Magazines - REPRESENTATION Liesbet van Zoonen argues that representations of gender are encoded through media language to position audiences and to reinforce dominant ideological perspectives. In what ways do the producers of Woman use representations to position their audiences? [15]

Magazines - REPRESENTATION    Liesbet van Zoonen argues that representations of gender are encoded through media language to position audiences and to reinforce dominant ideological perspectives. In what ways do the producers of Woman use representations to position their audiences? [15]

 

Liesbet van Zoonen's feminist theory argues that gender is constructed through codes and conventions in the media to reinforce dominant ideological perspectives, through the use of stereotypical, social and patriarchal hegemony. these views on male dominance in in then reinforced through media such as woman magazine, helping fuel a mainstream hegemonic norm.

woman magazine is targeting a female audience and its main purpose it to inform women on the latest lifestyle and beauty products relevant to them. as many magazines were specified to suit a male or female audience, women's magazine articles were limited to what was only perceived as relevant to women. this includes articles such as 'A-level beauty'. this article was designed to inform women on the correct way to apply makeup, using step by step guides. the language used such as 'a-level' makes the article sound educational and makes it appear an important qualification all women should learn in order to become a woman, teaching a form of beauty school. this creates a skewed perception of what is important to women and what is an important skill to learn, in comparison to men’s magazines that focus on practical or intellectual skills rather than appearances. this representation positions women as inferior to men only focusing on appearances in order to please men, rather than better themselves. even when showing different shades of lipstick all lips are drawn the same creating a set idea of the correct shape of lip and does not represent any unique features that may not be hegemonically stereotypically beautiful to a mainstream audience. despite most of their audience not having the 'perfect lip shape' as displayed it provides a goal of perfection for women to base themselves on.

within the magazine there is also an article on Alfred Hitchcock, this then creates a  perception of the ideal man. this perception is reinforced through the font, using large bold text that has semiotic connotations of masculinity. this is a juxtaposition and binary opposition of the articles on beauty using serif font that is delicate and has connotations of femininity. the images of Hitchcock are not particularly hegemonically stereotypically attractive this represents the difference in hegemonic standards of men and women as men don't need to look good to be on the front cover but women do. by showing his finger has conations of bossing people around and being in charge, demonstrating a position of power. having series of 4 close ups reinforces his dominant patriarchal status, and intern reinforces that women do not through binary opposition. 

in another advert called 'a present for your kitchen' it positions their female audience as the owner of the kitchen and there for her responsibility. this reinforces the dominant ideology of the time that women are only good at cooking and looking after children. this is anchored in the images in the article only showing women and children in the kitchens. by then not having men in any kitchen related images it implies that that is not his place. this then reinforces patriarchal ideologies that men are the ones that go and work and earn money for the family and the woman is dependent upon him, making her inferior.