Revision: Analysing the front cover to the set edition of Woman magazine

R block 

How have the conventions of the genres of the magazines you have studied changed over time? (sorry this question is a bit wonky but you get where I'm coming from...)

Genre refers to a type of media product. Genre is important as it allows the producer to use conventions to target a specific audience. I shall argue that both the genres of both the magazines I have studied have changed wildly over time. In order to make this argument, I shall be looking at the 1964 edition of Woman, a highly conventional women's lifestyle magazine targeting a very straightforward audience, and Adbusters, a highly atypical magazine that broadly targets an activist and countercultural audience. 

• One way in which Woman conforms to the genre conventions of the woman's lifestyle magazine is through it's highly typical for the time sexist representations of women. 
• MES of the light purple background has symbolic connotations of femininity, and reinforces stereotypical expectations of the female target audience
• Lexis of the word kitchen makes a strong assumption that 'all women' are interested in cooking, and reinforces stereotypes
• Lexis of the term 'lingerie' as opposed to a more neutral term like 'underwear' implies that the middle aged female target audience should be living up to expectations of sexual attractiveness. This reinforces hegemonic norms and objectifies the target audience
• Lexis of 'A-level beauty' helps to construct standards of hegemonic beauty norms. Conventional of the woman's lifestyle magazine, as it is a standard feature
• Lexis of the term 'A-level' suggests a level of expertise obtainable by older teenagers. By using this term, the producer is insinuating the target audience is naïve and must 'revise' their knowledge of beauty. Highly patronising mode of address
• Lexis of 'British women' suggests that British women are more significant and more capable than other women, which reinforces nationalistic ideologies
• Font of masthead is serif, which has connotations of informality through resembling handwriting. This presents an informal, even childish mode of address. This infers a less educated, working class audience. This reflects the realities of being a woman in the 1960s, where typically women would have less of a standard of education
• MES of floral dress reinforces sociohistorical expectations that women should appear beautiful for the gratification of the patriarchy. By conforming to the genre conventions for the women's lifestyle magazine, the producer of Woman is constructing a straightforward identity for the target audience to identify with. 
• Performance of the warm and friendly, yet simultaneously uncomfortable smile of the front cover model is highly conventional of the genre. The excessive, over the top nature of her smile is typical of the expectations that women face in society. The excessively smiling woman therefore reinforces patriarchal hegemonic values of the producer, and helps the magazine to target a basic and straightforward female target audience. 
• Direct mode of address constructed through 'for your kitchen' suggests a straightforward and easily influenced target audience. 
• Minimal use of makeup on model, which reinforces ideologies of 'natural beauty', and an expectation that women should be beautiful if they are to have any societal value 
• Lexis of Alfred Hitchcock suggests a patriarchal hierarchy. Despite the mag being called Woman, the name of a man is given top billing...

T block

To what extent are the magazines you have studied typical of their genre?

Genre is a way of categorising media products. Genre is important for audiences as it allows them to identify different products. In this essay I shall argue that one of the magazines I have studied is typical of it's genre, yet the other is completely atypical. In order to explore this, I shall compare the 1964 edition of Woman magazine, a woman's lifestyle magazine which appeals to a highly stereotypical audience, and Adbusters, a highly subversive magazine which appeals to extremely niche audiences.

