HGB: We try to be of service to our reader. That's what we are all
about. We try to make her life better. I make no apologies that we don't
do a great deal else. We don't talk about politics or the world
situation. We just focus on her life. Others can do other things for
her.
There's a suggestion that the women who read the women's service
magazines are really not up to par intellectually. Total nonsense, of
course. They read such magazines for what they get out of them. The same
women are probably reading The Atlantic Monthly and Time and Forbes and
Newsweek and lots of other publications. One publication cannot possibly
be everything to everybody.
If there is a denigration of the word "service," it is at the peril
of those doing the denigrating, not at women getting the service they
need from magazines.
PT: You consider yourself a feminist. Why do you think you've irked
some members of the feminist community?
HGB: They feel that Cosmo panders to men, that we try to make life
comfortable for men, and you can't do that and be a feminist. I say you
absolutely can.
The premise for me is that sex is wonderful. Being a heterosexual
woman, I think sex with a man is probably what you're after, and being a
sex object is a very good thing. If you're not a sex object, you're in
trouble. You want to be known for your brain, but to have somebody want
you sexually is the best thing there is. You can still look pretty and
smell pretty and achieve. You can't get anybody to bed unless you are the
object of sexual desire. So there is nothing wrong with being a sex
object. He is your sex object. It works both ways.
The feminist movement for a long time, perhaps with reason,
denigrated men. They were the enemy. It's mostly men who have kept women
from achieving and getting parity in work and pay. I acknowledge that,
but since sex is terrific and it comes from men, you can't rule men out
of this world and say they're all terrible and rotten--because you're
going to need one of them for your own purposes. Besides, not all men are
terrible and rotten. Most men can be taught, encouraged, helped
along.
The feminist movement has come more to my viewpoint, I believe.
They have acknowledged that men are necessary. You can be a feminist and
still like men. You don't have to like all men, but you need one for
you.
Cosmo is big on what used to be called self-determination. Though
men have been a real pain in the neck in terms of job progress, you can
get beyond them. What you do yourself is more important than what they do
to you and what they prevent you from doing. If you use your brains and
guts and whatever modest talent you have, you can get everywhere.
PT: You being a good example?
HGB: I am messianic on the subject. If I can do it, other people
can do it. I held 17 secretarial jobs before I got into advertising
copywriting. And it wasn't until the age of 43 that I found out what I
like doing--editing. What you can do is get your nose to the glass and
look in there and see what they've got that you don't, and do your best
to get it. That's a message that pervades Cosmo: Use your own guts and
energy to improve yourself, your job, your intellect, and every other
possible thing. You can't sleep your way to the top or even to the
middle, and there is no free lunch. You have to do it yourself, so you
might as well get started.
PT: Young woman today, say age 25, are part of the generation that
is now coming into your prime demographic zone. They have pretty much
equal footing in that men are their friends now as well as their bosses.
But their job prospects are dim. They are also the children of
divorce.
HGB: I would hope that there would be more opportunities for this
generation to take advantage of, and I hope that the job situation
improves. But this generation has to get off its ass and it has to stop
blaming parents for everything. You have to pull yourselves together and
be confident and strong.
PT: What do you think is the most interesting thing about
yourself?
HGB: I'm a killer listener, particularly with important people but
even with so-called civilians. I know everything by the time the
conversation's finished. They know little about me. So I am thought to be
an interesting person because everybody wants to talk. I don't think
there's anything interesting about me.
PHOTO: Ensconced in her "parlor" at Cosmo, editor-in-chief Helen
Gurley Brown prides herself on being girlish--fun-loving and
enthusiastic.
PHOTO: Helen Gurley Brown
PHOTOS: Issues of Cosmopolitan Magazine
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