Cosmopolitan is a monthly women’s magazine with over 50 international editions. This ad-heavy magazine features short stories and advice-focused articles on relationships, sex, fashion, entertainment, and career.
Cosmopolitan Magazine was founded in 1886 by publisher Schlicht and Field Company as a family magazine about fashion, home decor, cooking, and other domestic interests. Two years later, Schlicht & Field’s bankruptcy forced the magazine to be sold to Joseph Newton Hallock, who introduced book reviews and serialized novels to its pages. John Brisbane Walker took over publishing in 1889 and expanded circulation from 20,000 to 400,000 copies. Walker’s Cosmopolitan became a popular American literary magazine featuring poetry, travel essays, and short stories with an emphasis on education and social reform. In 1905, Cosmopolitan was purchased by publishing magnate William Randolph Hearst. After a brief period of malfeasance, the magazine adopted a format of short stories and articles about celebrities and public affairs, and circulation grew to 2 million copies by 1940.
When Helen Gurley Brown, author of Sex and the Single Girl (1962), became Cosmopolitan’s first female editor in 1965, the failing magazine underwent a dramatic makeover. It was done. With a new motto of “Fun, Fearless, Feminine,” we began to focus solely on the interests of young women. Although reports about premarital sex, contraception, and corporate careers caused scandal in the 1960s, Brown’s brutally candid approach to the “Cosmo Girl” lifestyle contributed to a gradual shift in cultural norms. In the decades that followed, the magazine was criticized by feminists and social conservatives alike, but dozens of fashion and lifestyle publications imitated Brown’s highly successful methods.
