Explore the possible audience responses of the front cover of "Woman" 1964 magazine, making reference to media language.
Some audiences would respond positively and feel welcomed due to the friendly direct address created through eye contact by the model. The model looks approachable and kind and therefore there can be a connection between audience and the model and the audience is possibly more likely to engage with the magazine on a whole.
Other audiences might wonder/aspire to be like the model. The woman is stereotypically attractive. Hermeneutic code as the audience tries to figure out how to be this pretty.
Some women might respond negatively. Some women could resent the hegemonic enforced idea that women should wear makeup. Could be quite a rare response in 1964.
"Are you an A level beauty?" forces the audience to question themselves. Hermeneutic code.
Featured a famous director "Alfred Hitchcock" - makes you feel that the magazine is successful.
"Woman" the use of this word as the title gives a sense of community for the target audience.
Stuart Hall - negotiated reading - stereotypical portrayal of the housewife but interested in other things
Oppositional reading - angry agains the image being manipulated
Roland Barthes- Proairetic codes- natural flowers shows the idea of beauty.
"Ideal magazine for the Ideal woman"
The background is very light - pinky purply - harmless and non threatening
Mise En Scene - Maternal and motherly
Anchorage of image - oppositional reading - dislike. She takes up most of the space and we know that she is someone like "us" the target audience.
Secondary audience - heterosexual men , very small audience. but they could buy it for their wives or themselves.
C O N T E X T
Weekly magazine.Published by IPC, 1937 to present.
Set edition: 23-29 August 1964
Price 7d 9 7 old pennies, approx 80p in 2018 money)
Women's magazines became very popular in the post - war period and, in the 1960s, sales of women's magazines . Reached 12 millions copies per week. Woman's sales were around 3 million copies per week in 1960
Magazine is aimed at working class women. MAINSTREAM MAGAZINE
After WW2 women aspired to be housewives, sense of normality. The target like traditional way of life.
Best Selling magazine - a market leader at the time.
C O N T E N T S
P A G E
Hegemonic power - suggesting that his is what the women stereotypically thought to be interested in. If your not interested in this then you're not a woman or conforming to the normal.Women in 1964 - assumed to have a lot of free time - assumes they're not working. No mention of work. Crossword puzzle suggests that the women have free time to it around and not do much.
"Making the most of your bacon" suggests that this is aimed at a target audience who are working class.
WOMEN IN THE UK 1900S TO TODAY
- Suffragette movement - gaining the right to vote. Emily Davidson tried to become recognised but ended up dying in the act by getting trampled by the king's racehorse.
- More women were going into higher education.
- Women's liberation movement. Campaigned for equality.
- Gay marriage is now legal. This edition of the magazine assumes that women love men and are married to them.
- Most women have jobs and work. There is less pressure to have children.
- It is now a legal requirement in the Uk that women are payed the same as men, although this is not always followed through with.
K I T C H E N D O U B L E P A G E S P R E A DTarget audience: heterosexual women, married or going out with a man. Assuming that these women have " a man" in their lives.
Another assumption is that this is where women belong, as there is a whole double page spread dedicated to the idea of women wanting to be in the kitchen.
The top right picture is of a Mother with a child, in a kitchen. This reinforces the stereotyped idea that women should "get back in the kitchen". The mother is not hanging out with her child in the sitting room or anywhere else. They stay in the kitchen.
"Any girl can assemble them" - very condescending. Assuming all women cannot think for themselves and need help.
Very patronising article. Very instructing and no assumed knowledge is required.
Alfred Hitchcock Article
Content:
The target audience are not aspiring to be like Hitchcock. Hitchcock displays his opinion of women. This makes it seem like he was inspired by these women, and makes the article seem positive. Makes the audience feel like this is what they have to aspire to be like and to be sough after someone like Hitchcock.
The whole article is less than an interview, it is a monologue. Often interviews are edited to take out the editor, but the woman interviewing him does not seem to have any input what so ever.
Ideology:
Grace Kelly is the ideal woman, because she is attractive.
Men and women have completely different opportunities
HOW TO SAY HE'S UGLY IN EXAM - " from a stereotypical perspective, Hitchcock is not very attractive"
Lexis:
"I've come to these conclusions after years of selecting, grooming and directing some of the most beautiful women in the world" - predatory and creepy sounding, even in 1964. Grooming still had negative connotations whilst used in this article, but this focuses more on the idea of him making women look pretty, like when you groom a horse.
"Naturally, I chose a English girl, Alma, as my wife" - Makes it seem as if this woman had no choice, which is most likely true to some degree.
"I mentally marked her down as the sort of woman..." - Really emphasises the type of man he is.