• Lexis of Seven Star Improvements For Your kitchen anchors the audience to the opinion that this magazine is luxurious and glamourous. However, this mode of address reinforces a sexist hegemonic norm. 
• MES of calligraphy/handwritten typeface of the Masthead 'Woman' emphasises the stereotypically feminine feel to the composition of the front cover. It also has connotations of luxury, and a classic, old fashioned feel even in 1964. An established brand. 
• Masthead font is in serif, which has connotations of femininity and an informal mode of address
• MES of the gold highlights to the featured cover lines is symbolic of love, luxury and femininity
• Lexis of "lingerie" has connotations of luxury, but also of sexualisation. This reinforces a then popularly held hegemonic norm that in order to be successful, women must be hegemonically beautiful. This in turn reinforces patriarchal hegemonic beauty standard of women. 
• MES of the makeup of the cover model constructs an ideology and hegemonic norms that women should look flawless. This is a classic example of the male gaze, and reinforces sexist stereotypes
• Cultivates hegemonic patriarchal norms through repeating ideological perspectives
• Lexis of the cover line 'A-level beauty' reinforces the ideology that in order to be successful, women must conform to beauty standards, eg makeup
• A-level is an 'advanced' level exam, and explicitly ranking women is an example of dehumanisation, and considers only 'advanced' level 'beauties' as being important
• Lexis of 'A-level beauty' example of infantilization, and compares the adult target audience to a much younger teenager. Additionally, this reinforces the ideological perspective that in order to be attractive, a woman must look significantly younger
• Direct mode of address made by the model staring directly in to the camera. The preferred reading of this gesture is to cultivate a friendly mode of address, which is further anchored through the personal feel of the handwritten masthead
• The combination of stereotypically feminine elements cultivates and constructs a target audience which is highly stereotypical, and will agree with the ideology of the producer
• But why is Woman magazine so sexist and straightforward? Partly because of the time in which it was made, but there were many societal changes happening in the 1960's, including access to contraception and the struggle of the women's liberation movement. 
• By presenting a simple, straightforward and easy to understand ideology, Woman magazine is able to appeal to the largest audience possible, and therefore make the most money. Therefore it's sexist ideologies are purely motivated by power and profit. And, by reinforcing patriarchal hegemonic values, Woman magazine helps to construct a simple and basic world where men are in charge, and women are subordinate. 

P block

How do the magazines you have studied use media language to convey their genre?

• Cover model is stereotypically hegemonically attractive, and will function as an aspirational role model for the target middle aged audience. The model selected is in her late 20's to early 30's, which is younger than the target audience, and constructs the hegemonic value that in order to be beautiful, the audience must look as young as possible. 
• The MES of the purple backdrop is a highly stereotypical 'feminine' colour, lilac, the colour of flowers and this reinforces the ideology in order to be stereotypically feminine, a woman should be associated with certain colours. Additionally, purple has connotations of luxury. which is further anchored through the selection of gold for the boxout/highlighted cover lines at the bottom. To the working class audience, this constructs an aspirational mode of address. 
• The lexis in the headline associated with the famous film director Alfred Hitchcock directly addresses the target audience. The selection of language "British women have a special magic" functions as a symbolic code, and suggests underlining sexual connotations. Once more, for the target working class audience, to be sexualised by Alfred Hitchcock is an aspirational goal. Furthermore, the lexis "British" is clearly an address to the nationalistic British audience. 
• The makeup of the model is bold and heavy around the eye, which anchors the lexis 'special magic'. The makeup functions as a proairetic code, and suggests a future romantic engagement. This is an excellent example of Van Zoonen's notion of the male gaze, and situates the model as an object of male desire. 
• The MES of the model's piercing eyes and forced and even creepy smile positions the audience in a potentially uncomfortable mode of address. In fact, the cover model looks somewhat uncomfortable to be on the front cover, which creates a relatable mode of address for the target working class female audience. Unlike the representation of glamourous actors on the front cover of Vogue, the cover model for woman magazine, will typically be hegemonically attractive in a realistic and relatable manner. This allows the magazine to target a mass audience of impressionable working class women 
• The masthead uses a bold, flowing serif font which resembles handwriting, and constructs a relatable and and non-threatening mode of address for the target female audience. Additionally, the mastheads forms the start of a z-line in a highly conventional way, typical of the women's lifestyle genre, and creates a simple and straightforward mode of address for the target.
• Lexis of the term lingerie has highly sexual symbolic connotations, and reinforces highly highly sexualised hegemonic norms and expectations for the target audience
• The layout and design is simple, straightforward, and lacks a significant amount of text. This suggests that the target also lacks sophistication, and may not have a high level of education
• The combination of media language creates a highly leading and highly manipulative mode of address, which reinforces many sexist standards. However, n the 1960's many social changes saw increased social and sexual freedom for women. Yet Woman magazine barely acknowledges this. Instead, it clearly and deliberately reinforces patriarchal hegemonic standards. By reinforcing patriarchal standards, Woman magazine constructs both clearly differentiated gender roles, and a hierarchy of gender where men are in charge. By constructing a conservative ideology where the status quo is maintained, Woman magazine actively tells the female audience to be happy with their subservient role in society. And by constructing a stereotypical and conservative female audience who buy the magazine week after week, IPC ensure their financial success.