Things Straight Guy Hates Immediately: Cosmo for Men


Gay Guy,

Let me know if you have any interest in paying for the new "Cosmo for Guys." 

It's a special e-reader version of the magazine targeted just for men. Look, I'll admit to reading a few articles from magazines like this when they've crossed my path. I'm sure women aren't above reading Men's Health, Esquire, or even Maxim if they find it in the waiting room, either.

I'm sure Cosmo has some of the beast headline writers in the biz. "Whisper This During Sex: The Hottest Thing You Can Say to a Naked Woman." Hells yeah, I'm intrigued. But would I subscribe for "$1.99 per issue, $3.99 per month or $19.99 per year"? That's laughable.

Cosmopolitan Magazine has a well-deserved reputation for sex polls and body image quizzes that make their target readers feel very inadequate (and consequently, hungry for more information). They also happen to objectify women way more than many men's magazines. Not just my opinion, I verified this with a female associate today.

My quick take: Cosmo is skanky know-it-all gossip. Sometimes she's fun to hang out with, but you won't feel good about yourself later. Maybe it's a great purchase at an airport newsstand, but you don't want to fill your bookshelf with back issues.

Now they want to come after guys, too? Cosmo claims that we're asking for it. According to them, men "frequently tell us that they love reading Cosmo because they're fascinated about what makes females tick and they want to know how to better please the women in their life."

Of course we're fascinated. But we aren't asking you for help, Cosmo.

Readers, help me out here. Alarming trend or guilty pleasure? Any women's magazines you WOULD like to see reworked for male audiences?

--Straight Guy

3 comments:

BosGuy said...

I can't think of any women's magazine I'd want re-worked for a male audience and I'm w/ SG on this one.

Two thumbs down for Cosmo for Men. I can't imagine any survey they might ask about that would pique my interest.

Anonymous said...

I think AskMen.com has this demographic covered (for free?). I don't think a guy would want to be caught reading such a magazine, so I think this is a bad idea.

Dorn said...

When it comes to waiting room scenarios, I'll read nearly anything. And with our third kid on the way, lemme just say OBGYN offices continue pushing those boundaries to max capacity.

I'm thinking about subscriptions I've had in the past and with the vastness of things to read online, I can confidently say I don't miss any of them. So, I'd never pay for this, but I wouldn't avoid it like the plague either.

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