Representation of Gender in Women's Magazines

This is a 'well worn' research investigation - proving to be a popular choice year in, year out. There is an abundance of research available about the representation of Gender - and much of it concerned with how men and women are displayed to us in glossy print magazines. This project has the potential to be straightforward and a great way of showing off your understanding of some staple media theories. It can also be done with ingenuity and originality... it can also be done in a predictable and boring way!

Research Investigation

There is almost too much to choose from when it comes to this essay so you have to be very specific about which theories of representation you are going to cover and which issues you are going to look at.

Consider these questions carefully:

Are you going to...

•  analyse the representation of men, women or both?
•  discuss how magazines use stereotypes in their contents?
•  to make a hegemonic reading of magazines?
•  to explore how the audience is positioned and possibly stereotyped?
•  look at the ideologies presented about men and women through the mode of address?
•  look at the issue of body image?

There are many more questions to ask and decisions to be made - once you have an idea about your area of study you need to consider which magazine(s) you will select as case studies - this can be any of the countless women's titles out there but be careful if you decide to choose two to compare and contrast that they are at least similar in some aspects.

Please always label your research with your name and Representation Gender in Women's Mags

Media Product

You must create a cover and three inside pages of a typical women's magazine.

This sounds pretty straightforward - and in fact it is. Anyone with a decent grasp of Photoshop and access to a camera and some willing friends can sit down and emulate the style and content of a magazine - however this is not necessarily going to get the marks that are needed to succeed in this project.

Yes - your product must look professional.

Yes - your product must look and feel like the genre of magazine you have studied

...but to get the marks...

The style and content of your new magazine must have been informed by what you found out when you were writing and researching the essay.

This means that every decision that you make will have been influenced by the essays you've read and the conclusions that you've made. And I mean everything!

Including: the name of the magazine, the colour schemes, the choice of models, the types of photos used, the language used, the ideologies promoted, the names of the journalists, the celebrities featured etc etc etc

This is where you will need to pay a close attention to detail and be able to justify absolutely everything. A middle of the road effort will get a middle of the road mark out of 45! 

Click here to return to the nine coursework projects.

Research

This is where you will find resources that we have collected that relate to the essay title Representation: Gender in Women's Magazines

Some will come from me, but the majority will come from you! Whenever you post some research - choose to label it with your name (so that I know you've done some work) and also use the label Representation: Gender in Women's Mags

Then everyone can share resources - and there's no need to worry if someone is using the same research as you because everyone's project is different!

Here's some research to start you off...

David Gauntlett's book: Media, Gender and Identity has been a staple resource for Media students across the nation for a good few years. He discusses the representation of gender in magazines at great length and comes up with a few surprising conclusions.

Get a copy of the book...

Or click on it to get straight to the resources you might find useful on his excellent (albeit slightly confusing) website: www.theory.org.uk

From the website there are some extracts from the conclusion. Here they are collected together, make sure that you always cite David Guantlett if you quote from this...

The following video might not be what you would consider as academic research, however it should give you a bit of context as to how women in particular have been represented in magazines over the past sixty or so years...

The excellent Aberystwyth University Media Studies page has work collected about the notion of 'The Gaze' (not just the concept of the Male Gaze). These are the thoughts of Daniel Chandler and his look at how other people have analysed the concept of the Gaze.

The act of looking at others is so important to the study of magazines that it cannot be overlooked. Here are the notes collected. Read them carefully, some parts are much more useful than others depending on exactly what you are looking for...

More to follow,

Richard Dyer on Stereotypes

Research

The Daddy of Media and Cultural Studies gives his introduction of representations...

Quote, Explain, Cite!

'' 70% of teen girls agreed that magazines strongly influenced what they thought was the ideal body type.''  - education.com

magazines create a construction of the perfect woman and perfect body image instead of featuring real life women of society. Appeals more in womens' magazines then mens because women are portrayed as constantly body conscious and looking for their 'beach body'. 

