cosmopolitan magazine cover, representation of women

Cosmopolitan magazine is a long running established magazine that is focused on sexual topics. this magazine's target audience is young to middle aged women. Hilary Duff, the model of this issue, is sexualised but is treated as an individual in several ways. Her face takes precedent over the masthead and unlike models in other publications with sexual depictions of women her identity is shown as the Strapline. this shows her as something of value, a USP, because people want to see why she is back and 'kicking ass'. the primary shift between the 1970's traditional representation and that of cosmopolitans is that it focuses on women's sexual freedom as opposed to a desire to latch on to a man. The promotion of '63 secrets to love that lasts' as opposed to '63 tips to find the perfect man' is that the focus is on what the woman wants and how the woman can better fulfill her life. 

in conclusion the shifts between the traditionalist representation to the representation offered by cosmopolitan is that it changes the focus from achieving a narrow minded goal (finding a man) to achieving self-fulfillment.