Monday, the 13th of August, the woman who created the Cosmo Girl, Helen Gurley Brown passed away.
I wasn't broken hearted over her passing, She lived a long, productive and successful life, well into her 90s, preaching to women the hedonistic pleasures of the flesh. I found her magazine a bit silly and repetitive; I mean really, now many times can one read about sexual techniques to drive your man wild in bed? Still, I must give the woman correct for reinventing a magazine and becoming a publishing powerhouse in an era when men dominated the publishing world!
Her song wasn't a new one, women have been exploring sexual pleasure for pleasure sake since the Roman Empress Messalina shock the Roman Empire. But she gave a voice to women who were exploring their sexual freedom during an era that gave them the Pill, allowing women to have sex without the fear of pregnancy, enjoy sex outside marriage and not only experience sex for the pursuit of pleasure but also to use sex, as Cleopatra did, to gain control and power.
I grew up in an era where my friends, as well as myself , were exploring our own sexuality. But one thing freedom of exploration doesn't protect you from and that is getting hurt. Being wounded in body and soul. In a Time article. the writer stated that Cosmopolitan magazine helped young women in,"a quest for romantic happiness". Really? What is "romantic" about an article telling women, how to give "mind blowing" fellatio?
I'm sorry to say, that these days, when men think they can have sex with a woman after he simply"Likes" her on Facebook, romance has very little to do with it!
Even during my own days on the Love Front, romantic love rarely entered my life.
Can't blame Ms. Brown for this era of love dysfunction, she just gave it a voice.