''researchers reporting that teenage girls rely heavily on them for information on beauty and fashion, valuing their advice nearly as highly as that of their peers.''  


MediaSmarts.com        


Representation has gotten to a point where its created a Society that relies on 

superficial points of view from an unknown individual behind a screen rather 

than an individual they trust and have known forever. 


''66 percent of women are influenced by underweight models in magazines. The women who were shown pictures of thin models showed a decline in self-esteem and overall mood'' - LIVESTRONG.COM
Rather than magazines acting like a type of support or advisor for women it does nothing but bring them down when its meant to be lifting them up. Mens magazines fulfil their needs through their stereotypical interests  of cars and how to get the right girl. Women's magazines use underweight models whilst advertising products. Example; a picture of an underweight model and describing her as having a beach body and a fantastic figure whilst advertising diet pills.  

''men's magazines and women's magazines often follow the same general formula. Men's magazines are mostly based around heavily eroticized images of women. And women's magazines are also based around heavily eroticized images of women.'' -TheAtlantic.com (use as intro maybe)

''We provide pictures of girls in the same way we provide pictures of cool cars. It is ornamental. Women's magazines do the same thing.''  - The Atlantic.com - Alex Bilmes 

''The fact that women are assumed to be the objects not just in men's magazines, but in women's as well, indicates just how prevalent, and how constricting, gender expectations can be.'' - TheAtlantic.com 
women can identify with pictures of women so would rather be photographed as objects but they can also be objectifiers.  This shows that gender expectations can be less restricted than expected by society. 

A2 MEDIA RESEARCH BLOG 1

RESEARCH QUESTIONS:

SOURCE: David Guntlett- Media, Gender & Identity.
First edition (2002)

USEFUL QUOTATIONS INCL PAGE NO:



Fluidity of identity and the decline of tradition-
1The traditional view of a woman as a housewife or low status worker has been kick boxed out of the picture by the feisty, successful 'girl power' icons.
2 Although gender categroies have not been shattered, these alternative ideas and images have at least created space for a greater diversity of identities.
3 Popular media fosters the desire to crete new modes of life - within the context of capitalism. Whether one is happy with capitalism, or seeks its demise, it must surely be considered good if modern media is encouraging the overthrow of traditions which kept people within limiting compartments.

The knowing construction of identity-
4 Magazines, bought on one level for a quick fix of lossy entertainment, promote self-confidence (even if they partly undermine it, for some readers, at the same time) and provide information about sex, relationships and lifestyles which can be put to a variety of uses. Television programmes, pop songs, adverts, movies and the internet all also provide numerous kinds of 'guidance'- not necessarily in the obvious form of advice-giving, but in the myriad suggestions of ways of living which they imply.
5 The media provides some of the tools which can be used in this work.
6 It contains some useless ones; some that might give beauty to the project, and some that might spoil it.

Generational differences-

7 the mass media has become more liberal, and considerably more challenging to traditional standards, since then, and this has been a reflection of changing attitudes, but also involves the media actively disseminating modern values.
8 expect role models to have an impact on individuals
9 role models serve as navigation points as individuals steer their own personal routes through life.


Masculinity in crisis?
10 We saw in chapter one that contemporary masculinity is often said to be 'in crisis'; as women become increasingly assertive and successful, apparently triumphing in all roles, men are said to be anxious and confused about what their role is today. In the analysis of men's magazines (chapter eight) we found a lot of signs that the magazines were about men finding a place for themselves in the modern world.
11 whilst young females are taking to the full spectrum of school subjects and jobs, their male counterparts still generally avoid subjects and work that they see as 'female'. These things are continually crumbling, though.


Girl power
12 'girl power', a phrase slapped into mainstream culture by the Spice Girls and subsequently incorporated into the language of government bodies as well as journalists, educationalists, culture critics, and pop fans themselves.
13 Magazines for young women are emphatic in their determination that women must do their own thing, be themselves, and/or be as outrageously sassy and sexy as possible.


