Research - Representation: Gender in Women's Magazines

"THE FEMININE MYSTIQUE, written by Betty Friedan (1963), marked the reawakening awareness of women in his country to the pervasive societal pressure to conform to a traditional female role. Friedan's thesis was that magazines and other media most often depict women in traditional sex roles such as homemakers or models of attractiveness and in so doing have nurtured a narrow and servile image of women."

"Women’s magazines form part of popular culture, which is not only concerned with the production process but also takes into consideration the needs of the readers. The aim of this research is to analyse the representations of women in selected women’s magazines. In particular, this research focuses on the social construction and cultural representation of women in terms of whether they are represented as glamorous sex objects or independent women who are in control of their sexuality." (Viwe Ndzamela 2002)

"...Secondly, each magazine contains a high number of pages advertising clothes, shoes, bags and other accessories. Accompanying the clothes are imperatives such as “get the look” (“How to get A-list eyes” 2011: pp. 84) or “how to…” (“How to date like an A-lister” 2011: pp. 94) pages that act as a guide to a better self image. Celebrities act as ‘coaches’ for the audience by revealing their top five tips and favourite style choices. All these elements work together to create this representation that women are concerned with self-image, whether it be helping someone else improve theirs or taking advice to improve their own."

How are women represented in Heat magazine? POSTED ON MARCH 21, 2012 BY KATIE BRADFORD

"Representations included in the magazine are not always accurate. As Dines and Humez (2003) suggest, “media representations are never just simple ‘reflections of reality.’” They tend to supply representations that the audience want and not necessarily ones that are accurate.

Heat magazine makes strong assumptions about what women want. An acceptable body image, a celebrity lifestyle and a love-life seem to be the most prominent life goals conveyed in this magazine. Again, this is not a realistic outlook on life and I think by constructing the publication in this way, the producers are excluding a large portion of their potential audience."

How are women represented in Heat magazine? POSTED ON MARCH 21, 2012 BY KATIE BRADFORD

"In the mid-1970s feminist attention to girls' and women's magazines saw the magazines as exemplifying oppression. the glossy advertisements did nothing but convince readers of their own inadequacies while hooking them into the consumer culture on the promise that they cold buy their way out body dissatisfactions and low self-esteem." Back to reality: social experience and cultural studies