appointed editor-in-chief of the magazine in 1965. Brown was famed for her fictional bestseller Sex and the Single Girl, which was intended to be the unmarried woman’s guide to being financially independent and sexually experienced before marriage. Brown went on to embrace these themes in the magazine, as female sexuality was printed from cover to cover, featuring promiscuous cover girls and taboo topics. Cosmopolitan was transformed from a literary magazine to a magazine for the modern, liberal woman of the 1960’s.

1965 Cosmopolitan cover.

Mid 60's Cosmo covers helps to contextualise how the magazine revolutionised the way that the media reached women, finally providing colourful conversations about sex and women with careers, contrasting the drab publications of other lifestyle magazines. In one cover, also from 1965, a completely different kind of woman is portrayed, compared to Good Housekeeping; the cover girl is portrayed as powerful and strong trough her jacket and trousers and sexy through the promiscuous pose, promoting the idea that women can have it all. The left header asks ‘why can’t a woman be like a man?’ which captured the thoughts of many liberated women.

60’s publications featured topics such as abortion, divorce and successful career women. This promoted the idea these themes were all achievable for contemporary readers. Mentioning birth control in publications opened up the nation that women were having sex because they enjoyed it and not because they wanted to be baby making machines, and it was even found that the more women that read Cosmo, the more likely they were to take control of their own sexual pleasure. The magazine put the concept of sexual liberation in to the mainstream media, by embracing the idea that the modern woman was the fabricator of her own identity – financially and sexually.

However, Cosmopolitan was not just about sex and singledom - the magazine was incredibly powerful in redefining traditional expectations; a woman’s life was now allowed to be free, successful and enjoyable, instead of sensible and devoted to her husband.

Although different from Friedan’s vision, Cosmopolitan created a brand of feminism which promoted the empowerment of women by encouraging them to explore their sexual desires and take the lead in their relationships.  

Jessica Newberry