Popular feminism, women and men


14 Angela McRobbie calls 'popular feminism' - the mainstream interpretation of feminism which is a strong element of modern pop culture even though it might not actually answer to the 'feminist' label.
15 To [many] young women official feminism is something that belongs to their mothers' generation. They have to develop their own language for dealing with sexual inequality, and if they do this through a raunchy language of 'shagging, snogging and having a good time', then perhaps the role this plays is not unlike the sexually explicit manifestoes found in the early writing of figures like [feminist pioneers] Germaine Greer.
16 McRobbie further argues that 'This dynamic of generational antagonism has been overlooked by professional feminists, particularly those in the academy, with the result that the political effectivity of young women is more or less ignored' .


Gender trouble
17 the idea that the existing notions of sex, gender and sexuality should be challenged by the 'subversive confusion and proliferation' of the categories which we use to understand them. The binary division of 'male' and 'female' identities should be shattered, Butler suggested, and replaced with multiple forms of identity - not a new range of restrictive categories, but an abundance of modes of self-expression
18 Butler, as we noted, did not make direct reference to the mass media, but it seems obvious that if there is to be a major proliferation of images in the public eye, then the media must play a central role.
19 Some advertising - ...had reminded viewers of the similarity of genders, hinting that it wouldn't matter which of the attractive male or female models you chose to desire. Other ads ....playfully teased heterosexual desires only to reveal that the lust object was more interested in their own sex, pointing audiences to the unpredictability of sexualities.


Media power versus audience power
 
20 The media disseminates a huge number of messages about identity and acceptable forms of self-expression, gender, sexuality, and lifestyle.
21 The media's suggestions may be seductive, but can never simply overpower contrary feelings in the audience.
22 Neither the media nor the audience are powerful in themselves, but both have powerful arguments.


Contradictory elements


23  even quite specific parts of media culture put out a whole spectrum of messages which cannot be reconciled. 
24 It is impossible to say that women's magazines, for example, always carry a particular message, because the enormous range of titles target an equally diverse set of female audiences.
25 Furthermore, even one magazine will contain an array of viewpoints.
26 like almost all media producers - are far more interested in generating 'surprise' than in maintaining coherence and consistency.
27 the multiple messages contribute to the perception of an open realm of possibilities.
28 we no longer get singular, straightforward messages about ideal types of male and female identities (although certain groups of features are clearly promoted as more desirable than others). Instead, popular culture offers a range of stars, icons and characters from whom we can acceptably borrow bits and pieces of their public persona for use in our own.
29 In addition, of course - and slightly contradictorily - individuals are encouraged to 'be yourself', and to be creative - within limits - about the presentation of self.


Change


30 Views of gender and sexuality, masculinity and femininity, identity and selfhood, are all in slow but steady processes of change and transformation.
31 it is worth reasserting the obvious fact that things do change, because some authorities within the disciplines of media studies and gender studies tend to act as though things do not really change over periods of ten or twenty years.


Finally:


32 Furthermore, people are changing, building new identities founded not on the certainties of the past, but organised around the new order of modern living, where the meanings of gender, sexuality and identity are increasingly open.




32 quotes 1 text

gender in the media 

'a rapid change in the way gender is represented'
it is interesting the way gender is changing the way it is represented in the media, the idea of a women is changing and also the role of men is.

representing gender in magazines

'men act and women appear' berger noted
men and women are represented in different ways, men are the ones that do or say what needds to be said or done and women are always there and they apparently only care about the way hey appear to pther people.

'wonmen are represented as sex objects in advertising'
in mens mafazines women are seen as 'mens toys' and mens amusement they are only put on this earth for men to mess around with, for example in mens magazines you see women dressed up as rabbits with just ears and underwear on or they have a devil oulfuit on and this makes them out to be objects they are being represented as mens toys.

'they have a particular facial features which connote a combination of softness and stregnth'
in this bit of the text, women are refared to as 'they' amd below this it says the generic conventions that women should be for example they should have a large jaw,  big lips and eyesand soft looking clear skin and if they dont they are apparently not a women, or they might be a women that men wont look twice at.

