The Reinforcement of Hegemonic Ideologies &
Gender and Sexuality Stereotypes
Within Cosmopolitan Magazine Advertisements

Rebecca Mastine

Understanding Popular Culture
Tim MacNeil
December 15, 2010

Magazines have implicitly and explicitly been influencing humans for decades. They are continually more involved in the media, however the market is highly competitive. It is extremely important for magazines to maintain the readers’ interest and loyalty therefore they must excel in its appearance and content. Helen Brown created the Cosmopolitan magazine in 1965. It holds a spot as one of the most successful women’s magazines of all time, and proceeds to be the number one selling monthly magazine. (Ouellette, 360, 2005).
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Moreover, the majority of us realize that in advertisements sex, sells! J. Sean McCleneghan conducted a descriptive study using content analysis and Likert scale measurement for the development of attitudinal perspectives of why college women regularly read and subscribe to the top-selling global women’s magazines: Cosmopolitan and Glamour (2003, p. 319). The results revealed, “the varimax-rotated three factor loadings account for 75% of the total variance under 49% sexuality, 15% freedom and 11% opportunity” (McCleneghan, 2003, p. 323). This basically means that the majority of college women read and subscribe to these magazines because of the sexual content it provides. The target market for Cosmopolitan and Glamour is females 18-25 years old who are either single or in a relationship and are targeted for sex in product promotion because they have “more disposable income for things such as clothing, beauty products, entertainment, food and magazines” (McCleneghan, 2003, p. 323). Finally, Cosmopolitan and Glamour continue to be highly successful and influential because they “appeal to the niche audience who support them” (McCleneghan, 2003, p. 324).

Advertisements play a vital role in the success and reading enhancements of a magazine. Cosmopolitan intrigues women around the world due to its unique and narrow topics. Cosmopolitan, however, reinforces