How to make condoms more fun

Hi Julie, if we are talking about our Current "Cosmo," I think he is too good of a Journalist to be boycotted, ha! LOL!

I do feel that this is a great article and thanks 'sweet mirimy" for bring that out. Boys and Girls need to be more educated in this area and we should do everything in our power to motivate the kids to read and engage in such types of conversations. That will only bring them more sexual maturity, confidence and safety. Samonster, I totally understand your point on absorbing beauty and the sense of frustration that brings in some of us.

The sense of frustration is caused by many reasons but the main reasons you can work on it is:
1. Feeling of low self-steam because you can not physical meet the models visual and body works.
2. Desire to have or to be in contact with the magazine model but knowing you will never going to have a chance to do so.
3. Difficulty to separate your reality versus your fantasies.

All these issues can be worked out and it can be turned into your advantage if you give yourself a chance to see the world differently.
a. First you must feel good about yourself no matter who you are. Love and find beauty in your own self just the way you are.

b. Instead criticize the beautiful models on the magazine, thank and praise them for allow you to see their beautiful bodies. Believe or not, the models boys and girls from these magazines are humans with ups and downs just like us and they also have a need to be loved and understood.

c. Therefore try to find "art and beauty" in their appearances and never, ever compare that with your own self. If you do you are up to create a false expectation and this is almost a formula for interiorly create and raising "frustration" of under achievement upon your own mind.

I am an artist and I have been raised around Fashion, Beauty and Models. I learned how to see beauty without judging them and on the contrary appreciate them. Every time I see a girl or a boy's body, I admire them for their beauty and sexuality praising GOD for giving me my eyes that allows me to admire them. I love black, white, yellow, skinny, fat, tall or short people. Everyone have something good to show if they just love and accept themselves. Sure there are a lots of things you can do to improve your own body as: Eating well and exercise frequently.

To wrap up the point here, Just take everything not as a challenge against you but as a learning experience and you see how your perspective in life; from you in relation to others; will change for the better.

The only problem is that the models in fashion magazines have been styled and airbrushed to perfection--yet are presented to readers as an attainable goal.

Cosmo, and all the other women's magazines of the same ilk, exist only to sell women on their imperfection and encourage them to buy products to "fix" themselves.

I used to read those magazines and, unsurprisingly, I also had horrible self-esteem and body image. When I stopped reading Cosmo, Glamour, etc. it was the BEST thing I've done for myself--but it's amazing how easy it is to backslide when faced with a magazine that tells you beautiful means being 5'8" and 110 pounds with perfect skin and straight shiny hair and an hourglass figure. The best thing we can do for girls self-esteem is to keep them far away from fashion magazines, not encourage them to read them.

Julie! YES! Just seeing that magazine in the checkout lane makes me question my body, sexual skills, make up choices, and overall way of living. Fortunately I combat it with reasonable thought processes but so many people read this magazine religiously .

I would read it when I was way to young to even think about sex, and all it caused was anxiety and feeling like I would never be good enough for anyone.

Some of it is entertaining, but when you close the pages, you really must have yourself a reality check.

BOYCOTT Cosmo and all similar "women's" magazines. They live to make us feel fat, ugly, badly coiffed and insecure about ourselves so they'll have a market for their diet aids, makeup, hair products and advice columns. BOO COSMO.

I have lost that "Cosmo" part there, so sorry I am totally floating in part from his conversation on this issue, but I think I can speak without knowing what he said in regards to this. Speaking from a "guy" point of view I do understand why many do not use condoms and that is a reality that needs to change. Condoms "cut" man's penis sensitivity by -(x percent) making the sexual act of penetration a little lame. Very lame should I express here. It was great in the past when we did not even think about that because people were more STD's free and physical healthy then.

But now we live on different times and age where people have more genetics issues and a big denial eagle running together inside their heads. I know how it works! Testosterone jack up you brain and you forget all the surroundings issues and consequences and man just want to do it. If you have some sense of ethics and love for that matter you will have a talk with your partner before sex and for GOD's sake be honest. There are so many ways to have sexual fun without even getting into the penetration stuff and man needs to learn about that. Otherwise please guys, respect the life of others, use a condom!

Oh Cosmo. Please tell me no one ever actually takes advice from those articles.