Every Cosmo: SEX SEX SEX

In Gill's discussion of women's magazine she focuses in on the different trends of the material in magazines and the contradictions that they create. She gives a discussion on how there is now more of a focus on sex and beauty. Magazines are now mostly places to advertise for these two industries and they are meant to tell women how to be feminine. One of the main contradictions that Gill focuses in on is the contradictory messages regarding sex. The three include pleasing your man, being adventurous in your sex life, and taking charge of your sexuality (Gill 192). These messages overlap and contradict each other. They say to try new things even if it makes you uncomfortable and then to take charge of your sexuality by asking for what you want. They also say to please the man you are with but then to focus on pleasing yourself.

This relates to a Cosmo that I read the other day. It was a Q&A article that was answered by men. All the answers were how better to please men and to make it exciting in the bed room. Not once was it mentioned on how women should work to please themselves. The questions were all given to men so there was also no female perspective. This relates to Gill's mixed messages. You have to find new ways to please your man but by only listening to the men talk about it, it is failing to take in the women's view on her own sexual experiences.

These contradictions relate to our discussions on postfeminism. Women are constantly given images and advice for how to show femininity. The cultural expectation has become women self-policing themselves into the masculine idea of an ideal woman. Women now choose to become this image and feel empowered by it, but how empowering can it be when most of the discourse excludes the feminine voice? There is a lot of power in taking hold of female sexuality but without looking at the contradictory messages in magazines and only taking in the masculine discourse, women are failing to take their own power.