FSC Blasts Walmart's Decision to Remove Cosmopolitan From Checkout Aisles (XBIZ)

Read the full article by Rhett Pardon at XBIZ.com

LOS ANGELES — Walmart stores will no longer offer Cosmopolitan in their checkout lines.

In recent years, Walmart has been displaying the magazine in checkout lines but putting blinder wrappers over the cover.

But now the National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) has pushed Walmart to remove the magazine from the checkout area altogether after advocating for tougher enforcement of the blinder policy.

The NCOSE, an anti-pornography advocacy group formally known as Morality in Media, called the removal a “victory” on its website.

“That’s over 5,000 stores where families and individuals will no longer be automatically exposed to Cosmo’s hypersexualized and degrading article titles that regularly promote pornography, sexting, BDSM, group sex, anal sex, and more, all while marketing toward young teens with Disney star cover models,” the NCOSE said.

Today, the Free Speech Coalition said that the retail chain, with its wide diversity of customers globally, should use better judgment than give into  one-sided, faith-based arguments. Further, the FSC said, Walmart’s top executives shouldn’t be targeting “women’s sexuality.”

“It's shocking is to see a company like Walmart cave to the demands of religious extremists,” said Mike Stabile, the FSC’s communication director. “When we see religious conservatives say they're coming for porn, what they're really coming for is women's sexuality.”