How I Broke up With Cosmo, Reconciled, and Got Closer to My Boyfriend

My love for magazines developed at a young age. When I was in elementary school, my parents bought me subscriptions to popular magazines like Vogue, Teen Vogue, Elle, and Teen. I enjoyed looking at the models and the fashion - it all inspired me to be the best me I could be. On occasion, I would find myself on my bedroom floor trying to imitate the prestigious magazines I loved so dearly with colorful construction paper, tape, and crayons (move over Anna Wintour).

As I grew older and started dating, I found Cosmopolitan. It’s been my favorite magazine for a few years now. When I started college in 2013, I would browse through Cosmo’s website at least three times a day, if not more. I guess you could call it my happy place.

I’ve been with my current boyfriend for almost a year and a half. We have a great relationship - not a perfect one, but I wouldn’t change him for the world.

No matter how great your relationship is, you can always do things to make it better. So, I thought it would be fun to try dating tips from the magazine I’ve adored for years.

Over the last few months, however, I haven’t not been as committed to Cosmo as I used to be. I still check the website for new articles, but definitely not as often. In my eyes, Cosmo has been a women’s magazine on love and relationships, but they drowned their website with political articles, and it turned me off for a little while. A few days ago I got back onto Cosmo’s website to find dating tips to use on my boyfriend. Though the magazine has always had a place for sex, I was surprised to see how much sex was on there. I don’t just mean tips, but sex positions and all. Obviously this is not what I was looking for, so I was a little put off. I figured I wasn’t looking in the right place, so I clicked on their “Love” tab to see if there would be any dating advice or tips there. There was no real “love” on the page, just more sex.

Seeing the page had me asking myself, what is the meaning of love anymore? I shrugged it off and went to their navigation menu. On the drop down was a tab that said “Sex and Relationships.” I clicked there thinking I would see articles on relationships, not just sex. However…

There was just more sex. I grew frustrated and closed my browser. I’m a hopeless romantic. I care about long term relationships, making each other happy, and giving your all. I have no problem with articles about sex, or about Cosmo writing about it, but I thought they would still have the classic “do’s and don’ts on a date” articles, and tips about how to make him like you. But there were none. The magazine I had loved for years had transformed into a magazine all about sex and politics. I was disappointed.

For a couple of days, I dismissed the magazine. However, I was on a mission - a new mission. I needed to find Cosmo’s old articles. I knew they had to be there! So I turned to Google and was quickly served up with several Cosmo dating articles. I clicked an article titled How to Have the Perfect First Date that was just published a couple of months ago. Though my boyfriend and I have been on plenty of dates, it’s been a long time since our first, and to be honest, it wasn’t the best. This was the perfect opportunity to give our first date another try. We went out to dinner and I tried every single tip! We had a wonderful time. It was one of the best dates we’ve ever had.

When you date for a while, some of the deep conversations that brought you close go out the window. It was nice to sit and talk like mature adults. We talked about politics, religion and money; all of the topics suggested in the article.

By the end of this experiment, I grew closer to my boyfriend and put Cosmo back on my favorites list. Change isn’t always a bad thing. Sometimes you just have to go back and find what made your special someone - or that special something - so special in the first place. This goes for Cosmo, and my boyfriend!