How CosmoGirl! saved my life

As unbelievable as this may sound–there’s a lot more to Cosmo Girl! than fashion, makeup and selling body images to teen girls.

Take the February issue. On the back cover (there’s a special end section featuring Fall Out Boy Pete Wentz) there’s a teaser for “THE NEW F-WORD (AND WHY YOU SHOULD USE IT.)”

Could it be?

An article on feminism?

In Cosmo Girl!?

The little sister of Magazine?

No Way!

But, there it is on page 102 with a bold headine “The F-Word.” The article is unabashedly feminist and features two viewpoints. That of the Mom (Leslie Bennetts, author of The Feminine Mistake) and the Daughter (Emily Gerard). The article is accompanied by pictures of teens–both girls and boys–wearing “This is What a Feminist Looks Like” t-shirts.

Really. Who would’ve thought? And–get this–the article on feminsm is not necessarily the most revolutionary article in the magazine.

Thumb through a few back issues and you’ll find discussions on racism (“Could You Be a Racist?” November 2007), saving energy and the environment (“Stay Green, Young Woman! December 2007/January 2008), and the ever important gender (“The Gender Spectrum”, October 2007).

FOUR different issues within a four month span–each containing extremely important subjects.

Could Cosmo Girl! be Ms. jr.? Well…probably not. There’s still far too many emaciated/scantily clad looking women in perfume ads.

Could Cosmo Girl! be a good influence on young women?

Yes~most definitely. In addition to the extremely important articles I’ve already mentioned, each issue of CG! is packed with sections that not only encourage health and well being, but also ones that encourage teen girls to be active outside of her immediate environment and make a difference by volunteering. In other words–in the world of Cosmo Girl! there’s more to life than makeup, hair, clothes and, ohmigod, boys.

Speaking of boys, Cosmo Girl! definitely doesn’t go by the “abstinence only” sex-ed fed to most teens thanks to the Bush administration. In the Nov 2007 issue a small article under the Health section called “Condom Conundrum” gave some necessary information on having safe sex.

So bottom line–if you know a teen girl who needs reading material with a little dose of empowerment every month, CG! might not be a bad magazine to go for.

It’s not perfect by any means–but it’s got enough of what matters to really make a difference to young women, possibly impacting not only their futures but also the future of our society.

p.s.: It really doesn’t hurt that each CG! comes with an action packed manga, “The Adventures of Cosmo Girl!” It’s a surprisingly addictive manga.

(for more info on the manga: check out the CG! manga site