Demi Lovato, you are one smart, strong woman and you are now standing up against censorship of Cosmopolitan, the young women's magazine, whose cover you're gracing on the Sept. 2015 issue.
Demi Lovato, you took to Instagram on Aug. 5 to fight back against a campaign of censorship against the world's leading magazine for young women: Cosmopolitan. You rightly pointed out that it's very important to "show women there's nothing wrong with embracing their bodies and sexuality" and that "for the first time in a long time I feel incredibly empowered and the most beautiful I've ever felt on this magazine."
In fact, Demi, you do look absolutely stunning in a sequin studded minidress by Naeem Khan with a deeply plunging neckline that yes, totally shows off your beautiful cleavage. But you are justifiably upset because a group called the National Center on Sexual Exploitation is on a major campaign to brand the magazine as harmful to minors. The group has successfully convinced Food Lion, RiteAid and Walmart stores to cover Cosmopolitan's covers with wrappers or put them behind blinders, so they can't be seen.
The NCSE claims on its website that Cosmo is "pornographic -- an erotic tabloid with 'Try It Yourself' advice, advertising many dangerous sexual practices." As a matter of fact, Cosmopolitan is the most popular women's magazine in the world, with 60 international editions, and it appears to be the solo target of the NCSE. The only content on its website is about Cosmo, despite the fact that numerous other women's and men's magazines feature women who are scantily clad, topless or even nude on their covers.
Perhaps that's because the organization has been working with Victoria Hearst, a member of the Hearst family, which owns Cosmo. Despite the fact that she profits financially from the magazine, she claims that "God told me to work to get Cosmo out of the hands of children, so that's what I'm doing," she told the New York Post. Hmm! Is there some bizarre guilt going on here, Victoria? Or a family feud?
In any case, women's access to information about their sexuality, including their sexual health, sexual and emotional relationships and career advice, shouldn't be censored by this organization and retailers. I'm a former Editor-in-Chief of Cosmopolitan, and I can tell you that when the magazine's first Editor-in-Chief, Helen Gurley Brown, founded it in 1965, she was on a mission to help American women become empowered.
Demi Lovato: It's Great That You're Fighting the NCSE
At the time, it was unseemly for women to admit that they even had a sex life. Information about sexual health and birth control was hard to obtain and women were expected to give up their careers -- if they even had careers -- when they married. Helen and Cosmo were pioneers in promoting women's equality and opportunity in society. Cosmo helped pave the way for every American woman including Demi Lovato, to achieve their dreams, have mutually supportive relationships with men and to feel comfortable in and enjoy their own sexuality.
Demi, as you said so eloquently in your Instagram, there is nothing wrong with the female body, even naked: "It's so liberating to be able to show the world how confident a woman can be once she learns to love herself, you wrote." Cosmopolitan is a magazine that is all about giving women confidence in every aspect of their lives, including their erotic lives, and there is nothing wrong with that. You don't see this organization trying to shame magazines that put bare-chested men on their covers. Why are men's toned and flexed abs and pecs not pornographic, but a woman's cleavage is?
Why isn't Victoria Hearst on a godly mission to cover up the men of Magic Mike, who bare their bodies? Why aren't retailers convinced that men's health magazines qualify as harmful to minors, only one woman's mainstream magazine? Unfortunately, it seems like women's sexuality and sexual health is under attack at every turn. The Republicans in the Senate just tried to defund Planned Parenthood, which is the sole provider of health services to millions of women. Every GOP presidential candidate is against a woman's right to choose and some don't even want to allow abortion for women who are raped or are victims of incest.
Demi Lovato, thank you for fighting back against the NCSE and their campaign against female sexuality. Every woman has a right to a sex life and to information about how to make it fun and fearless.