[Wamvan] Death of Helen Gurley Brown, discussion of Cosmo and feminism

Tue Aug 14 12:28:52 PDT 2012

Yup - absolutely - I did mention that I watched a later interview where she
said that she was only talking about straight women, but didn't mention
that she didn't seem to think that was a problem. Would've liked to clarify
that I do think that's an issue, obviously.

On Tue, Aug 14, 2012 at 12:27 PM, Natalie Hill <nhill10 at gmail.com> wrote:

> Oh, wow! I had no idea. I guess if you had 10 minutes notice, you weren't
> able to get the word out to all of us so we could tune in!
>
> I'll have to have a listen. But even before I do, yes, very important
> point - as far as Cosmo seems to be concerned, no women but straight women
> (and like to have lots of penis-in-vagina sex straight women, even more
> specifically) seem to exist.
>
> 8 minutes for you to discuss Cosmo and feminism? psht! come on.
>
>
>
> On Tue, Aug 14, 2012 at 11:58 AM, Jarrah <jarrahhodge at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Hey Natalie,
>>
>> I did an interview on this yesterday on On the Coast (around the 1:00:00
>> mark):http://www.cbc.ca/video/watch/AudioMobile/On The Coast/ID=
>> 2267036281
>>
>> To be fair, I had literally 10 minutes notice of this interview, but I'm
>> not 100% happy with what I said - I always realize after that the 8 minutes
>> goes way faster than you think. I wish particularly I would've mentioned
>> that her tips and advice were very much geared not just to straight but
>> also to just white women. And I had intended to talk more in detail about
>> consumerism and how it conflicts with feminism fundamentally, but missed
>> out.
>>
>> Anyway, additional discussion/feedback appreciated - the more I
>> researched her the more I was fascinated by all the ways she contradicted
>> herself through her life - for example making statements around how
>> "brainwork" will amuse women but beauty won't, but then becoming a very
>> frank advocate of plastic surgery and weight loss because of her idea that
>> as an older woman you have to maintain this standard she espoused of sexual
>> attractiveness. And again this idea that she promoted financial
>> independence and not marrying someone you don't love, but still argues that
>> sex is everything and you have to follow these rules for beauty and
>> lifestyle in order to attract "the right man".
>>
>> -Jarrah
>>
>> On Tue, Aug 14, 2012 at 11:49 AM, Natalie Hill <nhill10 at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> As I'm sure many of you have head, longtime editor of Cosmo magainze,
>>> Helen Gurley Brown, died on Monday. Obituaries have been published in many
>>> major publications - here's the one that appeared in the NYTimes.<http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/14/business/media/helen-gurley-brown-who-gave-cosmopolitan-its-purr-is-dead-at-90.html?pagewanted=all>
>>>
>>> Edith Zimmerman wrote about Cosmo, also for the NYT, earlier this month. Here's
>>> her article.<http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/05/magazine/how-cosmo-conquered-the-world.html?pagewanted=all>
>>>
>>> A crude synopsis of Zimmerman's piece is that Cosmo has indeed taken
>>> over the world and has massive global influence, and this isn't necessarily
>>> a bad thing, because Cosmo isn't as bad as its rap. A very short excerpt
>>> from what is a very long piece:
>>>
>>> “50 Kinky Sex Moves” notwithstanding, Cosmo does adhere to a set of
>>>> surprisingly wholesome values. The magazine discourages plastic surgery,
>>>> for instance, and has run articles opposing breast implants. In its
>>>> coverage of food and fitness, White notes, “we don’t do any diets, no crash
>>>> dieting.” The U.S. edition also has a section called Body Love, in which it
>>>> tries “to encourage women to feel good about their bodies,” no matter their
>>>> size. A recent issue featured a spread of a curvy woman in a variety of
>>>> gorgeous bathing suits on some fabulous remote beach. It didn’t feel like a
>>>> token shoot of a larger model; she was beautiful, and the bathing suits
>>>> were reasonably priced."
>>>
>>>
>>> Zimmerman was also on CBC's Q today, discussing her opinion. Click here<http://www.cbc.ca/q/episodes/>to listen to that interview (click on the first episode that's listed:
>>> 'Robert Fisk on Syria, Lionel Richie, Cosmo's Global Impact 08/14/2012').
>>>
>>> In response to Zimmerman's article, Gail Dines penned this piece<http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/aug/07/cosmopolitan-false-promise-awesome-life>in the Guardian. Excerpt:
>>>
>>> "Learning how to give men great orgasms on their terms does not sound to
>>>> me like a recipe for living an "awesome life". Instead, it sounds old and
>>>> tired. Wouldn't it be nice if, instead, there were a bestselling magazine
>>>> that devoted itself to giving women great orgasms on our own terms? If the
>>>> feminist movement had the Hearst Corporation backing us, then we would come
>>>> up with a compelling magazine that would link fabulous orgasms with equal
>>>> pay, safe housing, free daycare, and freedom from sexual violence."
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> These are just a few pieces circulating right now as people discuss the
>>> impact of Brown on the publishing industry and 'lipstick feminism,' and the
>>> impact of Cosmo on women's lives.
>>>
>>> Just thought I would throw these out there as a conversation starter. I
>>> agree far more with Dines - in theory, Cosmo may have opened the door for
>>> more honest and frank discussions about female sexuality, but its approach
>>> to female sexuality actually isn't about women at all. It's almost always
>>> about men's sexual satisfaction, and an approach to sex that sees women as
>>> subservient to male needs and desires.
>>>
>>> I also agree with her that a publication designed to promote the
>>> capitalist pursuit of buying sh*t you don't need, all while participating
>>> in body-hating, classist racist, and ablest narratives in the process, is
>>> not feminist. Zimmerman has a hard time getting around this in her CBC
>>> interview.
>>>
>>> Curious to see what WAMmers think.....
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
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>>> Wamvan at lists.resist.ca
>>> https://lists.resist.ca/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/wamvan
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> --------------------
>> Jarrah Hodge
>> @jarrahpenguin
>> http://gender-focus.com
>> --------------------
>>
>>
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-- 
--------------------
Jarrah Hodge
@jarrahpenguin
http://gender-focus.com
--------------------
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