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Published and distributed monthly by ITP Media Group by permission of Hearst Communications Inc, New York, United States of America EDITOR IN CHIEF Milli Midwood GROUP ART DIRECTOR Cate Warde DIGITAL EDITOR Sara AlHumiri CONTENT PRODUCER Twinkle Stanly BEAUTY EDITOR Lauren O’Connell CONTENT WRITER - ITP RIYADH Lama Aleidan COLUMNISTS & CONTRIBUTORS Rouhana El Hage Blanche Dmello JUNIOR ASSISTANTS Janice Crasto ITP MEDIA GROUP CEO Ali Akawi CFO Toby Jay Spencer-Davies Managing Director Marne Schwartz ADVERTISING Brand Director Farrah Taylor +971 4 444 3523 farrah.taylor@itp.com Advertising Director Nadia Musa +971 4 444 3171 nadia.musa@itp.com Brand Manager Molly Slevin +971 4 444 3517 molly.slevin@itp.com MARKETING & CIRCULATION Distribution Coordinator Avinash Pereira Circulation Executive Rajesh Pillai DIGITAL General Manager ITP Live Ahmad Bashour PHOTOGRAPHY Senior Photographers Efraim Evidor, Adel Rashid PRODUCTION & DISTRIBUTION Group Production & Distribution Director Kyle Smith Production Manager Denny Kollannoor Production Coordinator Balasubramanian P Image Editor Jemima Joy ITP MEDIA GROUP PO BOX 500024, DUBAI, UAE. TEL: +971 4 444 3000. ITP.COM HEARST MAGAZINES INTERNATIONAL President/Hearst Magazines International Jonathan Wright SVP/Global Editorial & Brand Director Kim St. Clair Bodden Global Editorial & Brand Director, Young Women’s Group, Wellness Group, Enthusiast Group, Lifestyle Group Chloe O’Brien Editor-in-Chief, Cosmopolitan (1965-1997): Helen Gurley Brown international editions Bulgaria China Czech Republic France Germany Hong Kong Hungary India Indonesia Italy Japan Korea Mexico Middle East The Netherlands Philippines Slovenia Spain Taiwan Ukraine United Kingdom United States ON THE COVER Noor Stars shot by Esra Sam Noor wears jacket and gloves both by MENAGE 07. Headphones by Razer available at noon.com WE ARE ALL GAMERS POV: It’s the year 2000, you’ve just built your dream house in the small grassy suburb of Pleasantview, and your Sims are about to have baby number two. Fast-forward 22 years, and my daily hang-up is how to complete the next level of Penny’s Pursuit in the oh so addictive game Plants vs. Zombies 2. I’m curious how I, your average Instagram scroller, might be classed as a gamer. The earliest iterations of EA’s bestselling game, SimCity, launched in 1989 giving players the chance to build and sustain their own metropolis. By the early 2000s, the gameplay had evolved to be less city planning and more soap opera, focusing on human aspects like getting married, climbing the career ladder, and dealing with death that happened by way of setting your Baked Alaska on re and perishing in your own kitchen, or drowning in a pool with no ladder to escape — you know, the usual. With each character I conjured, a new story was born. I was in charge of every twist and turn that would follow. Anything was possible. Casual gaming may not be as popular as competitive console or PC gaming, but it’s still a multi-billion dollar industry, and the audience for this particular type of gameplay continues to grow year on year. And as for esports? Well, those players are in a league of their own. Statista reported that as of 2022, the global esports market is worth $1.4 billion. Yup. At this point, it would be remiss of me not to mention this thing (place?) called ‘the metaverse.’ We now attend fashion shows on the FROW alongside celebs, and even belt out “About Damn Time” at Lizzo and Charli XCX concerts in the world of virtual reality, but it will still be a few years before we see fashion and beauty brands creating fully immersive, shoppable experiences in the metaverse. Right now, though, we look to the brands who are trying their hand in AR, creating technologies like virtual try-ons and ‘virtch merch’ (virtual merchandise), pg 43. Cosmo contributor Chante Joseph also looks to the dark side of the internet on pg 18, uncovering how this new online world has become a place for misogyny to thrive. So, what’s next? More games and more gamers! Duh. As video games hurtle toward ubiquity, it may come as less of a surprise to know that they are now the rst choice of entertainment for Gen Alpha (the demographic aged 13 to 17), ranking above social media, TV, music or any other form of media. By denition, then, as I–a Millennial–, eventually turn into a parent and subsequently a grandparent, I will nd myself in a world where nearly every