'men should have facial hair and big muscles'

Representations of Women in Women’s Magazines - By Viwe Ndzamela

"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."

This quote tells us how magazines construct a stereotype that women feel that they need to live up to.

"There are structures that are concerned with producing representations of women from primary school reading schemes to Hollywood films, from advertising to opera, from game shows to art galleries, women are depicted in ways that define what it means to be a woman in this society, what women are like (naturally), what they ought to be like, what they are capable of, what roles they play in society and how they differ from men."

How women are defined, showing women what they 'should' be.


 
"Because stereotypes have their basis in the material conditions and social practices of society, they
serve to naturalise the power relationships in society, they have a hegemonic function, hence women are often stereotyped as subservient to men (Lacey 1998:139). This implies that women may be represented in a way that suits the views of those who are involved in the production process as well as the owners in the manner that they think will be profitable for them." 

Tells us that women are often stereotyped to please other people in society.

"Tuchman states that according “…to media researchers, the media do not represent women who are viable role models, and therefore the media’s irrational role models when internalised, prevent and impede female accomplishments” (1979:11). As a result of this the media also encourage readers to define women in terms of the way men perceive them (as sex objects) or in the context of the family (as wives and mothers)."

The magazine picks who to make into a role model therefore picking who women should look up to as they are the perfect image.

“Women are generally not in positions of control and perhaps as a result are less likely than men to be prominently featured in media products”

Women are not in control, very traditional outlook.

"This seems to say that women have one thing in common, a concern about how they look, how they can please men and how they can look after their families in an even better way."

Women have been programed to all have the same interest.

Representations of Women in Women’s Magazines - By Viwe Ndzamela

"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."

Here is highlighted the two main stereotypes the media has created for women. 

"Women’s magazines are one of the many structures that are concerned with producing representations of women. Because these magazines are commercially driven, advertising plays an important role in the kind of content they deliver."

Viwe is suggesting magazines have to be appealing to the eye to sell, so the content has to be for the  stereotypical woman to gain a mass audience. 

There are structures that are concerned with producing representations of women from primary school reading schemes to Hollywood films, from advertising to opera, from game shows to art galleries, women are depicted in ways that define what it means to be a woman in this society, what women are like (naturally), what they ought to be like, what they are capable of, what roles they play in society and how they differ from men.

This quote supports how women from an early age are told what to think not how to think, the media has fed images and ideologies to girls of a young age on what to look like and how to behave in order for society to accept them. The media has told women what they can and cannot do, evidence can be shown for this in magazines. For example there are many pages on how women should act in relationships and the do's and don'ts of the fashion world. 

"Because stereotypes have their basis in the material conditions and social practices of society, they
serve to naturalise the power relationships in society, they have a hegemonic function, hence women are often stereotyped as subservient to men (Lacey 1998:139). This implies that women may be represented in a way that suits the views of those who are involved in the production process as well as the owners in the manner that they think will be profitable for them." 

This is suggesting that the men involved in the production process control how to portray women in the media, therefore this makes it more difficult to change the stereotype of women. This cycle cannot be broken as this stereotype is what sells in the media.

"Tuchman states that according “…to media researchers, the media do not represent women who are viable role models, and therefore the media’s irrational role models when internalised, prevent and impede female accomplishments” (1979:11). As a result of this the media also encourage readers to define women in terms of the way men perceive them (as sex objects) or in the context of the family (as wives and mothers)."

This quote is highlighting the issues of the media undermining women and portraying them as submissive, and that equality still exists today. 

"Croteau and Hoynes also argue that the creation and production of media images is also in male hands. “Women are generally not in positions of control and perhaps as a result are less likely than men to be prominently featured in media products”

This is evidence for the last quote that there is still equality as more males than females are in positions of control, for this is the reason women are advertised more in the media. 

