RiteAid, Hannaford Among Stores to Put Blinders Over Cosmo

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With articles giving tips on subjects like “10 Ways to Achieve Orgasm!” and covers that focus on sometimes scantily-clad models of the day, watchdog groups have been fighting to block out what they say are inappropriate content and covers.

Soon, shoppers in RiteAid, Food Lion and Hannaford stores will have to ask for their copy of Cosmopolitan magazine before buying it. The stores are among the supermarket chains that have agreed to put the magazines behind blinders instead of on display.

After a campaign led by The National Center on Sexual Exploitation, an organization that works to “expose the seamless connection between all forms of sexual exploitation,” the stores will place Cosmopolitan magazines behind blinders in their store due to what NCSE calls “inappropriate content and covers.”

RiteAid and Delhaize America own Hannaford Stores and Food Lion.

There is a RiteAid at 438 Boston Post Road in Sudbury.

NCSE and Victoria Hearst, granddaughter of Hearst Corporation (which publishes Cosmopolitan Magazine) founder William Randolph Hearst, count this as a major victory for the ongoing campaign to shield Cosmo from minors because of the magazine’s glorification and desensitization of porn and sexual violence, according to an announcement.

“Cosmopolitan magazine regularly features articles, and occasionally explicit pictures, encouraging girls to participate in group, anal, and violent torture sex, and it blatantly targets young girls by displaying teen idols on their covers,” said Dawn Hawkins, executive Director of the National Center on Sexual Exploitation, in a statement. “Recently, Cosmo even posted an article encouraging readers to visit hardcore porn sites, including one site that is particularly focused on the extremely violent torture of women. We are thankful to RiteAid and Delhaize America for not allowing this harmful material to be in plain view of minors at their stores, and we encourage other chains to follow suit, and to refuse to sell this pornographic magazine to minors.”

NCSE conducted a nationwide poll and found that a majority of Americans agreed that Cosmo’s front cover is not appropriate for all ages. NCSE has campaigned against Cosmopolitan magazine since 2013 when the publication was listed on NCSE’s Dirty Dozen List, a list of the top 12 organizations contributing to sexual exploitation. NCSE is ultimately calling for stores to put wrappers on all Cosmo magazines, and to refuse to sell them to minors.

“I congratulate RiteAid and Delhaize America, owner of Hannaford Stores and Food Lion, for their sincere promise to immediately put Cosmopolitan Magazine behind blinders in all of their stores,” said Victoria Hearst in a statement. “It will protect underage children from being exposed to the magazine’s sexually explicit covers showing scantily clad female celebrities and article titles with the words ‘sex’ and ’orgasm!’ Since these two companies are now clearly aware of Cosmopolitan’s pornographic content, I pray that they will do the right thing and either stop selling the magazine or obey the Material Harmful To Minors laws in each state which forbid the sale of magazines like Cosmopolitan to anyone under 18 years old.”