person alive is a gamer of some sort. And as conversations arise around how the pervasive touch-screen engenders some shrunken longing for actual touch, in this issue we look at how losing yourself in a pixelated world is actually a powerful mental health tool on pg 86. Gaming fosters connections, sharpens problem- solving skills, and allows you to peel back layers of yourself. Just press play. Milli Midwood Editor-in-Chief 12 Ed’s LetterWA T C H How TWICE— K-pop’s record- breaking, stadium-touring, highly in-demand girl group—made it easier for an entire industry to be more honest. IN T E R V IE W BY K AT M O O N PHO T O G R APH S BY RUO B I NG L I When mental health makes waves 14When your latest project—in this case, your 11th EP, Between 1&2—sells more than 1 million units in preorders before it’s even released, you might not blame anyone for assuming you’re riding high. Especially because, not just in South Korea or the States but in the world over, success and happiness are branded as basically inextricable. If you have the former, you have the latter, right? But for Jihyo, Nayeon, Jeongyeon, Momo, Sana, Mina, Dahyun, Chaeyoung, and Tzuyu—the nine 23- to 27-year-old stars of TWICE—there’s no reason to maintain that charade, despite K-pop’s reputation for near-inescapable control of its messaging and its reluctance in the past to acknowledge or accommodate the challenges of global fame. All that shifted in 2019 when TWICE’s management company, JYP Entertainment (JYPE) , announced that Mina would no longer participate in the group’s current world tour due to an anxiety disorder. It made headlines worldwide. “Mina is currently struggling with sudden extreme anxiety and insecurity toward performing onstage,” a statement read. While it’s not uncommon for stars to take breaks, it’s rare for labels to share their artists’ diagnoses, especially in South Korea, where heavy stigmas around anxiety and depression persist. JYPE’s disclosure about Mina’s condition was a game changer. Fans showered Mina, TWICE, and JYPE with praise and support on social media. Soon after that announcement, Dahyun emphasized in an interview that “physical health and mental health are the most important things that members should take care of.” TWICE has been even more vocal in the years that followed, like in a recent cover story for British digital music magazine NME, where Nayeon stressed why they choose to be so candid. “Before, there was a time when we thought that From left: Jihyo, Tzuyu, and Momo 15 WatchFrom left: Sana, Jeongyeon, and Dahyun “Once I saw things not going as I planned, it was strangely very relaxing.” —Jeongyeon it was better not to talk about it, but now we don’t think that. We think it’s much better to be open and honest about what’s happening to us.” Since Mina’s break, not only has fellow TWICE member Jeongyeon taken time off for, as JYPE stated, “panic and psychological anxiety,” but multiple other artists, like Jiho from Oh My Girl and Dawon from WJSN, have also publicly stepped away for their own welfare. I chatted with TWICE over Zoom, via a translator, about what they do to take care of themselves now, how they support each other in times of stress, and what it’s really like to experience a level of fame they never imagined. As busy as your schedules are these days, how do you look out for yourselves mentally? Dahyun: To relax while I’m touring, I eat. Healthy and delicious food is the most important thing after concerts for me. I also take a bath and I nap. And sometimes I look up funny clips on YouTube. Momo: When we’re working, there are certain members who are more energetic than others. When I’m tired and not at my best, they really make me laugh, and just by talking to them, I get more energy. And when they’re tired, I make them laugh. Mina: I’m a person who spends a lot of time alone, and it really helps me cope with dif culties when other members ask me to do things I would not do on my own. They took me waterskiing! You have fans all over the world. Is this level of fame what you imagined when you debuted? Sana: In the beginning, we really hoped that one day, we would hold a concert of our own. Now we’re holding concerts in Korea, in the U.S., and all over the world, and that’s really unreal. Nayeon: The K-pop market has really expanded over the years. So I think that’s another reason why we have so many global fans now. Because we had our debut in Korea, I think our initial hope was to let