Editing Cosmopolitan (magazine) (section)

==History==
{{see also|Irvington, New York#Cosmopolitan Building}}
{{more citations needed section|date=January 2013}}
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''Cosmopolitan'' originally began as a family and women's magazine, first published based in [[New York City]] in March 1886 by Schlicht & Field of New York as ''The Cosmopolitan''.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Tassin |first=Algernon |date=December 1915 |title=The Magazine In America, Part X: The End Of The Century |journal=The Bookman: An Illustrated Magazine of Literature and Life |volume=XLII |issue=4 |pages=396–412 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d04DAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA3-PA396 |access-date=August 3, 2008 |publisher=Dodd, Mead and Co. }}</ref>

Paul Schlicht told his first-issue readers inside of the front cover that his publication was a "first-class family magazine". Adding on, "There will be a department devoted exclusively to the concerns of women, with articles on fashions, on household decoration, on cooking, and the care and management of children. There was also a department for the younger members of the family."<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=The Cosmopolitan|title=Announcement |date=March 1886|volume=1| number=1}}</ref>

''Cosmopolitan''{{'s}} circulation reached 25,000 that year, but by November 1888, Schlicht & Field were no longer in business. Ownership was acquired by [[John Brisben Walker]] in 1889.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.westchestermagazine.com/Westchester-Magazine/February-2007/Westchester-Chronicles/|title=Westchester Chronicles|website=www.westchestermagazine.com|date=February 2007|language=en|access-date=2019-05-24}}</ref> That same year, he dispatched [[Elizabeth Bisland]] on a race around the world against [[Nellie Bly]] to draw attention to the magazine.<ref name="marksbook">{{cite book|author=Marks, Jason|title=Around the World in 72 Days: The race between Pulitzer's Nellie Bly and Cosmopolitan's Elizabeth Bisland|publisher=Gemittarius Press|year=1993|isbn=978-0-9633696-2-8|url=https://archive.org/details/aroundworldin72d0000mark}}</ref>

Under John Brisben Walker's ownership, E. D. Walker, formerly with ''Harper's Monthly'', took over as the new editor, introducing color illustrations, serials and book reviews. It became a leading market for fiction, featuring such authors as [[Annie Besant]], [[Ambrose Bierce]], [[Willa Cather]], [[Theodore Dreiser]], [[Rudyard Kipling]], [[Jack London]], [[Edith Wharton]], and [[H. G. Wells]].<ref>{{cite magazine |author=Ruiz, Michelle|title=Remembering Cosmo's Legendary Literary All-Stars|magazine=Cosmopolitan |date=September 2013|url=http://www.cosmopolitan.com/celebrity/news/famous-authors-cosmopolitan|access-date=September 17, 2013}}</ref> The magazine's press run climbed to 100,000 by 1892.<ref>{{cite book|author=Landers, James |title=The Improbable First Century of Cosmopolitan Magazine |url=https://archive.org/details/improbablefirstc0000land |url-access=registration |year=2010 |page=[https://archive.org/details/improbablefirstc0000land/page/68 68] |publisher=University of Missouri Press |location=Columbia, Missouri | isbn=978-0-8262-1906-0 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=62hAAQAAMAAJ |title=The Cosmopolitan, Volume 29, Schlicht & Field, 1900 |date=2014-03-20 |access-date=2020-03-03}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=67dPAAAAYAAJ |title=The Cosmopolitan, Volume 14, Schlicht & Field, 1892 |date=2010-07-08 |access-date=2020-03-03}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oK8_AQAAMAAJ |title=The Cosmopolitan, Volume 17, Schlicht & Field, 1894 |date=2014-02-03 |access-date=2020-03-03}}</ref>

