What kind of magazine is Woman?
- Sexist!
- Patriarchal!
- Working class!
- Stereotypical!
- Straightforward!
- Old!
- Popular!
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| A quick Google search demonstrates just how generic Woman and its competitors were! One advantage of publishing such a simple, straightforward, conventional magazine is that it can easily and effectively appeal to a mass audience! |
What examples of sexist, straightforward and stereotypical ideologies are evident in the set edition of Woman magazine?
- Alfred Hitchcock article uses highly objectifying lexis, such as ‘they’re like snow capped volcanoes’
- Hitchcock is given a platform to discuss the merits of women, dispute being a sex offender
- “Get the man in your life to…” assumption that grown women are not capable of DIY
- “Are you an A-level beauty?” assumption that the audience MUST be beautiful, MUST look young and that there is only one way to look beautiful
- The Breeze Soap advert uses a highly explicit and sexualised image of a hegemonically attractive naked woman to sell a product
- Crème Puff advert reinforces the patriarchal ideology that women only wear makeup to ‘attract’ men
- Double page spread on kitchens reinforces a sexist stereotype that women should stay at home and cook
Magazines and revenue
- Approximately a third of a magazine’s revenue comes from advertising
- The other 2/3s of the revenue typically come from the cover price
- Woman magazine presents contemporary viewpoints and ideologies that audiences at the time would largely agree with
- However, certain groups in society, for eg second wave feminists would reject the dominant ideology of Woman. However, their opposition would be considered a fringe movement, and not mainstream
Stuart Hall - functions of stereotypes
- The provide producers a way of targeting audiences
- They make life simple and straightforward - having specific gender roles makes life so much more easy to understand!
- Audiences can use stereotypes to relate to characters, situations and events. It is a shortcut, and allows complex narratives to be formed!
- They’re funny, and really useful in making comedy shows for example!
- Without stereotypes, fiction would be impossible, as you would instead have to base your text off something ‘real’... things get very complicated when we follow this thought! After all, what is reality???
Brand identity and Woman: comparing Woman to Vogue
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| An excellent example of a binary opposition, and an excellent example of two completely different audiences being targeted in completely different ways! |
Woman
- More text and mastheads, messy, more informal mode of address
- Woman is blatantly trying to attract a target audience with a busy mode of address
- The model’s dress is more ‘realistic’, high street and causal and relatable to the target audience
- An anonymous model, with no star appeal
- Woman is friendly, seeking approval, and submissive, the ideal housewife and the ideal aspirational figure for the target audience
- The simplistic MES of the lack of the model’s jewellery connotes a working class background
- The model’s smile is friendly and relatable, although she also looks uncomfortable
- Model is represented as being comforting and submissive, suggesting the patriarchal ideology of the producer
- Stereotypical patriarchal representation
- Lots of text, huge font, busy and easy to read
- Easy to read masthead practically screams at the audience to buy it
- Hegemonically attractive, attainable beauty
Vogue
- Less text and less mastheads, which connotes a high end mode of address
- Established audience and a clear brand identity, with no attempt to ‘sell’ the magazine
- The model of Vogue is wearing an experimental, high end look. The MES of her jewellery is particularly expensive and luxurious
- A famous actress, who would be known to the general public
- Model looks like a fantasy, extremely beautiful and sexy, with an almost threatening mode of address
- The MES of expensive jewellery connotate wealth and power, and the model is clearly belonging to an elite
- The model on vogue is an aspirational model, and is addressing the target audience with a smug and intimating smirk
- Model represented as an active and intimidating character, suggesting a matriarchal ideology???
- Challenging, assertive representation
- Little text, small font, difficult to read
- Difficult to read masthead demonstrates a confidence in the brand identity!
- Hegemonically beautiful, sexy, individual women
Exciting again! Rebranding Woman in 1985
- Exciting again! - admitting to new readers that the magazine had become boring and repetitive
- Different content! Cars! Exciting fashion!
- Bright shiny happy neon lights will appeal to a contemporary audience
- TV advert is a cross media promotion!
- Cool, sassy mode of address
- A shift in culture and expectations of women, in order to appeal to a completely new audience
Fact file
- Woman magazine published august 1964
- Price: 7d (80p)
- Woman magazine was published by IPC is the mid 1960s. IPC existed as a merger between three separate magazine companies in the UK, which united Woman with two of its rivals, Woman's Realm and Woman's Own
- This princess is called, conglomeration, and the process of buying out all of the products in a sector is called a monopoly
- IPC was an example of a horizontally integrated organisation
- Currently, Woman magazine is published in the UK by Future
- IPC formed this merger for the reasons of power and profit, and to eliminate any form of competition
- Woman magazine was the biggest selling Woman’s weekly in 1964, with a weekly circulation of 3 million copies
- 12 million copies of women’s weekly magazines were sold weekly in the 60’s