ourselves be known to as many people as possible in Korea. We didn’t really expect the global fans. How do you think that level of fame has changed you? Tzuyu: I was never a talkative person before TWICE, and I can’t say that I’m talkative now. But I denitely talk a lot more and I’m much more outgoing than I was before. And all of this is because of my desire to communicate with our fans. Mina: It’s gotten easier for me to express myself. I think that comes from communicating with our fans and also from being with our members. I almost feel like I have more feelings now. Jeongyeon: My Myers-Briggs Type Indicator used to be ISFJ [introverted, sensing, feeling, judging]. I was very plan- oriented and controlling. But recently, the last letter, J, changed to P [perceiving], which means I’m more spontaneous and more open-minded. I used to love watching my plans go exactly as I planned. I just loved it. But once I saw things not going as I planned, it was strangely very relaxing. I never turned back. 16 WatchFrom left: Chaeyoung, Nayeon, and Mina How have you learned to better support each other since you rst met? Dahyun: My relationship with Sana was not close at all when we rst had our debut. We were in different [pre-debut] teams and we said hi to each other, but we never had any conversation—like, real conversation. But as the years went by, she became the person who cared for me the most. Especially when I’m sick or something, she’s the rst to come and hold my hand. Sana: I helped her blow her nose once. Are there negative parts of being famous that fans might not expect? Sana: I’m really worried about my personal information leaking, especially at airports. When I show my passport, sometimes people take pictures from above. Jeongyeon: I get random calls on my cell phone that worry me. Jihyo: I don’t want to call it a downside of fame, but I have to say that we are just super busy and I don’t have enough me- time. Tzuyu: I’m so thankful for the love that we’ve received. But it would be great to have a little bit more time to care for ourselves. TWICE has accomplished so many “rsts,” but do those ever feel bittersweet considering the downsides? Jihyo: When we got our rst trophy [for a music show in 2016], it was a live broadcast, and I remember during the time that we were so busy and so tired and almost, like, out of it. At that time, one of the members was pretty sick and she had to go to the ER. And I remember we hugged each other and we cried almost every day because it was so dif cult. But when we topped the chart and got that trophy in our hands, it was a testament that we were doing okay. And what’s the big-picture goal of all that success? Chaeyoung: When I look up our own videos, a lot of the comments are about how our songs take fans back to their favourite memories, to the moment in their lives when they rst heard that song. It would be so great if 50 years from now, our songs still trigger good memories. “It’s gotten easier for me to express myself.” —Mina EXCUSE ME? TWICE’s music has more than 5 billion streams on Spotify. 17 WatchIt was late evening in 2003, and a young rose-cheeked Mark Zuckerberg - light- headed from wine and too much screentime - was sat in his Harvard dorm laughing at the prole pictures of his Kirkland House dorm mates: “some of these people have pretty horrendous Facebook pics. I almost want to put some of these faces next to pictures of farm animals and have people vote on which is more attractive,” he publishes on his blog. Twenty-one minutes later, he posts again: ‘Yea, it’s on. I’m not exactly sure how the farm animals are going to t into this whole thing (you can’t really ever be sure with farm animals ...), but I like the idea of comparing two people together. At that moment, FaceMash was a website where people could compare their fellow students’ faces to one another to decide who was most attractive was born. Facemash eventually became the popular social media site Facebook and has now - in the face of more scandal - become Meta, host of the Metaverse, a series of virtual worlds where people can socialise and play in augmented reality. Understanding the context of Facebook helps to contextualise the current issues facing the new ‘immersive virtual experience’. The Metaverse has become rife with sexism and sexual assault, not only from the launch but at the research stage, and it is partly due to the culture of misogyny that exists online anyway. Research by Amnesty