Guilty pleasures. Everyone has them. Guilty pleasures are the things that serve no real purpose in our lives but yet we are convinced that we need these things.

Guilty pleasures are buying Victoria’s Secret underwear when you know that it’s basically the same as Hanes Her Way cotton underwear.

A guilty pleasure is watching trashy television like “Dismissed,” the blind date television program on MTV, instead of writing a paper for class. Television viewers watch as three desperate singles go out on an expensive date. It’s complete nonsense but yet gives a sense of fulfillment.

But the magazine Cosmopolitan is probably my worst guilty pleasure.

As a journalism student, I try to read informative news magazines like Time or Newsweek. But instead, when I’m standing in line at the grocery store, I can’t take my eyes off the trashy teasers on the front of Cosmo’s latest edition. Stories about the war on terrorism on the cover of Time don’t have the same appeal as this month’s Cosmo features – “Gyno News Your Doc Is Too Wimpy to Tell You” and “Pick-Him-Up Tips From the Editors of Maxim.”

And the sex style quiz was another reason to pay $3.50 for this women-focused magazine.

But that’s not all. There is the article titled “My mortifying fake-boob blunder” explaining women’s mess ups when trying to fool men about their breast sizes. And packed between these informative articles complete with photo illustrations are important polls such as “60 percent of Cosmo readers say once you break up, his buddies are fair game.”

But after reading a few of articles and flipping past numerous lipstick advertisements, I started to wonder – is this really the magazine that the female population of America wants giving them advice on life, love and their career?

Cosmo is nothing more than a magazine that reinforces sexist stereotypes. Sure, the magazine does have articles on how to land to a job and how to advance your career.

Kudos to the Cosmo editors for those.

But then turn the page and you’ll find an article outlining ways a girlfriend can trick her boyfriend into getting her an engagement ring this Christmas.

Shame on the editors for encouraging successful women to manipulate men into marriage. Plus I noticed when glancing through this month’s edition, there are no real sources in a Cosmo article. It’s just random women and their random thoughts.

Who really cares if Melissa, age 20, thinks “I think some serial dumpers are just waiting for the right person to come along. When that happens, true love will prevail.”

What makes Melissa the expert on men who are “serial dumpers?” Has she been dumped numerous times by the same man? Or have several different men dumped her? Or better yet, is her serious boyfriend a past “serial dumper” who decided to become serious with her?

I’m not saying there are no journalistic qualities in Cosmo. They are just few and far between.

Who can argue with a magazine that has 260 pages of articles about careers, beauty and sex, seven pages of perfume samples and 12 pages of advertisements before the table of contents? Cosmo is a magazine that gives the women of America a voice.

But Cosmo is not the voice that should be mass produced to females across the country.

And that’s something everyone should feel guilty about.

Michelle Kann is a senior in journalism and mass communication from Garnavillo. She is newsroom managing editor at the Daily.