In 1897, ''Cosmopolitan'' announced plans for ''the Cosmopolitan University'' as a free correspondence school:<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Noonan |first1=Mark |title=The Improbable First Century of Cosmopolitan Magazine by James Landers (review) |journal=American Studies |date=2012 |volume=52 |issue=1 |pages=186–187 |doi=10.1353/ams.2012.0016}}</ref> "No charge of any kind will be made to the student. All expenses for the present will be borne by the ''Cosmopolitan''. No conditions, except a pledge of a given number of hours of study." When 20,000 immediately signed up, Walker could not fund the school and students were then asked to contribute 20 dollars a year. Also in 1897, H. G. Wells' ''[[The War of the Worlds]]'' was serialized, as was his ''[[The First Men in the Moon]]'' (1900). [[Olive Schreiner]] contributed a lengthy two-part article about the [[Boer War]] in the September<ref>{{cite magazine|author=Schreiner, Olive|title=The African Boer |magazine=The Cosmopolitan|date=September 1900|volume=29| number=5| pages=451–468}}</ref> and October<ref>{{cite magazine|author=Schreiner, Olive|title=The African Boer, II |magazine=The Cosmopolitan|date=October 1900|volume=29| number=6| pages=593–602}}</ref> issues of 1900.

===Acquisition by Hearst===
In 1905, [[William Randolph Hearst]] purchased the magazine for [[US$]]400,000 ({{Inflation|US|400,000|1905|r=-3|fmt=eq}}) and brought in journalist [[Charles Edward Russell]], who contributed a series of investigative articles, including "The Growth of Caste in America" (March 1907),<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Russell |first=Charles |author-link=Charles Edward Russell |date=March 1907 |title=The Growth of Caste in America |magazine=Cosmopolitan |location=New York City |publisher=International Magazine Company |volume=42 |issue=5 |pages=524–534 }}</ref> "At the Throat of the Republic" (December 1907 – March 1908)<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Russell |first=Charles |author-link=Charles Edward Russell |date=December 1907 |title=At the Throat of the Republic: No. 1, Before the Election |magazine=Cosmopolitan |location=New York City |publisher=International Magazine Company |volume=44 |issue=2 |pages=146–156 }}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |last=Russell |first=Charles |author-link=Charles Edward Russell |date=January 1908 |title= At the Throat of the Republic: No. 2, At the Election |magazine=Cosmopolitan |location=New York City |publisher=International Magazine Company |volume=44 |issue=3 |pages=259–271 }}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |last=Russell |first=Charles |author-link=Charles Edward Russell |date=March 1908 |title= At the Throat of the Republic 3. After the Election |magazine=Cosmopolitan |location=New York City |publisher=International Magazine Company |volume=44 |issue=4 |pages=361–369 }}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |last=Russell |first=Charles |author-link=Charles Edward Russell |date=April 1908 |title= At the Throat of the Republic 4. Postscript—The Election of 1907 |magazine=Cosmopolitan |location=New York City |publisher=International Magazine Company |volume=44 |issue=4 |pages=475–480 }}</ref> and "What Are You Going to Do About It?" (July 1910 – January 1911).<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Russell |first=Charles |author-link=Charles Edward Russell |date=July 1910 |title= What Are You Going to Do About It? 1. Legislative Graft and the Albany Scandal |magazine=Cosmopolitan |location=New York City |publisher=International Magazine Company |volume=49 |issue=2 |pages=147–160 }}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |last=Russell |first=Charles |author-link=Charles Edward Russell |date=August 1910 |title= What Are You Going to Do About It? 2. Graft as an Expert Trade in Pittsburg |magazine=Cosmopolitan |location=New York City |publisher=International Magazine Company |volume=49 |issue=3 |pages=283–292 }}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |last=Russell |first=Charles |author-link=Charles Edward Russell |date=September 1910 |title= What Are You Going to Do About It? 3. The 'Jack-Pot' in Illinois Legislation |magazine=Cosmopolitan |location=New York City |publisher=International Magazine Company |volume=49 |issue=4 |pages=466–478 }}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |last=Russell |first=Charles |author-link=Charles Edward Russell |date=October 1910 |title= What Are You Going to Do About It? 4. The Man the Interests Wanted |magazine=Cosmopolitan |location=New York City |publisher=International Magazine Company |volume=49 |issue=5 |pages=592–601 }}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |last=Russell |first=Charles |author-link=Charles Edward Russell |date=December 1910 |title= What Are You Going to Do About It? 5. Colorado—New Tricks in an Old Game |magazine=Cosmopolitan |location=New York City |publisher=International Magazine Company |volume=50 |issue=1 |pages=45–58 }}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |last=Russell |first=Charles |author-link=Charles Edward Russell |date=January 1911 |title= What Are You Going to Do About It? 6. Senator Gore's Strange Bribe Story |magazine=Cosmopolitan |location=New York City |publisher=International Magazine Company |volume=50 |issue=2 |pages=151–162 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fWajDHQX98wC |title=Cosmopolitan, Volume 53, Hearst Corporation, 1912 |date=2017-01-13 |access-date=2020-03-03}}</ref>