"This seems to say that women have one thing in common, a concern about how they look, how they can please men and how they can look after their families in an even better way."

here is a quote that supports the ideologies most magazines have in today's society, they give tips on how to achieve all the things listed above. This portrays all women to be narrow minded. 

"for magazines it is imperative to attract consumers. This is done by using the most eye-catching pictures and headlines."

This quote implies that the more attractive the model is on the front cover, the more consumers it has. It gives a message to society that beauty holds worth in society, and the more beautiful you are, the more value you hold. 

"Cover images and sell lines also reveal a lot about the nature of women’s magazines. The woman’s face, which is their hallmark, is usually white, young, smoothly attractive, immaculately groomed and usually smiling or looking seductive. The image represented in these magazines affirms and sells these qualities of white skin, youth, beauty, charm and sexuality as valuable attributes of femininity."

Magazines tell the audience what is considered beautiful in society just by the front cover of it. The qualities mentioned here are all prominent ideologies most magazine models hold in the 21st century. 




http://eprints.ru.ac.za/2303/1/NDZAMELA-MJourn-TR02-129.pdf

Research: Gender and The media by Rosalind Gill

Gender and the media by Rosalind Gill

"Relationship between representations and 'reality', and differen understanding of how images relate to individuals' sense of identity and subjectivity."

This suggests that the magazines are completly unaware of how what they write in their magazines are effecting the readers.

"she cares to much about shoes, she is always confined to the domestic sphere, she is always worrying about her looks, or she just wants to find a man and settle down."

These are the stereotypes that the media has built.

"The mother-daughter difficulties of a previous generation's rejection of the housewife" (Brunsdon 2000)

The traditional image of women has been removed, therefore adding more pressure on women to become something more.

Research: Nick Lacey - Image and Representation

 
"the traditional image of the 'wife-mother-housewife' is now being replaced by images of sexually assertive, confident and ambitious women who express their 'freedom' through consumption."

This quote suggets that the image of women has now been changed however women are now being pressured with a new traditional image, instead of women being housewives they are now sexually assertive women.

"The exemplary female prototype in advertising, regardless or product or service, displays youth (no lines or wrinkles), good looks, sexual seductiveness, and perfection (no scars, blemishes, or even pores).” (Cortese, Provocateur, 1999)

The 'perfect' image of woman is described.

"She loves make-up and beauty products and will splash out on designer items, but when it comes to shopping for her wardrobe he's a shrewd bargain-hunter and is most likely to be found elbowing he way to the front of the queue in primark for the latest cat walk copy"

The lengths that women will go to to mantain the ideology of the 'perfect image'.

"In order to appeal to both its target audience and advertisers, must have a distinct idea of what it means to be female in her early twenties. This means that ' magazines inevitably draw up the boundaries of a fixed gender identity, which is turn is assumed to be the natural sign of an original sexual demarcation as female"

In order to attract an audience and appeal to them, the magazine industry create the image of what it means to be a female in her early twenties. Therefore after they have created a image they can then reflect all of their own ideologies onto the audience through this 'perfect' image that they have created.

Research: Media, Gender and Identity By David Gaunlett

Media, Gender and Identity By David Gauntlett

"As time goes by we start to think that since magazines for women and those for men celebrate super-attractive people, both women and ment, it probably doesnt matter about sexism terms. At the same time we might be annoyed that the same ideas of beauty regurgutated over and over again."

This quote from Media, gender and identity agrees with the ideology that young people today who read both male and female magazines are greeted by the same stereotypical image of what the 'perfect' person is in terms of there image.

"Women in Great Britain spent more time on shopping and other domestic work in 2005 than on paid work."

This quote supports the idea that women are continued to be pressured by the media to with hold a lifestyle that fits into the ideologies of society.

"Magazines, bought on one level for a quick fix glossy entertainment, promote self confidence (even though they partly undermine it, for some readers, at the same time) an provide information about sex, relationships and lifestyles which can be put to a variety of uses."