International found that half of women received sexist or misogynistic abuse or harassment online, which lead to low self-esteem, anxiety and panic attacks. The new world of virtual reality has essentially allowed sexism to re-imagine itself and leave women constantly anxious about what awaits them online. Virtual Reality is designed to be as close to real life as possible and is curated using three key pillars: immersion, presence and interactivity. Together, they make it increasingly dif cult to separate your real experiences from your virtual ones, and it works. A recent Stanford study uncovered that children found it dif cult to separate real experiences from virtual ones, confusing the two and creating false memories. The realness of this new digital experience makes the stories about sexual assault harrowing; it is never enough to “log off” when you’ve been violated in such Misogyny in the Metaverse Cosmo Middle East contributor Chante Joseph on how the new world of virtual reality has become a space for sexism to re-imagine itself and leave women constantly anxious about what awaits them online. a ‘real’ way. Nina Jane Patel, the vice president of Metaverse Research at Kabuni, experienced sexual harassment within Meta’s Horizon Venues. ‘I was verbally and sexually harassed — 3–4 male avatars, with male voices, essentially, but virtually assulted my avatar and took photos — as I tried to get away, they yelled — “don’t pretend you didn’t love it”, she wrote in a post about her experience. She described the situation as ‘surreal’ and a ‘nightmare’, explaining that it felt like it was happening in reality. When she spoke about her experiences, she was told not to be “stupid” and that “avatars don’t have lower bodies to assault.” She was made to feel that her experience of harassment online was trivial and that she was to blame for this happening. A similar incident happened to a woman who goes by the pseudonym Jordan Belamire on a Medium post. In the post, she recounts being groped while playing QuiVr, a multi-player virtual reality game. ‘Suddenly, BigBro442’s disembodied helmet faced me dead-on. His oating hand approached my body, and he started to virtually touch my chest,’ she wrote. ‘Even when I turned away 18 Watchfrom him, he chased me around, making grabbing and pinching motions near my chest.’ When the stories of women’s experiences came out in the press, Meta responded by saying they should have used the “Safe Zone”, a tool that acts as a protective bubble when users feel threatened. However, this level of casual victim blaming misses the point that preventative tools can be implemented, but it doesn’t x the broader issue of sexism or penalise those who commit it. Meta also developed a “personal boundary function” that prevents users from coming in within a certain distance of your avatar. However, these features only seek to make women feel more restricted online and ruin the experience by constantly living in fear. A culture shift has to take place that teaches people to be respectful of others, and this will never change as long as tech is male- dominated. Only 14% of virtual reality- focused companies based in the UK had any female directors; in the wider industry, only 37% of Tech start-ups have at least one woman on the board of directors. As long as women are sidelined from these roles and positions, it becomes harder for virtual spaces to consider their needs. Existing online as a woman is complex, and new platforms only embolden the current status quo. Although sexism didn’t start with the internet, it has amplied it beyond measure, and we all have a role to play in making digital spaces safe for women who want to be there. From the developers making these worlds to the users being educated on best practices, it takes everyone involved to change gender discrimination in the digital landscape. Interestingly, Warpin Media, an XR software development company, have designed a VR experience that teaches empathy by getting users to walk in someone else shoes so they can understand how someone feels. In The Metro, CEO Emma Ridderstad told a reporter that users can ‘play either the role of the bully or the victim and users get to make choices that impact the outcome.’ Perhaps this is the next wave of educational training that needs to happen to help people realise how their actions make people feel and ultimately create safer online environments. IMA GE S : SHUT TERS TOCK 19 WatchNext >