Other contributors during this period included [[O. Henry]],<ref>{{cite web|last=Henry|first=O|title=Dream|url=http://www.readbookonline.net/readOnLine/1466/|publisher=Read Book Online website|access-date=April 22, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141019001654/http://www.readbookonline.net/readOnLine/1466/|archive-date=October 19, 2014}}</ref> [[A. J. Cronin]], [[Alfred Henry Lewis]], [[Bruno Lessing]], [[Sinclair Lewis]], [[O. O. McIntyre]], [[David Graham Phillips]], [[George Bernard Shaw]], [[Upton Sinclair]], and [[Ida Tarbell]]. [[Jack London]]'s novella, "[[The Red One]]", was published in the October 1918 issue<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jacklondons.net/Fiction_of_jack_london/page31.html|website=Jacklondons.net|title=Fiction of Jack London|page=31|access-date=January 6, 2013|url-status=usurped|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110612215656/http://www.jacklondons.net/Fiction_of_jack_london/page31.html|archive-date=June 12, 2011}}</ref> (two years after London's death<ref>{{cite news|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/0112.html|title=On This Day: November 23, 1916: OBITUARY – Jack London Dies Suddenly On Ranch|access-date=January 6, 2014}}</ref>), and a constant presence from 1910 to 1918 was [[Arthur B. Reeve]], with 82 stories featuring [[Craig Kennedy]], the "scientific detective".<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1orNAAAAMAAJ |title=Cosmopolitan |volume=55 |publisher=Schlicht & Field |year=1913 |access-date=2020-03-03}}</ref> Magazine illustrators included Francis Attwood, [[Dean Cornwell]], [[Harrison Fisher]], and [[James Montgomery Flagg]].{{citation needed|date=January 2014}}

Hearst formed [[Cosmopolitan Productions]] (also known as Cosmopolitan Pictures), a film company based in New York City from 1918 to 1923, then Hollywood until 1938. The vision for this film company was to make films from stories published in the magazine.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last1= Cunningham |first1= Guy Patrick |editor-last= Ciment |editor-first= James |date= 2013 |title= Hearst, William Randolph (1863–1951)|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of the Jazz Age: From the End of World War I to the Great Crash |pages= 344–345 }}</ref>

===''Hearst's International''===
{{anchor|Names}}''Cosmopolitan'' magazine was officially titled as ''Hearst's International Combined with Cosmopolitan'' from 1925 until 1952, but was simply referred to as ''Cosmopolitan''. In 1911, Hearst had bought a middling monthly magazine called ''World To-Day'' and renamed it ''Hearst's Magazine'' in April 1912. In June 1914 it was shortened to ''Hearst's'' and was ultimately titled ''Hearst's International'' in May 1922. In order to spare serious cutbacks at [[Hearst Castle|San Simeon]], Hearst merged the magazine ''Hearst's International'' with ''Cosmopolitan'' effective March 1925. But while the ''Cosmopolitan'' title on the cover remained at a [[typeface]] of eighty-four [[Point (typography)|points]], over time span the typeface of the ''Hearst's International'' decreased to thirty-six points and then to a barely legible twelve points. After Hearst died in 1951, the ''Hearst's International'' disappeared from the magazine cover altogether in April 1952.<ref>{{cite book |last= Landers|first= James |year= 2010|title=The Improbable First Century of Cosmopolitan Magazine |url=https://archive.org/details/improbablefirstc0000land|url-access= registration|publisher= [[University of Missouri Press]]|isbn= 9780826272331|pages = [https://archive.org/details/improbablefirstc0000land/page/169 169–213] }}</ref>

