Being a regular girl is work enough—God knows what being a Cosmogirl entails. A tolerance for fruitinis? The ability to exist on salad alone? The shamelessness required to "[come] to bed in a soaking wet white tee shirt"? We've been gleefully following Cosmopolitan blogger Leo (Smith '07)—her blog's narrative is "one socially awkward girl's attempts to transform into a sexy, social butterfly." At first, we pointed and laughed like bullies—but it was only because deep down, we all feel awkward. We teased her about her use of the word "[doing] the grown-up" as a euphemism for sex, and how she wondered aloud if playing the field was "immoral". We also said that "increasingly, watching her thirty-day evolution at the hands of people who professionally suggest 'how to be a total man-magnet' is like watching a gazelle getting torn apart by hyenas." That was bitchy. But we were rooting for her all along. Leo's written her goodbye post, and we were worried: did the Cosmo machine spit out a Cosmotini-swilling, Choo-wearing girl-droid in the shape of their brand?

Writes young Leo:

"126 posts, 62,321 words, 5 new pairs of shoes, and a couple of romances later, I have to ask myself, 'Am I now a Cosmo Girl?'

Before I can answer, I have to admit that my conception of the “Cosmo Girl” was a tad unrealistic from the start. I saw a flawless woman who was so beautiful and sexy that she had boys begging to date her. She also had money, success, and fame. I came to realize that being a "Cosmo Girl" isn’t about all of that. It’s about being fun, fearless, getting in touch with your sexy side (even when you don’t have a man!), loving your friends, kicking ass at your job, and having dreams and goals. In a nutshell—being passionate about making your life the best it can be."

Whew. Sounds like she's still got her head on straight. But what now? As a commenter helpfully negs, "Keep striving to be better!"

(We're glad she's not a full-fledged Cosmogirl, anyway—it has no future. What do you do as one? Marry an i-banker?)

[The Making of a Cosmo Girl]

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