Sex is on the air at new women-focused radio station
Hera Diani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
American author Kurt Vonnegut once mentioned Cosmopolitan magazine in the preface of one of his novels, describing it as a monthly which had bought several of his short stories but "now survives as a harrowingly explicit sex manual".
That says it all. Nevertheless, sex sells, and not only does the magazine survive, but it positively flies off the newsstand, at least here.
Ever since the magazine's Indonesian version, Kosmopolitan, was first published in 1997, it has been one of the highest selling women's magazines in the country.
Forget about career tips, fashion and beauty guides, the recipe of the month or the fun fearless female spiel. The real attraction is 75 ways to enthrall Mr. Happy, finding the magical G spot and the road to multiple orgasms.
The magazine comes to readers every month printed on glossy paper and in striking colors.
Now, for addicted readers who can't wait until next month to get their fix, they can tune into Cosmopolitan 90.4 FM.
The focus of the radio station?
"Well, yes, there is plenty of sex here. But in a friendly way and not vulgar. I don't think we should still perceive sex as taboo. It's important to talk about it for educational purposes," general manager of the radio station Meuthia Kasim said before the grand launch of the station at the end of last month.
The radio station is the first in the world licensed by the magazine.
"We proposed to the magazine's parent company in the United States and they agreed. It took us a year before we finally established the station," Meuthia said.
The radio is under the management of MRA media, the company which already has three other radio stations: Hard Rock FM, MTV and i-radio.
The first is targeted for people in their early 20s, MTV is for teenagers while i-radio is an all-Indonesian songs station.
Cosmopolitan FM, meanwhile, is targeted for those "fun fearless females" in their late 20s and early 30s who "work, do not depend on their husbands, are brave and have their own identities".
The radio station calls itself a "personal" station which is, naturally, up close and personal.
"Personal means that the announcers are free to talk about anything. It's your personal station, a place to discuss relationships and your personal life," Meuthia said.
Although the grand launch was only last month, Cosmopolitan FM has been broadcasting since August last year.
Most of the radio's content is taken from the magazine, with segments like Agony, Lust Survey, Sex-Rated, Cosmo Controversy, Sextasy and Sexpert.
There are also sessions called "bites", where listeners are asked questions like "where is the kinkiest place you've ever had sex?"
"But we're not merely talking about sex. We also discuss all aspects of women's lives. And even though we cooperate with the magazine for the content, we're still independent," Meuthia said, adding that the station would start broadcasting in other cities in the near future.
Sex may be a big focus of the station, but finding announcers to convey the message is apparently not that easy.
"It's difficult to find announcers who dare to talk about such things, and who can talk in a mature and cool way," Meuthia said.
An important thing is that the announcers must know what to do when things get out of hand, mainly during an interactive session.
Methia stressed that the radio does not endorse sex outside marriage.
"When we talk about sex, it's always sex concerning husbands and wives."
To underline that point, the grand launch at the Jakarta Hilton Convention Center was highlighted by model-actor Donny Damara french-kissing his wife on stage.
Prior to the smooch session, he told the audience it was aimed at showing how much he loved his wife.
Yes, sex should not be taboo, indeed, but should be celebrated. Still, pretentious and superficial talk or acts, in the name of breaking a taboo, merely end up being nauseating.