The first biography of Helen Gurley Brown, who was Cosmopolitan‘s editor-in-chief for three decades, hits stores today, and we’ll be snapping up a copy after work. Written by Jennifer Scanlon, a professor of gender and women’s studies at Bowdoin College, Bad Girls Go Everywhere looks at Helen’s life from her start in an Arkansas town in the Ozarks to her rise from secretary to advertising copywriter to editor-in-chief. Scanlon compares Brown to feminist figures like Betty Friedan. Brown believed sex was a “powerful weapon” for single women and changed the Cosmo format so it addressed real women’s lives—sex and all. (However, she omitted certain realities from the magazine, including children and AIDS.) While Brown cared about looking put-together and slept with her bosses, she didn’t let those things replace any of her substance. To her, hard work was always the most important thing in getting what you wanted—making the most of your features and getting your dream job.

These ads caught my eye—which I suppose is exactly what their creators at Brazilian ad agency Publicis had in mind when they created them. The image is arresting, isn’t it? In this provocative ad series, the women appear to be holding their own lopped off heads. The tagline is an odd fit, though. “Keep a high self-esteem even after taking off your high heels.” Not sure I get that. I mean, I get the line by itself, but how does that work when the image would suggest the tagline should read: “Keep a high self-esteem—even after losing your head”? Another version reads: “Let’s face it: what’s the point having 40 pairs of shoes in your closet and 5 books on your shelf?” Which would seem to suggest if that’s what you’ve got, you’re an idiot? A third says: “Beauty attracts men. Intelligence keeps them.” Well, now I’m just confused. Maybe it would make more sense if I was holding my head in my hands. [Ads of the World]

Magazine editors seem to have noticed (at last!) that women need to see models and actresses in a truer form, without the work of makeup artists and retouchers to mask their pores, cellulite, and wrinkles. The upcoming issue of French Elle, which hits newsstands this weekend, features Eva Herzigova, Monica Bellucci, Sophie Marceau, Charlotte Rampling, and four other females sans fards, which is a French idiom that literally means “without rouge/makeup,” but implies “openness.”

We’re totally psyched to see beautiful women in a more natural, albeit still extremely flattering light. Photographer Peter Lindbergh snapped the women, so they’re not anything like the horribly unattractive candids our friends take of us around 1 a.m. after we’ve ingested a few cocktails, but they’re the closest a fashion magazine is going to get.

Magazines try to put celebrities on their covers who will sell copies on newsstands, but some stars just don’t seem to attract readers the way others do. WWD searched newsstand sales numbers from the Audit Bureau of Circulations and found that Angelina Jolie, Victoria Beckham, and Lauren Conrad seem to do consistently well, no matter what magazine cover they’re on or what month the issue comes out. Vanity Fair‘s July Jolie cover was that magazine’s best seller for 2008, as was her November W. Beckham’s Elle and Allure covers were those magazine’s best sellers, and Conrad’s Shape cover sold more than that magazine’s other issues. Some cover stars you would think would do well actually fluctuated based on what mag they were on and month their cover came out. Both Eva Longoria Parker and Scarlett Johansson were best sellers for some magazines and worst sellers for others. Do you buy magazines based on who is pictured on their covers? [WWD]

Women’s History Month should feel different this 2009. We’re living in an epicenter of change and progression. We have powerhouses Nancy Pelosi and Hilary Clinton sitting high in the White House. Tina Fey represents our new wave of venerated cultural icons. And before our new president married our first lady, he was reporting to her in the workplace. Yes, smart is sexy again. Or is it?

ZOMG! Did you hear?! President Obama is GAY!  According to The Globe, that is. Tabloids sell amazing lies that millions of people buy.  While it would have been doubly empowering for America to not only elect its first African-American, but also its first openly homosexual President, these rumors are just fun fantasies good for a laugh—which we could all use right about now. Guess that’s why The National Enquirer is America’s best selling weekly “newspaper.” Here are our favorite outrageously LOL rag-mag cover stories…

Heidi Klum is featured on the March cover of German GQ wearing only nail polish and makeup. Aubrey O’Day, surprisingly, is fully clothed on Playboy‘s March cover, although her dress and heels are so close in color to her skin that she is meant to look naked. Who do you think has the sexier cover?

Today started off as a miserable day, and it’s getting worse. We just heard that Conde Nast closed Domino magazine and its website, DominoMag.com.  Damn, economy! March 2009 will be the magazine’s final issue. Amelia and I are simply heartbroken. Domino was our porn. What are we going to lust over (besides Ryan Gosling) now?!?! Please join me in a moment of silence.

“Why won’t he commit?”

“Get your man to say ‘I do!’”

“Why don’t guys call when they say they will?”

Peruse any magazine rack and various Web sites and you’ll see headlines such as these splattered all over. Inside you’ll read article upon article about how women can decode, seduce, corral, turn on, and coerce men.

