Cosmopolitan will no longer be available at check out aisles in Walmart.
The nation's biggest retailer pulled the popular magazine from check out aisles amid complaints that compared the sexualized content within the magazine to Playboy. "Cosmo sends the same messages about female sexuality as Playboy," stated the National Center on Sexual Exploitation. According to USA Today, the NCOSE led the movement against Cosmopolitan, and also got Rite Aid stores and Delhaize America (owners of Food Lion) to put the magazine behind blinders. "It places women's value primarily on their ability to sexually satisfy a man and therefore plays into the same culture where men view and treat women as inanimate sex objects," continued NCOSE in their statement. "Further, Cosmo targets young girls by placing former Disney stars on its covers, despite the enclosed sexually erotic articles which describe risky sexual acts like public, intoxicated, or anal sex in detail. Customers should not be forced to be exposed to this content when they are trying to check-out at the store."
"Walmart will continue to offer Cosmopolitan to customers that wish to purchase the magazine, but it will no longer be in the checkout aisles," Walmart said in a statement. "While this was primarily a business decision, the concerns raised were heard."
