Following the reveal of Cosmopolitan’s fiftieth birthday cover, critics and readers flew into a rage on Twitter, calling it “disrespectful” and “offensive.”
The reason? Cosmo put the Kardashian-Jenner clan on its cover, which wouldn’t be something to freak out about. However, the magazine called them “America’s First Family.”
I’ve never really understood everyone’s obsession with the Kardashians. I have no interest in watching a bunch of people argue. It’s not that I’m against reality TV. I love watching America’s Next Top Model, Project Runway and The Challenge, but at least everyone on those shows has a reason to hate each other and has an end goal they’re working toward. The Kardashians, in my opinion, are a family that would willingly ruin their sisters’ and parents’ lives just to be the most famous family member.
I don’t think the cover deserved as much criticism as it received, though I do agree that Cosmo could have gone about this better. Maybe the magazine shouldn’t have used the Kardashian-Jenner fam as part of their fiftieth birthday celebration (they could have at least used a believable “first” family, like Beyonce and Jay-Z), or maybe they could have mentioned the “first family” joke somewhere in the actual article, not on the cover.
It’s not that I don’t agree with the angered readers, I can definitely see why some might find this to be rude to the real first family, but Cosmo was just trying to make a joke, and I can see that, too. People like to overreact on the Internet. “Disrespectful”? Yeah, that’s understandable. “Offensive”? Not so much.
There’s just so much more important news to pay attention to right now—there was a school shooting in Oklahoma, Hurricane Joaquin is tearing its way through the East Coast, and insane floods have caused multiple deaths in the Carolinas. The Kardashians are, surprisingly, not the most important group of people you should know about and definitely aren’t the most newsworthy.
Honestly, I was really surprised that so many Twitter users attacked the Kardashians and Cosmopolitan for this. I was under the impression that most people liked the Kardashians and would have found Cosmo giving them the title of “first family” to be funny or satirical, as it was clearly meant to be.
Both parties are at fault here, and things could have been done differently—and better. Overreacting is never going to resolve any situation, though, and it’s important to remember that throwing tantrums won’t solve anything.