This quote supports the ideologies of most magazines in the 21st century, this is because the quote states the many different ways in which magazines pressure women to lead a certain lifestyle where things such as sex and relationship are the priority.

"magazines for young women are emphatic in their determination that women must do their own thing, be themselves, and/or be as outrageously sassy and sexy as possible."
This quote supports the idea that women are expected to be themselves however still meet the expectations of society and the media which are impossible to mantain.

"the traditional view of a women as a housewife or low status worker has been kicked out of the picture, by the feisty, successful girl power icons."

This quote suggetss that the traditional expectations of women have been removed and now women are under pressure to essentially make something of their lives for example unlike women in 1950's.

"young women and men will grow up to be the narrow minded traditionalists of the future"

This suggests that there are thoughts that if the media today forces the ideologies such as 'thinner is better' then this will become the ideas of the future and there will be no change.

"Contemporary masculinity is often said to be 'in crisis'; as women become increasingly assertive and successful, apparently triumphing in all roles, men are said to be anxious and confused about what their role is today."

There is pressure today from the media such as magazines to mantain the image that has been created by the media.

Extracts from the conclusion of Media Gender &Identity by David Gauntlett

"We have seen various ways in which popular ideas about the elf in society have changed, so that identity is today seen as more fluid and transformable than ever before.twenty or thirty years ago, analysis of popular media often told researchers that mainstreams culture was a backwards-looking force, resistant to social change and trying to push people back into traditional categories. Today, it seems more appropriate to emphasise that, within limits, the mass media is a force for change. the traditional view of a woman as a housewife or low-status worker has been kick-boxed out of the picture by the feisty, successful 'girl power' icons."

This quote shows us the decline of tradition over the recent years, it mentions how the media has managed to change the traditional view of women into successful icons. This is important as it demonstrates all women's magazines do not portray women in the same way, and some, like Cosmopolitan, are open to social change.

"Magazines, bought on one level for a quick fix glossy entertainment, promote self confidence (even though they partly undermine it, for some readers, at the same time) an provide information about sex, relationships and lifestyles which can be put to a variety of uses."

Here is shown the functions of a magazine, and highlights the issues in the topic of self confidence. Magazines usually undermine self confidence by telling the audience how they can improve their looks by indicating what's best for women. This can be changing their weight, dress sense, hair or makeup to feel more confident. However this can be read as there is something wrong with the reader and they must change themselves in order to achieve self confidence.

"neverteless, in this book i have suggested thatby thinking about their own idenitity, attitudes, behaviour and lifestyle ........ It is for this reason that the 'role model' remains an important concept, although it should not be taken to mean someone that a person wants to copy. Instead, role models serve as navigation points as individuals steer their own personal routes through life."

The term 'role model' in magazines suggests the audience wants to copy their style of clothes, hair, makeup, ect. For example, they would take a celebrity's outfit from a night out or red carpet and find a similar items of clothing in high street shops. This allows the reader to copy the celebrity's outfit but in their price range.

"magazines for young women are emphatic in their determination that women must do their own thing, be themselves, and/or be as outrageously sassy and sexy as possible."

This quote supports the transition from women having to act/dress traditionally to them doing their own thing and being themselves. It shows how the media is open for social change over the recent years.

"Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people are still under-represented in much of the mainstream media, but things are slowly changing. in particular, television is offering prime-time audiences the change to 'get to know' nice lesbian and gay characters in soap operas, drama series and sit-coms. Tolerance of sexual diversity is slowly growing in society, and by bringing into people's homes images of sexual identities which they might not be familiar with, the media can play a role in making the population more - or less - comfortable with these ways of living."

This highlights that our society is accepting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people but the media, like magazines, under-represent them. For example in women's magazines they will feature tips on relationships with men but never women.

"We no longer get singular, straightforward messages about ideal types of male and female identities (although certain groups of features are clearly promoted as more desirable than others). Instead, popular culture offers a range of stars, icons and characters from whom we can acceptably borrow bits and pieces of their public persona for use in our own."

