Someone bought my wife a gift subscription to Cosmopolitan magazine.

[NNadir]

It's been coming here for a couple of years. We have no idea who sent this subscription. We've been married for more than three decades, with all that implies.

My wife keeps the copies lying around the house because my son is an Art student and occasionally cuts the pages up for absurdist collages.

One issue came yesterday, and after a long time of not looking inside, I finally did so.

There doesn't seem to be a table of contents in the magazine. It's all ads about meretricious beauty products. I believe I did encounter one article which was insipid "relationship advice," oh, and an article about the perfect, um, Cosmopolitan "man"

(It ain't me.)

There was a brief comment by a woman who spent her first date with a guy having sex all day, only to decide he wasn't for her, because, um, he sent for take out food and didn't order any for her.

You wonder how a complete idiot like Trump could actually be in the House where Lincoln, Grant, Obama and the two Roosevelts lived, and then you see something like this magazine, and you sort of, kind of, after a fashion, in a way, possibly, understand.

[cyclonefence]

1. Wait--he sent out for food

and didn't order anything for her?!

Sweet Jesus what have we come to?

[Not Ruth]

2. That is why you have dinner first

[emulatorloo]

6. ...

[Merlot]

3. Someone sent me a subscription to Good Housekeeping

I am the person least likely to be intersted in housekeeping and recipies. At least Cosmo is funny!

[NJCher]

4. women's magazines are the ultimate bore

I glance at their covers at the newsstand and never find anything of interest.

Their cover lines prey on women's weaknesses. Examples are "lack of sleep" and ways to take off pounds.

They deserve to go broke.

Cosmo is especially stupid. Their content presents itself as if a woman's full time job is to make herself attractive and there's no higher purpose in life than finding a man.

There are exceptions; Family Circle and Women's Day often have helpful articles, but I can get that content elsewhere easier. For example, if I want some household tips, I'll go to youtube.

[crazycatlady]

5. They now have political content too

[emulatorloo]

7. Not seen it in a while. The "tricks in bed" articles used to be pretty inventive back in the day.

I recall when it started out it was targeted at working women. Career advice mixed in with the other stuff. So that was a big deal, as most other magazines at the time were targeted at homemakers. Anyways haven't looked at in 20 years or so

[edbermac]

8. "he sent for take out food and didn't order any for her" ??

In my day you had to wine and dine a woman to get her into bed. Nowadays you get her into bed first then you have to wine and dine her.

I’m very confused.

[NNadir]

11. I knew my wife for two years, and was very good friends with her before we became...

...lovers.

I guess I'm a prude, but I still think one should know something about a person before having sex.

Both people in this brief and somewhat shallow report make me very, very, very sad.

[retread]

9. The take-out deal was just another sign of his selfishness. By then she probably

had already made the decision to bail.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

10. Cosmopolitan has become (and maybe always was) hopelessly retrograde.

Its focus is on makeup, diets, and sex techniques - how women can attract men by being superficially sexy.

[wyldwolf]

12. Cosmo confessions are trashy fun to read. However, the online version has become a bit progressive

I actually think there's a market for a young women's magazine that covers a lot of what Cosmo does but with a healthy dose of liberal politics.