Madonna said, “When I’m hungry, I eat. When I’m thirsty, I drink. When I feel like saying something, I say it.” That goes a long way toward describing how young women are seeing themselves these days, according to these category-leading glossies.
Cosmopolitan
Who better than Madonna to grace the cover of Cosmopolitan as the ultimate Cosmo Girl? A provocative photo spread of the songstress precedes a bland Q & A. Madonna’s most interesting comment: “I’m being discriminated against because I’m 56 years old, and people don’t think I have the right to continue to be successful, to be sexual, to have fun.” Cosmo also nabbed an exclusive interview with WikiLeaks private Bradley Manning — now Chelsea — who describes transgender life behind bars. There’s nothing terribly new in the profile about Manning’s past, but there are details about her daily life as a prisoner that should appeal to fans of “Orange is the New Black.”
Marie Claire
Marie Claire celebrates its global beauty issue with indecision, publishing four separate covers. A teaser on all of them, “The Sex Secret No One’s Talking About,” leads to a six-page spread on the female orgasm that reminds us of a visit to Manhattan’s Museum of Sex rather than some astonishing revelation. A list of big O moments on the silver screen — yes, “When Harry Met Sally” is among them — is a big yawn, as is the advice from some Ph.D.s. Marie Claire then tackles a more surprising subject: bullying by nurses at work who haze one another straight out of “Mean Girls.” Who knew?
Glamour
The thinking woman’s beauty book, Glamour, gets a lot of things right, like its interview with beauty mogul Leslie Blodgett, who delves into her marriage with her stay-at-home husband, and its profiles of 10 high-achieving college women who are on their way to greatness. But its cover feature, a Q&A with Michelle Obama, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kerry Washington — who are supposed to be close buds — reads like a stump speech. The women sound off on their support for military families but come across as alternately preachy or disingenuous. Parker claims to feel “ashamed that I haven’t served.”
Lucky
Lucky splashes 26-year-old Joan Smalls on its cover crediting the face of Estee Lauder with helping to revive the era of the supermodel. A native of Puerto Rico, Smalls reveals that she grew up on a farm, but now embraces city life in — where else? — Williamsburg. There are a few other fashion comebacks apparently that we think the world would be better off without thigh-high socks. Lucky offers advice on how to keep them up because they droop. Dresses and skirts made out of fishnet-like fabrics are another bad look that Lucky has identified as a trend. We think they make fine farmer’s market bags — and that’s all.
Essence
Essence is 45 years old this month, and poring over its pages we are struck by what a good job it does of balancing fun with sophistication. Yes, “45 hot trends” in fashion are part of the celebration, and the “That 70s thing” spread with kimono tops and bell-bottoms was equally fun. Meanwhile, however, you get plenty of highbrow fare including an excerpt from Toni Morrison’s new novel and a discussion of Eric Holder’s legacy by Melissa Harris-Perry. Our favorite though was an “(un)scripted” get-together of Hollywood writers Shonda Rhimes, Mara Brock Akil, Debbie Allen, Ava DuVernay and Issa Rae. “I hate sex-on screen,” says “Selma” director DuVernay. “I just can’t do it. “I hope to God my child never shoots someone in the face,” says “Scandal” creator Rhimes, lamenting the violence-to-sex ratio on TV. “But I really hope she has wonderful sex.”
New Yorker
This week’s New Yorker, as is often the case, does a pretty good job of covering last month’s news. There is the piece on California’s water shortage, covered ad nauseam in recent weeks. And in case you’ve been hiding under a rock for the past month, there’s a lengthy feature on how Elizabeth Warren is not running for President, but instead electing to influence Hillary Clinton’s 2016 run from the sidelines. Outdoing them all, however, is Malcolm Gladwell’s analysis of the landmark case against Ford Motor Co. over the safety of the Pinto — a case that was tried in 1980. Why, do you suppose, are automakers slow to respond to safety complaints? Is it because they’re run by pointy-headed engineers rather than public-relations specialists? If so, then you might be patted on the back for a reasonable, common-sense and correct response. If you’re Gladwell, however, you give that same answer in the form of a 10-page spread as if he’s discovered something like the proof to Fermat’s last theorem.