"One of the first signs of indifference in your wife is when her cooking suffers|' - assuming that women are so obsessed with cooking that they show their emotions through their cooking.
Metonym / Metonymy - a word, name, or expression used as a substitute for something else with which it is closely associated. For example, Washington is a metonym for the US government.
"I decided to cast Grace" - emphasis of the lack of choice women had at the time. Men have the power and women cannot think for themselves.
Representation:
What messages about female identity are encoded into to Woman magazine?
-Women are housewives.
-Women should have the goal to please their husbands
What impact could this have on the target audience? ( and who is the target audience)
-Gerbner theory - stereotypes, eventually women start to believe this. Reinforces the ideology and the women starts to feel they need to act a certain way. Patriarchal Hegemonic Power.Lisbet Van Zoonen gender roles changing.
- 25-45 year old women, heterosexual, married.
What functions does the woman's magazine serve?
-Gives the feeling of a normal life. Routine. Advice
What potential advantages are there for reinforcing hegemonic notions of gender in a primarily female reader base?
- Women have a void in their life and the women need to fulfil themselves and read this magazine and learn how to be beautiful and the perfect woman. C O N T R O L L.
More stereotypical representation of women in adverts in the "Woman Magazine"
SOAP ADVERT:
Women need to take care of themselves and look pretty. FOR MEN.Their appearance is one of their main concerns as the woman dominates most of the advert.
The function of women inn society is to be looked at by men.
The experience of a bath is also being sold here as the woman is really enjoying it. As well as femininity.
Femininity is encoded in this advert - that is not what you look like when you have a bath. Makeup, Dry hair, Pouting her lips, her pose is quite promiscuous. Quite racey.
The woman has been sexualised.
Voyeurism - perverts. In this situation we can see this naked woman in the bath. Pleasure of looking at someone without them being aware they are being watched.
Gesture here is flirty.
Women is naked. Subtle sexual connotations throughout the ad.
This advert is something to aspire to. It is a goal for women - looking good for a man. For women to feel inadequate about their body and appearance
"All day freshness" - very promising.
Lexis:
"Because you are a women" - target audience. Not secondary audience. VERY IMPORTANT."Beauty soap" - targets women - "beauty" unlike mens advert
"Darling you need breeze" - kind of friendly, kind of sarcastic, taking on the tone of a women. Nicknames women call each other. Direct and Informal address.
Soap is a binary opposition - it is gentle but "destroy" your oder
"Please" - not in a male advert. Suggests that women are vulnerable
Elipses - very airy and spaced out and softy
CREME PUFF:VOGUE 1965 JULY EDITION:
Vogue has Sophia Loren on the front cover - elevates the magazine and makes it appear more glamorous and for the middle class rather then the working class. SOPHISTACATED.
Assumes that the audience is very aspirational as well as having the knowledge that this is Sophia Loren
MISE EN SCENE
Vogue presents this unattainable beauty. This idea is presented through the mise en scene which is very exotic and lavish whereas "Woman" presents a suburban woman.
In woman we see the idea of a housewife clear as day. However in vogue we are presented with a very confident and stylish, famous actress who dominates the front cover - creates the idea of being your own person and independent. The actress looks strong and like she knows what she is doing.
The model on Woman is maternal and is every woman.
MODE OF ADDRESS-
The Vogue model has a very stern and condescending mode of address through the facial expression. On the other hand the model on Woman looks a bit more insecure and her smile looks fake through the whitened teeth. She looks submissive as she is smiling at the audience in this nervous manner.
LAYOUT-
Vogue - very little text, Sophia Loren is the most important figure. The writing is blue, italic and small, so it blends with the colours of her dress and gets lost in the page.
Vogue has a glossy front cover - more high end. As well as a lack of clutter on the front page, whereas woman has a lot of text around the page. Making it fun, inclusive and laid back.
LEXIS -
Vogue has quite a vague and mysterious lexis whereas woman has very straight forward language.
As well as this Vogue has the word "Scintillation" which is a "flash or sparkle of light". Not a word that we use in everyday conversation. Restricted lexis, assumed knowledge.
The text in Vogue functions as a hermeneutic code and leads the audience to want to find out more, making it a lot less basic then the language in Woman. Vogue has bold and exclusive language
Both has a predominately female audience. But "Woman targets the working class and the model on the front is unknown - making it less established.
PRIMARY TARGET AUDIENCE FOR BOTH -
Women, aged 25-45
but Vogue has a substantial audience of men.
Vogue is monthly whereas Woman is a weekly magazine.
WOMAN MAGAZINE OFFERS A SINGLE STEREOTYPICAL IDEOLOGY
OWNED BY IPC
