Helen Gurley Brown

Helen Gurley Brown

Helen Gurley Brown was known for being the author of Sex and the Single Girl, a long time publisher and editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan magazine, and an advocate of woman's self-fulfillment.

Helen Gurley Brown was born February 18, 1922 in Green Forest, Arkansas. Gurley attended Texas State College for Woman for one semester before transferring to Woodbury Business College in California. Gurley passed away on August 13, 2012 in New York, New York.

Gurley started off her career working as a secretary for Foote, Cone, and Belding; a advertisement company. Gurley was moved to the copywriting department of the company when her employer noticed her impressive writing skills. It was at this time that Gurley progressed immediately in her surroundings that lead her to becoming one of the highest ad copywriters of the early 1960's.

In 1962, Gurley wrote the novel Sex and the Single Girl, a book intended as advice for woman who wanted to become economically independent. This book also supported woman who wanted to actively explore relationships sexually without the commitment of marriage. The book sold 2 million copies within a span of 3 weeks throughout 28 countries. The novel stayed on the bestseller lists for over a year and lead to the following books: Sex and the Office in 1965 and Sex and the New Single Girl in 1970.

Helen became editor-in-chief for Cosmopolitan magazine in 1965. Gurley took a woman's magazine that was being written by men and reinvented it for the career single-woman of its time, making it one of the most widely sold woman's magazines ever. Through her time working for Cosmopolitan, Gurley was an advocate for woman's sexual freedoms and provided modern day woman of the magazine with role models. Gurley's models were often called "Cosmo Girls" for their advocacy, glamour, and fashion. Gurley's work at Cosmopolitan and her book was an exceptional addition to the sexual revolution.

The Sexual Revolution was also known as the Sexual Liberation which was a social movement from the 1960's to the 1980's. The movement challenged traditional customs relating to sexuality and relationships. This movement pushed for the acceptance of sexual relations outside of the traditional relationship such as marriage. Certain items such as contraception, the pill, premarital sex, homosexuality, and the legalization of abortion were becoming more natural through this movement.

Gurley was able to established the Brown Institute for Media Innovation and form the Helen Gurley Brown Trust before she had passed away in 2012. The trust donates money to a variety of new programs at the Brown Institute. Helen's trust also provides programs for children in New York City as well as fostering progress for education. Gurley's donations have started programs that will benefit at-risk youths and increase the representation for woman and minority groups that are apart of STEM disciplines.

Helen Gurley Brown was recognized by New York Times reporter, Randall Rothenberg for creating the magazine that "played an important role in helping young woman redefine their roles in society". When Gurley had passed away, Hearst Publications commented that "Helen was one of the world's most recognized magazine editors and book authors, and a true pioneer for women in journalism - and beyond". Gurley was recognized as a "role model for the millions of woman whose private thoughts, wonders and dreams she addressed so brilliantly in print" by the Mayor of New York City, Michael Bloomberg. People from all over look at the work done by Helen Gruley Brown as both "progressive and retrogressive" to the feminist movement allowing woman to be unashamed of their bodily urges and encourage those that may have self image issues.

Work Cited

"Helen Gurley Brown." Wikipedia, 24, Sept. 2017,  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_Gurley_Brown .

"Sexual Norm. Wikipedia, 24, Sept. 2017,  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_norm .

"Helen Gurley Brown - 2009 Short Film for Hearst Corporation." YouTube, uploaded by McConnellHauser, 13, Aug. 2012, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ixhdnn3AkjQ .