Again this quote shows how the media has changed how gender is portrayed. However, some messages still come across as traditional because certain groups of features seen as more desirable, for example the more feminine a woman looks the more attractive she is.

media, genes and identity by david Gauntlett 

identity is today seen as more fluid and transformable than ever before'
david, is suggesting that no matter what you look like, you can look like whatever else if you are un happy with the way it was before. you can change the way people look at you with your identity and you are in control of what you loom like because you can change it so easily.

'the traditional view of a women as a housewife or low status worker has been kicked out of the picture, by the feisty, successful girl power icons.'
this suggests that old stereotypes of women that used to exist has been forgot about because women have made a new role for themselves and can be seen as successful as men, and can have the same kind of power as men.

'not only is there more room for a greater variety of identities'
there is more to identity than whether you are a man or a women, you can be anything and still get accepted. for example you can still be the same but wear different clothes and have a different look because there is a lot more that you can do with yourself.

'your life is your project- there is no escape'
you do what you want with your life their is no way of getting out of making choices about what you want to do with your life, if you want to be successful in life then it is up to you and no one else, there is no going back once you have made your decision.

'young women and men will grow up to be the narrow minded traditionalists of the future'
the way young people now think their is only one road for anything, there is only one way to go they will grow up to think that, then they will teach the next generation the same idea and then nobody will no that there is different things you can do with your life, different ways that you can look etc.

'it sounds as if mens magazines are geared to turning out a stream of identical men'
magazines are making men out to be all the same, even thought they may not intend on doing this this is what the audience is getting from the magazine and this is what is getting took in from it. its saying that men all have the same idea that men are strong and can do anything.

'you can be anything'
womens magazines make out that women can be whatever they want, they can do what ever they want, they can have any look they want, if they just believe and try. when realistically a women can't change her face if she doesn't like it, she can have work done to it and look fake and be in debt but they give of a false way of doing things.

'women must do their own thing'
magazines for women give the message that women must be independent and they always hint at the fact women don't need men.

'dim readers will the joke sexism literally'
magazines have a certain humour and in mens magazines they seem to joke about women, but it isn't being serious, but some people will take it serious and be offended by what is said in the magazine, but this is what makes men laugh, and keep them entertained.

'neither the media nor the audience are powerful in themselves, but both have good arguments'
the media and the audience of the media always have valid points of why something is there and will speak out but when they are doubted they give in.

Extracts from the conclusion of Media Gender & Identity by David Gauntlett

Extracts from the conclusion of Media Gender & Identity by David Gauntlett
Source:
http://www.theoryhead.com/gender/extract.htm

Key quotes:

'Today, it seems more appropriate to emphasise that, within limits, the mass media is a force for change. The traditional view of a woman as a housewife or low-status worker has been kick-boxed out of the picture by the feisty, successful 'girl power' icons.

This is in contrast to the changing representation of men, for example 'Masculinity in a crisis' -

'Meanwhile the masculine ideals of absolute toughness, stubborn, self-reliance and emotional silence have been shaken by a new emphasis on men's emotions, need for advice, and the problems of masculinity. Although gender categories have not been shattered, these alternative ideas and images have at least created space for a greater diversity of identities.'

• ((Talk about how the representation of gender roles have almost been swapped in recent years. For example, men taking a role more commonly assigned to women; emotional and reliant on others.))
• ((Use the quote - 'Modern media has little time or respect for tradition.' - To open this paragraph.))

Gender's new representation is conflicting with one another -

'Contemporary masculinity is often said to be 'in crisis'; as women become increasingly assertive and successful, apparently triumphing in all roles, men are said to be anxious and confused about what their role is today.'

'Magazines for young women are emphatic in their determination that women must do their own thing, be themselves, and/or be as outrageously sassy and sexy as possible.'

Representation of Gender in Women's Magazines

Representation of Gender in Women's Magazines

• Women and Representation By Jane Gaines
• Media, Gender and Identity By David Gauntlett