Cosmopolitan Magazine - Textual Analysis

The July 2015 issue of Cosmopolitan Magazine has a target audience of heterosexual women, we know this because the headlines featured on the front cover are predominantly centralised around females. For example, 'How it feels to give birth', 'The women drinking themselves out of a job' and 'Love yourself, Love your body, Love your man.' These are all subject matters that would mainly strike an interest with females, although there will also be some males who will like women, take the preferred reading to this media text. 

We can straightaway see that this magazine values appearance and looking good, and we can see that the encoders of the magazine think it is important. We are also presented with the ideology that all women should want to impress men and receive attention from them and make them happy, a person taking a preferred reading to this would agree with these ideologies and want to learn how to keep a man happy, whereas someone taking an oppositional reading such as a heterosexual female, or a woman with very strong feminist views, would reject these ideologies. Another ideology which we are presented with is that, fashion and clothing are important aspects of a female's life. We know this because one of the few headlines that have been selected to be on the front cover of the magazine is 'Summer fashion sorted! From beachwear to workwear.' This suggests that this magazine has the answers to any fashion problems that the consumers of this text may have, it offers the audience with a choice of two styles 'beachwear' and 'workwear' suggesting that whatever style you need, this magazine has the answer. 

There is also an aspect of realism featured on this front cover as one of the headlines reads "I escaped death by seconds. he pointed his gun at me... and then it jammed.' This story is shocking and enticing for that matter, but due to the fact that it has come from presumably a consumer of this media text, it will create a sense of relatability and empathy amongst its audience. 

The layout of the page itself reflects the image of a woman's life. The page has some structure to it, however the use of different typography, font sizes and colour, could some way mirror the chaotic life of a female. The main, and only image that is used on the front cover of the magazine features elite person Paloma Faith, who is an extremely famous and well respected singer/songwriter. The image has been shot by using a medium shot, this allows us to see her outfit and her make up clearly, which again reinforces the ideology that fashion, make up and looking good are important in this society. The image of Paloma that has been selected is of her smiling and laughing creates a sense of friendliness and closeness. The headline that is associated with Paloma is a quote from herself from an interview that can be read later on in the magazine which says "I've fired people for not being kind." This portrays the empowering woman dominating and powerful aspect of this magazine which will create a bond between the audience and the encoders.