Saying The 'C' Word

Written by Devika Brendon
Published in Ceylon Today

I attended the bold and beautiful launch of 'Cosmopolitan' Magazine in Sri Lanka last Friday night, and saw our uptight universe tilt a little, and blush the colour of roses.

'Enter The Cosmoverse' signage and explosions of intense pink decor signalled that we were crossing the threshold into a parallel universe.  As we claimed our goodie-filled launch bag, which included the first edition of Cosmo SL, it was clear that the magazine is definitely custom-designed for the 'fun, fearless, fierce and fabulous' modern Lankan Woman, who has discovered the Lioness within her.

And indeed, this is not just another alliterated slogan.

I grew up reading 'Cosmopolitan' - in a galaxy far, far away. And now, the Cosmoverse is here, on our tropical shores, as the adsters say. It is as appealing as Botticelli's Venus, rising from the sea. And indeed, much to our relief, although Kim Kardashian, the Armenian paradox (both pirate and bounty carrier) is on the cover - and there is an article about her and her sisters within - it is a local beauty, natural looking, radiant and lovely, the brand ambassador for Kelly Felder, draped in divine swimsuits and vibrant accessories, who literally graces the Mount Lavinia sands in the central photoshoot. She is not posed provocatively, and she looks as if she is really having fun. A goddess with agency, not an over-endowed artificially-posed statue.

The ladies who launched the issue highlighted its 'curated and manicured' content, and the fact that this is online and accessible in multiple forms to the modern woman. The fashion is wearable, and affordable, and the beauty tips and recommended products aim at an apparently effortlessly natural and self-possessed look. Be what you want to be. Be the best possible you.

The 'You You You' section is full of practical advice on how to navigate the multiverse, both professional and personal, and independence is the key theme. Cosmo in the 70s and 80s seemed focused on men, sex and romantic relationships, and thus its message seemed to erode the key claims of feminism. The lifestyle, the ethos, the buzz these days is all about self-empowerment. And that starts with the relationship we have with ourselves.

There is greater intelligence, attunement and empathy at work here. Cosmo SL in 2016 is able to focus on empowering women through giving them information which is high quality, honest, direct and in easy to digest form. It is not just beauty but health we are advised about. It is your body, you own it - you are responsible for it. (Kim K with her yo-yo weight gains and hectic crash diets is no great aspirational role model in this). It is not just a lifestyle, but the balancing of a multi-faceted life that is advocated, even if creating it requires the taking of baby steps.

   

Cosmo back in the day used to display male centrefolds and proffer a sealed section containing practical information on sexual acts, body parts and their functions, and graphic images, which had to be cut open along a dotted line by the individual reader.

My Mother remembers in her teenage years, in the prehistoric pre-Cosmoverse, that the exact reverse was true: that the girls in her class at school were ordered to seal up the sections of their biology books with industrial strength tape to be protected from dangerous awareness of sex, and human reproductive organs and sexual behaviour.

The modern Cosmologists have realised that the human brain is the most attractive of all our organs, in its complexity, and its capacity to respond enthusiastically to stimuli.

This modern version of Cosmo has a young Lankan god interviewed who is actually asked intelligent questions about his life, and responds in kind. This is part of the 'Manthropology' strategy - to find out how men think, not just treat them like eye candy. I wish that the goddess had been interviewed too.

Because women as a species are highly intelligent, and biologically and sociologically trained to create and to relate. Connectivity is our gift. Sharing is caring. Cosmo here is positioning itself like every girl's older sister: chic, sassy, sophisticated, protective and sympathetic. If the magazine was a girl, she would surely be Katniss Everdeen. If she was a goddess, she would be Artemis, armed and valorous.

Cosmopolitan internationally is read by 40 Million readers, and has 1.2 Million followers on Instagram.

What is so interesting about this joint venture by Hearst Enterprises and Capital Media is its timing. 2015/16 is possibly the perfect epicentre of a female-centric awakening, which began arguably with Sri Lanka producing the world's first female Prime Minister, but which has gone underground for decades, in terms of the experiences of the female citizenry of Sri Lanka.

Recently our current President spoke out against the sexual and moral depravity caused by over-exposure to materialism and decadence, qualities which were, in his view, showcased by a young Sri Lankan woman throwing a bra at the son of Julio Iglesias at a concert performance. There was speculation that it might have been not just a natural and understandable public mating signal, but a particularly brazen, rather vicarious, act of product placement.

But there were other obscene aspects to what took place on that occasion.

The ticket prices were astronomically high. The waiting period was inflated. Plenty to complain about. And Lankans love to complain.

But the 'Love & Sex' theme of the concert was targeted perfectly at the age group and interests of the audience. The same audience which Cosmopolitan SL is aiming its hot pink arrows at.

Our young women are in need of guidance. On what to wear, and when to keep it on - and take it off. And on many other aspects of life, in this dazzling, dizzying multiverse. The modern young Sri Lankan woman, with her cultural and ethnic roots in the mythical village of the damsels and princesses and maidens of the past, and her contemporary aspirations in the jewelled citadels of the cities of the whole wide world, is currently navigating some seriously shifting terrain.

The generation of young women aged 22 to whatever (peaking in the late 20s and 30s and 40s) in Sri Lanka today are being urged to be fearless and fierce and free. And, dear Goddess, they will need to be!

I offer a modern blessing to our sisters and daughters, as they too enter the Cosmoverse: May we be liberated from the constraints and limitations which have infuriated, discouraged and exhausted our foremothers. May we be unafraid of what people say about us: the callous insensitivity of some, the body-shaming comments, the sexual innuendos, the carping criticism, the outright harassment, the micro humiliations and the major outrages - perpetrated by our elders and our peers at times on a daily basis on our dignity and self-worth. May we be fierce instead of timid, and have the beautiful boldness to be outspoken, when misguided mentor figures attempt to force us into two-faced or (even worse) shamefaced postures and behaviour. May we be peerless in our professional lives, and passionate in our personal lives.

May we be fabulous. May we be free.

Welcome, the bold, brave and beautiful 'C'!