Tornadoes touch down in Marion, Plainview

MPR News helps you turn down the noise and build shared understanding. Turn up your support for this public resource and keep trusted journalism accessible to all. 

Turn Up Your Support


The nation's largest retailer has bounced 

 from the coveted checkout aisle following a years-long campaign targeting the women's magazine for its "hyper-sexualized" covers and content.


Walmart said Tuesday that it was removing the magazine from checkout lines at its 5,000 stores across the country.

"Walmart will continue to offer Cosmopolitan to customers that wish to purchase the magazine, but it will no longer be in the checkout aisles," the company said in a statement. "While this was primarily a business decision, the concerns raised were heard."

 to porn and has waged a campaign for years to get it removed from store shelves. It had previously succeeded in getting Rite Aid stores and Delhaize America (which owns Food Lion) to put 

"Cosmo sends the same messages about female sexuality as Playboy," NCOSE, which changed its name from Morality in Media three years ago, said in a statement.

"It places women's value primarily on their ability to sexually satisfy a man and therefore plays into the same culture where men view and treat women as inanimate sex objects," the statement said. "Further, Cosmo targets young girls by placing former Disney stars on its covers, despite the enclosed sexually erotic articles which describe risky sexual acts like public, intoxicated, or anal sex in detail. Customers should not be forced to be exposed to this content when they are trying to check-out at the store."

In a Facebook Live session on Tuesday, NCOSE's Vice President of Advocacy and Outreach Haley Halverson said the move represented "one less drop of hyper-sexualized media that is going to be bombarding people in their everyday lives."

, which bills itself as a "bible for fun, fearless females," is published by 

, which had no immediate comment on Walmart's decision.
The magazine was first published in 1886 as a family offering called 

 It later became a literary magazine before being rebranded in 1965 as a women's magazine. It 

claims to reach more than 17 million adults per month

Business and Economic News

Media

The retail giant said Tuesday that Cosmo would be relegated to the magazine rack of its U.S. stores. The move follows complaints over what critics say is the magazine's "hyper-sexualized" content.

Walmart to remove 'Cosmopolitan' from checkout aisle

Go Deeper.

Like this?

News you can use in your inbox