Cosmo Across Cultures: A Visual Textual Analysis of Cosmopolitan Website Images in the United States and The Netherlands

Abstract

"Cosmopolitan," recognized globally for its information about sex and sexuality, is now published all over the world. Cosmopolitan claims that it adjusts its publications to fit the local culture around sex, so as not to simply export American ideas. The goal of the present study is to determine if Cosmopolitan website articles show cultural differences between the United States and The Netherlands. To do so, this study analyzes accompanying images used in articles that exist on both the US and Dutch Cosmopolitan Websites. The sample of images was selected by identifying, with help of translators, which articles existed on both websites in April 2013. These images were then analyzed for lighting, location, action, models, framing, clothing, and gender display codes to determine the similarities and differences between them. The results of this study suggest that Cosmopolitan does not change how it represents sex and sexuality to fit the different attitudes between the US and The Netherlands.