I S S U E 1

body

CO

NTEN

TS

collecting qualitative data

controversial taboos in fashion magazines

comparing titles from 2009-2011

conclusion

audience readings and interpretation

introduction

In this essay I will be discussing the way women’s magazines portray body image and how this issue is constructed in order to appeal to their target audiences. I have researched and analysed the covers of a range of popular titles from 2009-2014. I will also review back issues

of these magazines to evaluate the development of the publications and how the image and representation of females has progressed. I will be comparing the aesthetics and cover stories used to engage the intended audience and discuss relevant theorists in relation to the magazine’s audiences. I will be comparing high fashion publications Elle, Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar as well as controversial women’s monthly Cosmopolitan, cultural Australian magazine Frankie and Rankin’s Dazed and Confused. I have selected a range of female magazine genres, which I feel address the issue of body image in diverse ways to get a contrast of content to analyse and compare. I have collected qualitative research from my target audience, which is females’ aged 18-25. I will discuss my findings in relation to audience theories such as the Reception theory and evaluate the way females today are influenced by the media. I will investigate the impact of mass media messages and conduct research into how magazine’s ideologies are digested and processed by the target audience. My main argument questions whether women today are influenced by the media to look a certain way in order to be beautiful and accepted. I am also investigating to see if any changes or developments have taken place to address the problem of body dissatisfaction in the popular titles I am analysing.

First of all I will discuss body image in relation to the models and celebrities featured on the cover of magazines. When a magazine chooses a cover model they want someone who will appeal to their audience and entice them into purchasing the magazine. For years magazines such as Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar have selected top models and well known respected actresses to feature on their covers, as they know celebrity endorsement engages a new audience such as the celebrity’s fan base. It is argued that “celebrities represent ideal vehicles for self-identity and s e l f - a r t i c u l a t i o n ” . (Carroll, 2008:online) The cover models are attractive, beautiful women who have been retouched and edited to appear flawless and to give a false representation to the audience of what the perfect woman looks like. David Gauntlett (2008) argues that women’s magazines repeatedly celebrate a beauty ideal that most women will not be able to match. This indicates that fashion magazines sell an unattainable beauty in order to engage their audience and to prolong readership and loyalty. Ellen McCracken argues

that magazines promote body dissatifcation in women by exposing their audience to unhealthy images of models, “primarly to attract revenue from advertisers and to increase circulation”. (McCracken, 1993:37) This is also reinforced in the Body Image & Advertising article which states “advertisers and magazines purposely normalize unrealistically thin bodies, in order to create an unattainable desire that can drive product consumption”.

(Body Image and Advertising, 2000:online) In the past

Vogue has been found to enhance and edit their cover models images and one example of this was

revealed when Lena Dunham’s February

2014 cover photos were found to be completely edited.

The original cover photographs were released and sold to a blog website for $10,000. The website Jezebel which bought the untouched photographs states in an article about the actress’ cover “it’s clearer than ever what kind of woman Vogue finds Vogue-worthy: The taller, longer-limbed, svelter version of reality.” (Coen, 2014:online) The actress had been tweaked so

this sends out a message to the audience that you must fit certain criteria to be beautiful, such as being young, flawless and skinny and because Dunham was normal sized they had to alter her appearance to fit in with the Vogue ‘look’. McCracken argues that “The ideal self-confidence conveyed by the cover photo creates desire and sells the magazine” (McCracken,1993:29) This could imply that Dunham’s photographs were altered in a bid to gain readership. Aside from retouching the cover images and making the models look perfect the magazines also send out subliminal messages of body ideals in their cover lines. Prominent themes in fashion magazines include style and beauty, however diet, looking young and being sexy are all key attributes of the cover of this genre of magazine. It is argued that, “hidden beneath the glamorous ideals are subtexts that play on anxieties and encourage feelings of inadequacy, while promising pleasure and the acceptance and love of others if we purchase.” (McCracken,1993:37) I feel that Elle magazine does play

on the insecurities of it’s audience as the February 2009 issue has a cover story about slimming. This is a common issue that concerns women therefore by promoting this and offering advice the magazine acts on emotion and lures it’s audience in. The cover features a close up cover shot of Kate Winslet with the cover line ‘on love, Leo and her sexy new shape’ to the right of her face in the

centre of the magazine. This could imply that the reason the photograph of the actress is so close up is because she has a fuller figure than the normal cover model, who would have a mid body shot for the cover image. Also inside the magazine Elle refers to Winslet as

‘settling on the average side of slim’ which makes slim sound inadequate compared to the underweight size 0 models who often feature on the cover of these magazines looking unhealthy and giving an unrealistic representation of women. Magazines emphasize thinness as a standard for female beauty leading women to feel pressured into losing weight or dieting. (Body Image and Advertising, 2000:online) Another issue on the cover of Elle is the

“62% of women I questioned have been

impacted by unattainable

desire”

by the body image promoted in magazines and the exposure to skinny models has contributed

to body dissatisfaction in females today. My research

also shows that 40 out of 53 women felt they compared

themselves to the women they saw in magazines. Gauntlett (2008) states that women’s magazines make women feel bad about themselves and it is evident from my survey that the beauty

ideals sold in fashion magazines are putting pressure on

women to try and replicate this image which is an

artificial representation of women. It is often argued that the media offers an impossible ideal to ensure the consumer will never disappear, “researchers believe that advertisers purposely normalize unrealistically thin

bodies, in order to create an unattainable

desire that can drive product consumption”.

