Critical & Contextual Studies: November 2012

Can women’s magazines, focusing on the case study of Cosmopolitan (UK edition), ever be considered feminist?

December 2012 - Cover Stars - One Direction (First all male cover/boyband)

284 pgs of which 81 are fashion/beauty/make-up adverts, = 29%

For

100% Confident - Regular Feature (pg32)

- This feature often includes inspirational quotes from famous female celebrities which encourage the readers to be confident women.

- This promotes women as living up to the tagline of the magazine, which is 'For For Fearless Females'

- "If anyone tells me I can't eat, then I'm going to tell them to you-know-what themselves." Lea Michele

Alpha Female - Regular Feature (pg32)

- This feature often includes advice from a successful working female about the industry they work in

- This advice encourages the readers to focus on their career choices

Ultimate Women Awards (throughout)

- Every year Cosmopolitan holds the Ultimate Women Awards, celebrating celebrities and real women who have done something inspiring

- Winners include campaigners, fundraisers, athletes and women who have overcome huge challenges in their life to achieve their goals

- However, celebrities from reality shows such as the Kardashians who have done nothing to deserve being called inspiring compared to some of the real women included in the awards, detract meaning from these awards. This shows a magazine which is obsessed with celebrity culture, making it seem as if a celebrity status is more important than hard work and talent.

Women Who are Prepared for Anything (pg 139)

- This article is about women being smart and prepared for any eventually in life by saving up money for themselves and having a back up plan in terms of having a baby. It features real life examples and it shows that women do not have to rely on men in life to survive.

Cash & Careers Clinic - Regular Feature - (pg 143)

- This regular feature helps women with a different topic regarding their work every issue, inspiring women to focus on their careers.

- Gives women reassurance, tips, and real life examples of certain situations. Can help to build women's confidence in work, an topic that other magazines may not touch on.

- This example is about achieving a lot in your career in a small amount of time

my job 147

Catwalk to Curvy - Regular Feature (pg 197)

- This regular feature shows how women with curvy bodies can still wear the catwalk trends

- This feature shows the readers that any size body can be beautiful

- However this feature only takes up 1 page of the whole magazine, there should be more pages focusing on the bodies of curvy girls rather than the pages full of thin models

So How Do You Fancy An Hour-Long Orgasm? (pg 246- 250)

Against

Sexy, Confident and Smart - Regular Feature - (pg 29)

- This page features the inspirational quotes, ‘Live big and go for it!’ and “Sexy, confident and smart... That’s you’. However, these two quotes are without fail placed next to a photograph of a scantily clad female, moving the focus of the reader from the text on to the image, enforcing the gaze to be on the female, so that the magazine tries to reiterate the idea that a high achieving women is a good looking one. Being ‘sexy’ could be a quality given to a women to refer to any of her characteristics, but the use of the female gaze shows that here, sexiness is about flaunting your body for the viewer to see.

Men on 34

Men vs. Fashion - Regular Feature - (pg 39)

- This is a regular feature where three men rate what they think about what four female celebrities are wearing, also featuring the Cosmo fashion verdict, which can be quite different from what the men think

- The article does state, "we don't dress for men, but we're often curious about their fashion sense."

- However this article still suggests that we should consider what men would think of our outfits and what is 'fashionable', rather than wearing what we want to, and what we feel comfortable in

- The article also is an example of the magazines fixation with celebrity culture and body image

- The celebrities are often criticised for making bold moves or wearing unusual fashion choices, giving the reader the idea that we should all be dressed the same to be considered fashionable

Never Be Tagged in the Same Look Twice - Regular Feature (pg 50)

- This fashion feature suggests we should be obsessed with what we wear, and that it is a bad thing to wear the same outfit twice.

- It suggests we will be judged on Facebook by the outfits that we are wearing, rather than opinions shared.

- This encourages women to splurge on new clothes, causing unnecessary worry

Party Queen (pg 204)

- This article is part of the beauty pages, but suggests that the reason for wanting to look good for a party is to seduce men. Women should want to dress up because they find it fun, not to please men, so this is a message Cosmo should not be sending out.

(pg210)

- This is another example from the article, telling readers how to apply to their make-up to make themselves a man magnet, as if this should be their priority on a night out.

(pg212)

- Another example from the article, describing what products women should include in their clutch bags is a rollerball fragrance because: 'Men can't resist its vanilla notes!'

- Women should choose fragrances because they like them not because they think it is a fragrance men will find appealing. This is another example of Cosmo telling women what to do to please men rather than doing what they want for themselves.