With a circulation of 1,700,000 in the 1930s, ''Cosmopolitan'' had an advertising income of $5,000,000. Emphasizing fiction in the 1940s, it was subtitled ''The Four-Book Magazine'' since the first section had one novelette, six or eight short stories, two serials, six to eight articles and eight or nine special features, while the other three sections featured two novels and a digest of current non-fiction books. During World War II, sales peaked at 2,000,000.{{citation needed|date=January 2014}}

The magazine began to run less fiction during the 1950s. Circulation dropped to slightly over a million by 1955, a time when magazines were overshadowed during the rise of paperbacks and television. The Golden Age of magazines came to an end as [[mass market]], general interest publications gave way to special interest magazines targeting specialized audiences.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.ablongman.com/stovall1e/chap05/05goldagephotog.html |title= Magazines and Photojournalism's Golden Age |last= Stovall |first= James Glen |website= Journalism: Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How |access-date= March 21, 2019 |archive-date= March 3, 2016 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160303233234/http://www.ablongman.com/stovall1e/chap05/05goldagephotog.html }}</ref>

===Helen Gurley Brown arrives===
Cosmopolitan's circulation continued to decline for another decade until [[Helen Gurley Brown]] became chief editor in 1965<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Cosmopolitan-magazine|title=Cosmopolitan {{!}} magazine|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Britannica|access-date=August 23, 2017|language=en}}</ref> and radically changed the magazine.<ref name=":0">{{cite journal|url=http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2012/08/14/cosmo_covers_how_helen_gurley_brown_changed_cosmopolitan_s_cover_.html|title=A Brief History of Cosmo Covers|last=Jaramillo|first=Juliana|journal=Slate |date=August 12, 2014}}</ref> Brown remodeled and re-invented it as a magazine for modern single career women,<ref name=changed>{{cite magazine|author=Benjamin, Jennifer|title=How Cosmo Changed the World|magazine=Cosmopolitan|date=September 2009|url=http://www.cosmopolitan.com/about/about-us_how-cosmo-changed-the-world|access-date=January 13, 2013}}</ref> completely transforming the magazine into a racy, contentious, and successful magazine. As the editor for 32 years, Brown spent this time using the magazine as an outlet to erase stigma around unmarried women not only having sex, but also enjoying it.<ref name=":1">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/14/business/media/helen-gurley-brown-who-gave-cosmopolitan-its-purr-is-dead-at-90.html|title=Helen Gurley Brown, Who Gave 'Single Girl' a Life in Full, Dies at 90|last=Fox|first=Margalit|date=August 13, 2012|website=New York Times |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20240115014515/https://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/14/business/media/helen-gurley-brown-who-gave-cosmopolitan-its-purr-is-dead-at-90.html |archive-date= Jan 15, 2024 }}</ref> Known as a "devout feminist",<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/17/living/helen-gurley-brown-legacy/index.html|title=Helen Gurley Brown's Complicated Feminist Legacy|last=Grinberg|first=Emanuella|date=August 19, 2012|website=CNN |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230204103622/https://www.cnn.com/2012/08/17/living/helen-gurley-brown-legacy/index.html |archive-date= Feb 4, 2023 }}</ref> Brown was often attacked by critics due to her progressive views on women and sex. She believed that women were allowed to enjoy sex without shame in all cases. She died in 2012 at the age of 90.<ref name=":1" /> Her vision is still evident in the design of the magazine.<ref name=":0" /> The magazine eventually adopted a cover format consisting of a usually young female model (or prominent female celebrity), typically in a low cut dress, bikini, or some other revealing outfit.