(Body Image and Advertising, 2000:online)

This is visible in many high fashion publications as they want to create a desirable body image for their audience to aspire to even if it is unrealistic and just a façade. Gough Yates (2002) argues this point when discussing early feminist’s accounts on women’s magazines, “they were concerned with the ways that magazines offered ‘unreal’, ‘untruthful’ or ‘distorted’ images of women.” (Gough Yates, 2002:8) I believe this unrealistic image of the perfect woman is still portrayed today in many magazines and I will now go on to discuss how the controversial publication Cosmopolitan has opted to appreciate normal sized women. In contrast to the cover lines featured in 2009 Elle promoting being thin I will now go on to analyse the June 2010 cover of Cosmopolitan magazine. Although the two are aimed at a similar female audience the publication’s cover lines differ in content and perspective on beauty. As opposed to Elle’s diet cover story Cosmopolitan features Kimberley Walsh who is renowned for her fuller figure as their cover model with the cover line ‘Kimberley celebrates curves and bootylicious bums’. This shows a clear dissimilarity between the two magazines, as

different shapes of body image as opposed to suppressing the audience into aspiring to be skinny and to look up to unrealistic female ideals. Elle magazine is full of size 0 models photographed and retouched for their features as well as high fashion advertisements and this leads to women and girls striving for the ultra-thin body promoted by the media. (Body Image and Advertising, 2000:online) Aesthetically both Elle and Cosmopolitan are attractive as they both have good use of colour and composition, the layout is appealing and organized and the models look happy and beautiful. However the ideology behind the two publications differ in terms of what body image is perceived as perfection and what women have to look like to be desirable as Elle classes size ten as settling on the average side of slim and Cosmopolitan embraces Kimberly Walsh’s size twelve figure. This indifference in the two texts makes it clear that Cosmopolitan has a more feminist ideology in comparison with Elle’s unrealistic reflection of women, which sells body dissatisfaction in an act to “drive product consumption” (Body Image and Advertising, 2000:online). Gough Yates (2002) looked at early feminist accounts of women’s magazines and discovered that there was an issue with the distorted portrayal of women being displayed. My analysis of Elle and Cosmopolitan suggests that although some magazines still portray

this false representation of women there is a controversial antithesis which gives readers a more realistic portrayal of females. Cosmopolitan sells an ideology and lifestyle that embraces being healthy, successful and independent and the content focuses on making the audience feel good. Next I will be discussing some of the issues I have discovered from the cover of Harper’s Bazaar November 2011 issue which features singer Beyonce and the cover instantly reveals that she is pregnant at the time. The cover line at the top of the page reads ‘Beyonce sexy and pregnant’, the use

of the conjunction ‘and’ makes it seem like usually you can only

be one or the other and in this case it is portrayed as incredible that Beyonce is both. Another element to this cover line that I

find particularly interesting is the use of typography for

the different words. Firstly the feminine, italic ampersand adds an informal and feminine tone of voice and sits in between the sans serif type chosen for the rest of the cover line. The word pregnant has a slightly different bold sans serif typeface and is smaller than the rest of the text showing less importance. The type of image used does not highlight or embrace Beyonce’s pregnancy as her stomach is covered up by another cover line and she looks like she is about to perform on stage as she appears glamorous and in a party dress. Aside from the Beyonce feature the cover of Harper’s

Bazaar also has cover lines such as ‘look younger instantly’ and ‘eat your way thin’ down the left side of the page. The stories are highlighted and stand out on the page as they are capitalized and in a bold sans serif typeface. These cover lines are used to engage their audience and by using an attractive cover model the audience would feel inclined to get the magazine to look like Beyonce who is described as sexy. This links to Ellen McCracken’s theory about women’s magazines as she believes “people can get ideas of who they want to present themselves as by looking at the women in m a g a z i n e s ” . (McCracken, 1993:7) By seeing Beyonce looking flawless the audience will be enticed to read the stories on how to look like this and hence will purchase the magazine. Harper’s Bazaar’s cover lines promoting looking younger and thinner relate to Janice Winship’s (1987) argument about women’s magazines as she believes that slimming is a

proven sales driving subject and states that magazines reproduce and revitalize this theme in order to engage their audience over an extensive time period. In regards to the idea that the consumer purchases the magazine based on the attractiveness of the model is also assumed that “consumers generally have a more positive response to attractive people and the effectiveness of the message depends on the similarity, familiarity and liking of the endorser. Therefore,

a t t r a c t i v e c e l e b r i t i e s may be more successful in changing beliefs and generating p u r c h a s e i n t e n t i o n s . ”

(Carroll, 2008:online) Therefore the use of a successful celebrity will impact the magazine’s popularity and readership and this is evident from my questionnaire research as the Harpers Bazaar Beyonce cover was voted as the most attractive cover in a tie with Dazed and Confused magazine both receiving 12

Magazines emphasize being skinny

as a standard for female

beauty