Woman magazine: initial response and analysing the front cover

 For this session, you will be getting to grips with Woman Magazine, a UK women's lifestyle magazine published weekly for the best part of a century now. The edition we are exploring is from August 1964. Even just reading these basic facts will probably allow you to guess the main argument we'll be making in lessons:

The representation of women has changed significantly in the almost 60 years since this edition was published

Task one - familiarise yourself with the magazine

You can find the pages of Woman we have to study by clicking here. 

Look through it. You don't need to read every word. Briefly answer the following questions in your notes, using SPECIFIC EXAMPLES TO BACK THEM UP. Yes, I know that Woman magazine is targeting women. But how do you know? And what demographic of women?

• Who is the VERY SPECIFIC target audience for this magazine? How do you know?
• What stereotypical representations can you find?
• Who is not represented or is underrepresented in this magazine?
• What genre is this magazine? Is it typical of it's genre?
• What examples of lexis in this magazine may strike you as interesting, or strange?
• What message is the producer of this magazine presenting to its audience?
• Why might a woman in 1964 actually read this magazine?
• What messages about woman are presented in this magazine?
• How might a woman react to this magazine in 1964? How might a woman react to this magazine in 2023?
• How could this magazine be appealing to audiences?
• What uses and gratifications does it provide to it's audience?

Task two - analysis of the front cover

The front cover is the most important page of a magazine. It sits on a shelf in the newsagent and it screams BUY ME! But it doesn't scream to everyone. For example, Woman magazine is not 'talking' to a male audience. 

This process is called modes of address, because the magazine uses very specific elements of media language to address or talk to its target audience. 

Media language is everything on the toolkit. Shot type, camera angle, colour, mise-en-scene, lexis.... all of this is media language. And it CONSTRUCTS MEANING.

This is the front cover of Woman. Know it well. You WILL be talking about it in the final exam!

How does the front cover of Woman magazine make meaning and address it's audience? Make reference to: 

• Codes and conventions – changes over time? 
• Layout and design
• Composition - positioning of masthead/headlines, cover lines, images, columns 
• Font size, type, colour 
• Images/photographs - shot type, angle, focus
• Mise-en-scene – colour, lighting, location, costume/dress, hair/make-up 
• Graphics, logos 
• Language – headline, sub-headings, captions – mode of address
• Copy 
• Anchorage of images and text
• Elements of narrative

Here are a couple of more leading questions if you are feeling uninspired:

What does the purple background symbolise? 

How old is the model? Why is this important?

How can we describe the mise-en-scene of her facial expression?

Why has the producer chosen this particular font for the masthead?

What assumptions does the lexis of the coverlines (coverlines are headlines but on a maazine!!!!) make?

If you do not make notes, this information is lost, forever! Please don't waste your precious time!