The magazine set itself apart by frankly discussing [[sexuality]] from the point of view that women could and should enjoy sex without guilt. The first issue under Helen Gurley Brown, July 1965,<ref>{{cite press release|url=http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20050816005220/en/Cosmopolitan-Celebrates-40-Years-Worlds-Favorite-Womens|title=Cosmopolitan Celebrates 40 Years as the World's Favorite Women's Magazine|website=Business Wire |date=Aug 16, 2005 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170809211456/http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20050816005220/en/Cosmopolitan-Celebrates-40-Years-Worlds-Favorite-Womens |archive-date= Aug 9, 2017 }}</ref> featured an article on the [[birth control pill]],<ref name=changed/> which had gone on the market exactly five years earlier.<ref name="marks">{{cite book|last=Marks|first=Lara|year=2001|title=Sexual Chemistry: A History of the Contraceptive Pill|location=New Haven|publisher=Yale University Press|isbn=978-0-300-08943-1|url=https://archive.org/details/sexualchemistryh00mark}}</ref><ref name="watkins">{{cite book|last=Watkins|first=Elizabeth Siegel|year=1998|title=On the Pill: A Social History of Oral Contraceptives, 1950–1970|location=Baltimore|publisher = Johns Hopkins University Press|isbn=978-0-8018-5876-5}}</ref>

This was not Brown's first publication dealing with sexually liberated women. Her 1962 advice book, ''[[Sex and the Single Girl]]'', had been a bestseller.<ref>Ouellette, Laurie. [http://mcs.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/21/3/359 "Inventing the Cosmo Girl: Class Identity and Girl-Style American Dreams"]. ''[[Media, Culture & Society]]'' 21 (1999): 361. Retrieved August 19, 2012.</ref><ref>Scanlon, Jennifer. "Sensationalist Literature or Expert Advice?". ''[[Feminist Media Studies]]'' 9:1 (2009): 12. Retrieved February 14, 2010.</ref> Fan mail begging for Brown's advice on many subjects concerning women's behavior, sexual encounters, health, and beauty flooded her after the book was released. Brown sent the message that a woman should have men complement her life, not take it over. Enjoying sex without shame was also a message she incorporated in both publications.<ref>{{cite book|last=Gianoulis |first=Tina |chapter=Cosmopolitan |title=Bowling, Beatniks, and Bell-Bottoms: Pop Culture of 20th-Century America |editor1-first=Sara |editor1-last=Pendergast |editor2-first=Tom |editor2-last=Pendergast |year=2002 |pages=867–868 |publisher=Gale Virtual Reference Library |url=http://0-go.galegroup.com.source.unco.edu/ps/start.do?p=GVRL&u=uncol }}{{dead link|date=June 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>

In Brown's early years as editor, the magazine received heavy criticism. In 1968 at the feminist [[Miss America protest]], protestors symbolically threw a number of feminine products into a "Freedom Trash Can". These included copies of ''Cosmopolitan'' and ''[[Playboy]]'' magazines.<ref name=Greenfieldboyce>{{cite web|last=Greenfieldboyce|first=Nell|title=Pageant Protest Sparked Bra-Burning Myth|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=94240375&from=mobile|work=NPR|access-date=February 6, 2012|date=September 5, 2008}}</ref> ''Cosmopolitan'' also ran a near-nude centerfold of actor [[Burt Reynolds]] in April 1972, causing great controversy and attracting much attention.<ref name="Willett2010">{{cite book |first=Julie |last=Willett |title=The American Beauty Industry Encyclopedia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CljLw4sH2DMC&pg=PA77 |access-date=January 13, 2013 |date=May 11, 2010 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-0-313-35949-1 |page=77 }}</ref> The Latin American edition of ''Cosmopolitan'' was launched in March 1973.

In April 1978, a single edition of ''Cosmopolitan Man'' was published as a trial, targeted to appeal to men. Its cover featured [[Jack Nicholson]] and [[Aurore Clément]]. It was published twice in 1989 as a supplement to ''Cosmopolitan''.<ref>[http://www.magforum.com/mens/mens-magazines-a-to-z-2-carnival-club.htm "Men's magazines: an A to Z"]. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071121232506/http://www.magforum.com/mens/mensmagazinesatoz2.htm |date=November 21, 2007 }}. ''Magforum''. Accessed October 27, 2023.</ref>