Sometimes, the most interesting part about reading a magazine is not the articles, but the ads. While I was sorting through a stack of magazines that needed organizing, I started noticing just how many ads for fashion companies feature couples. But they don’t look the least bit lovey dovey. In fact, they look awkward. After the jump, what the couples in ads are really thinking…

Christina Aguilera is nearly unrecognizable on the cover of the Fall/Winter issue of Citizen K magazine. One could peruse the full set before realizing the otherworldly looking blond is the pop-songstress, her facial features and body proportions rescaled, tweaked, and airbrushed into identity-altering dimensions. And these days, when it comes to the Photoshop awards, women are not the only contenders. Alongside Britney Spears, Madonna, and Jessica Alba, Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt are getting the Photoshopped-into-oblivion treatment, too. Feminists have long said that women are held to ridiculous expectations when it comes to their looks—but nowadays it seems like men are being expected to look a lot more like robots than humans. So what do you think? Are men increasingly being held to the same scrutiny as women in terms of their physical appearance?

Not sure if you want to spend $3.99 on this month’s Elle? Don’t worry, we’ve got Wendy Felton, editor of GlossedOver.com, here to tell you exactly what’s up on the sex, love, and relationships front in each month’s crop of lady mags.

Next month’s presidential election has totally saturated cable news, the internet, and even the November issues of the women’s magazines. (Check out the interviews with Michelle Obama and Cindy McCain in Marie Claire.) Reading relationship advice in magazines is a lot like watching the debates: There are applause-worthy truths, suggestions that make you roll your eyes and stomp out of the room in disgust (just me?), platitudes so vague as to be meaningless, and, of course, endless clichés.

Not sure if you want to spend $3.99 on this month’s Elle? Don’t worry, we’ve got Wendy Felton, Editor of GlossedOver.com, here to tell you exactly what’s up on the sex, love, and relationships front in each month’s crop of lady mags.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year for magazines! The September issues are thick with the latest in fashion. While the style pages are touting ghastly amounts of fur, pastel winter coats, and all-lace suits, perhaps the romantic advice is more palatable. What are the relationship trends for fall? Let’s take a look.

Brangelina just had twins and the magazine covers of OK! and Star are at it again, claiming that Brad’s ex, Jennifer Aniston, is desperate to not be far behind on the procreation bandwagon. While Aniston’s rep denied the rumor today, we still find the story to be pretty messed up.  First of all, Jennifer went from being America’s Sweetheart to America’s #1 Cougar in the span of just a few years. And sure, she’s headed straight for the big 4-0, but we didn’t see anyone flinch when 50-something bachelor George Clooney went monogamous with Sarah Larson a few months ago (albeit just for a bit).  No one was putting him on the cover of their trash mag claiming he wanted to settle down and spawn. Not every lady’s biological clock is ticking.

In case you haven’t heard, Playgirl magazine folded. It was announced earlier this week that the brand would live online but with more photos and videos and less actual editorial content. Basically, the visual aspect of the magazine, the pornier stuff, rather than any articles. Personally, I never went to the store and bought the magazine, and I wonder how many women are upset about its closing, or even care.

Magazines in general are having trouble these days, because they have to compete with both other magazines and the online world for advertisers. Even magazines we thought were really great have closed in the last couple years (RIP Jane), so it’s not surprising that another magazine would go, especially one that has had a hard time figuring out where it fits into the marketplace over the last couple years, as former Playgirl editor (and Frisky contributor!) Colleen Kane writes was the case.

Not sure if you want to spend $3.99 on this month’s Vogue? Don’t worry, we’ve got Wendy Felton, Editor of GlossedOver.com, here to tell you exactly what’s up on the sex, love, and relationships front in each month’s crop of lady mags.

Few of us grow up to become princesses and settle down with Prince Charming, so this month, the magazines examine our oft-abandoned ideals. They cover the ideal man (wealthy), the ideal sex life (open-minded and often), and the ideal way to behave when confronted with something less-than-ideal (write an essay for a women’s magazine).

Not sure if you want to spend $3.99 on this month’s Vogue? Don’t worry, we’ve got Wendy Felton, Editor of GlossedOver.com, here to tell you exactly what’s up on the sex, love, and relationships front in each month’s crop of lady mags.

It’s hot outside! Looking for similar heat in the bedroom? This month in the magazines, it’s all about sex. While there’s plenty of advice for spicing things up in the July issues, the endless relationship sob stories make it even more tempting to remain celibate.

We have some news for Tyra Banks—a size eight dress isn’t plus size and America’s Next Top Model winner Whitney Thompson ain’t no fat girl charity case. The new “plus sized” model is on the cover of the June issue of Seventeen, sending the message to America’s highest risk group for eating disorders that a perfectly fit size eight means you’re a big girl. Adolescents already have enough body issues without a thin girl getting called thick. This is some major mean-girl fashionista bull crap. If you’re gonna give us a plus-size superstar, she better be big enough to play the part. [Bitten & Bound]