After selecting my chosen magazine of Women's Health, I have undertaken further analysis and highlighted key themes and issues relating to our research question.
As a group we have discussed the themes that have risen and decided to link our research to theorists such as Rich, Gauntlett and Butler.
We have decided to examine certain aspects of the magazines, such as the number of sexual images, or topics on pages for example, and collate the data into graphs that can be easily read and presented on our final posters.
However, Women's Health has come to be a point of contrast, as it hasn't fit the framework for our graphs.
Women's Health magazine is one magazine, like Shout, that we looked at for comparative analysis, as we did not come to the same conclusions.
The magazine is primarily a health and well-being magazine aimed at women to help them 'feel great about themselves'.
One theorist who discusses issues in women's magazines is Gauntlett (2008) who suggests that there is a 'common assumption that women's magazines are all about "How to get a man"', and this is something we have found in our research so far.
Whilst not a dominant feature in Women's Health it is certainly present, although only in a few features, and so supporting the idea of normative heterosexuality.
The are pages dedicated to knowing how to please your man, based on a typical heterosexual image, with women perfecting themselves to appeal to men.
Similar to the other magazines analysed, Women's Health contains no examples of sexuality in any other sense, such as homosexual. In contrast to the other magazines, it contains significantly less sexual imagery and content. There were in fact no examples of sexual images however there were only two examples of sexual topics in articles.
Reasons to explain this contrast between portrayals of sexuality in the magazines could be explained by class, and barriers that are created within the styles. Women's Health seems to be a magazine that is aimed more at middle class females. The language used in the main articles and the content of the magazine supports this, with no trivial gossip sections and advertisements for particular health and sports products that are relatively expensive.
Reference:
Gauntlett, D. (2008) Media, Gender and Identity. London: Routledge
Further reading:
Moran, C. Lee, C. (2010) On His Terms: Representations of sexuality in women's magazines and the implications for negotiating safe sex, Psychology and Sexuality, 2011 Volume 2, Issue 2:159-180
Butler, J. (1990) Gender Trouble London: Routledge
Rich, A. (1980) Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence, Signs, Volume 5, Issue 4: 631-660
As a group we have discussed the themes that have risen and decided to link our research to theorists such as Rich, Gauntlett and Butler.
We have decided to examine certain aspects of the magazines, such as the number of sexual images, or topics on pages for example, and collate the data into graphs that can be easily read and presented on our final posters.
However, Women's Health has come to be a point of contrast, as it hasn't fit the framework for our graphs.
Women's Health magazine is one magazine, like Shout, that we looked at for comparative analysis, as we did not come to the same conclusions.
The magazine is primarily a health and well-being magazine aimed at women to help them 'feel great about themselves'.
One theorist who discusses issues in women's magazines is Gauntlett (2008) who suggests that there is a 'common assumption that women's magazines are all about "How to get a man"', and this is something we have found in our research so far.
Whilst not a dominant feature in Women's Health it is certainly present, although only in a few features, and so supporting the idea of normative heterosexuality.
The are pages dedicated to knowing how to please your man, based on a typical heterosexual image, with women perfecting themselves to appeal to men.
Similar to the other magazines analysed, Women's Health contains no examples of sexuality in any other sense, such as homosexual. In contrast to the other magazines, it contains significantly less sexual imagery and content. There were in fact no examples of sexual images however there were only two examples of sexual topics in articles.
Reasons to explain this contrast between portrayals of sexuality in the magazines could be explained by class, and barriers that are created within the styles. Women's Health seems to be a magazine that is aimed more at middle class females. The language used in the main articles and the content of the magazine supports this, with no trivial gossip sections and advertisements for particular health and sports products that are relatively expensive.
Reference:
Gauntlett, D. (2008) Media, Gender and Identity. London: Routledge
Further reading:
Moran, C. Lee, C. (2010) On His Terms: Representations of sexuality in women's magazines and the implications for negotiating safe sex, Psychology and Sexuality, 2011 Volume 2, Issue 2:159-180
Butler, J. (1990) Gender Trouble London: Routledge
Rich, A. (1980) Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence, Signs, Volume 5, Issue 4: 631-660
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