In its January 1988 issue, ''Cosmopolitan'' ran a feature claiming that women had almost no reason to worry about contracting [[HIV]] long after the best available medical science indicated otherwise. The piece claimed that unprotected sex with an [[HIV-positive]] man did not put women at risk of infection and went on to state that "most heterosexuals are not at risk" and that it was impossible to transmit HIV in the [[missionary position]].<ref>{{cite web|date=June 5, 2006|title=AIDS in New York: A Biography |magazine=New York Magazine|url=http://newyorkmetro.com/news/features/17158/index2.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060719082645/http://newyorkmetro.com/news/features/17158/index2.html|archive-date=July 19, 2006|access-date=November 16, 2011}}</ref> This article angered many educated people, including [[AIDS]] and [[gay rights]] activists.<ref>{{cite web|title=Editorials & Opinion – Cosmo's Deadly Advice To Women About Aids |work=Seattle Times |url=https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/19930731/1713646/cosmos-deadly-advice-to-women-about-aids}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Rossi|date=June 1, 1998|title=Cosmo Confessions|url=https://www.poz.com/article/Cosmo-Confessions-7133-9692|access-date=July 30, 2016}}</ref> The protests organised in response to the article's publication were turned into a 30-minute documentary titled "Doctors, Liars and Women: AIDS Activists Say NO to Cosmo" by two members of ACTUP, a New York City based collective of HIV/AIDS activists.<ref>{{cite web|title=Chronology 1988|url=http://www.actupny.org/documents/cron-88.html|website=ACT UP/NY }}</ref><ref>[http://www.jeancarlomusto.com/doctorsliars&women jeancarlomusto.com], actupny.org {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160821133558/http://www.jeancarlomusto.com/doctorsliars%26women.html|date=August 21, 2016}}{{full citation needed|{{subst:DATE}}|date=October 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Carlomusto|first=Jean|date=December 17, 2012|title=Doctors, Liars and Women:AIDS Activists Say No To Cosmo|url=https://vimeo.com/55793020|via=Vimeo}}</ref>

One of the articles in its October 1989 issue, "The Risky Business of Bisexual Love", promoted the '[[bisexual]] bridge' theory.<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Gerrard |first1=Susan |first2=James |last2=Halperin |title=The Risky Business of Bisexual Love |magazine=Cosmopolitan |date=October 1989 |pages=202–205}}</ref> The 'bisexual bridge' theory suggests that heterosexual women are unknowingly put at risk for contracting HIV through sexual contact with bisexual men who [[Down-low (sexual slang)|covertly have sex with other men]] (colloquially described as being "on the down low").<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Malebranche |first1=David J.|last2=Arriola |first2=Kimberly Jacob|last3=Jenkins |first3=Tyrrell R.|last4=Dauria |first4=Emily|last5=Patel |first5=Shilpa N.|date=20 September 2011|title=Exploring the 'Bisexual Bridge': A Qualitative Study of Risk Behavior and Disclosure of Same-Sex Behavior Among Black Bisexual Men|journal= American Journal of Public Health|volume=100|issue=1|pages=159–164|doi=10.2105/AJPH.2008.158725|pmc=2791236|pmid=19910348|quote=This 'bisexual bridge' theory proposes that heterosexual women are unknowingly put at risk for contracting HIV through sexual contact with bisexual men who covertly have sex with other men. Such men are colloquially described as being 'on the down low'.}}</ref> The [[New York Area Bisexual Network]] performed a successful letter-writing campaign against ''Cosmopolitan''.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Raymond|first1=Danielle|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BkjJAwAAQBAJ|title=Bisexual Politics: Theories, Queries, and Visions |last2=Highleyman|first2=Liz A.|date=11 June 2014|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1560238690|editor1-last=Tucker|editor1-first=Naomi S.|edition=1st|series=Haworth Gay and Lesbian Studies|chapter=Appendix A: Brief Timeline of Bisexual Activism in the United States|quote=New York Area Bisexual Network (founded 1987) initiates successful letter-writing campaign against a defamatory article in ''Cosmpolitan'' (October 1989) which had maliciously stereotyped bisexual men as dishonest spreaders of AIDS.}}</ref>