Dissertation Tutorial 1

Notes:

- Update chapter plan with links to writers
- Start drafting a chapter
- Write vagenda questions

Cosmopolitan Month by Month View - Nov 12

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

228 pages of which 72 are fashion & beauty adverts = 32%

November 2012 - Cover star - Tulisa (Singer/X factor judge)

For

Cosmo Face Off - Regular Feature (pg 30)

- Cosmo gives spaces for intelligent debates to be held over issues in the media today, which is quite unusual compared to other magazines for a similar audience

- The responses argue for and against the question, this one being: 'Do women want to be dominated?'

100% Confident - Regular Feature (pg40)

- 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'

- "I've always been the type to motivate the camp. I've always wanted to be the fuel for something - for music, the fuel for my family, the fuel for my best friend. Helping someone with what I'm doing." Rita Ora

Alpha Female - Regular Feature (pg40)

- 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 

Cover star Tulisa (pg 60-68)

- Tulisa may be seen as a woman to look up to by some readers, as she is an independent woman who does not rely on men for happiness or security.

40 Fierce Women Under 40 (pg 101-106)

- This article gives examples of women from different career paths who are inspiring to the readers, celebrating their achievements
- This article lets the reader know that they can do something amazing with their lives if they work hard, for themselves, and don't have to rely on anyone else
- Categories include: food, eco, business, science, technology, campaigning, media, the arts and fashion

Catwalk to Curvy - Regular Feature (pg 163)

- 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

Make This Month Your Ultimate 'No'vember (pg210)

- This article is about having the confidence to say no to things you don't want to do. It encourages the reader to be confident and make their own decisions to do things that benefit them. 

Against

Sexy, Confident and Smart - Regular Feature - (pg 27)

- 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 vs. Fashion - Regular Feature - (pg 37)

- 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 43)

- 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

 'How a Man Knows' (pg 82-86)

- This article is about how a man feels after certain events
- While this article doesn't say or do anything offensive to women, it seems a bit pointless, and just makes the magazine seem as if it is obsessed with what men think, especially when it is teamed with other articles such as 'Men on...' and 'Men vs. Fashion.'

Annoying Things Men and Women Do in Bed (pg 88-90)

- If this article was only about annoying things women do in bed it would definitely be negative, however, it also contains a list of annoying things men do
- However, again, this article seems unnecessary and it is another example of how Cosmo is fixated on telling women what men think about areas of their lives. (The section of the magazine is called 'Inside men's minds')

Loverdose Effect Advert (pg 92-93)

-

Bad Girl Sex Tips (pg 198-200)

 - Cosmo is known for its sex tips, and promotes itself as helping women to get what they want out of their sexual relationships, however, much of the advice is unrealistic, and a lot is about pleasing men, such as in this example, Cosmo is telling woman to let men dominate them



How Criminal Are Your Condiments? (pg 211)

-

Lecture 1 / Dissertation / Critical Analysis

What is critical analysis?

- evaluating against objective criteria
- critical not criticising
- use evidence and logic to come to your conclusions
- different perspectives of looking at the same question to get different answers
- what questions are you asking?
- what will the counter questions be? from a different perspective.
- opinion - back it up
- try to consider different points of view before you reject the, think about the topic from different angles, what is being said in what context, what was the point of the text?
- where am I coming from? dialect between us and the subject
- consider what was going on at the time as that piece of product? what social values existed? what politics does the piece hold and what bias would come from this?
- what is the evidence for what you are saying?
- more evidence to support your conclusions
- evidence - reason - logic - argument
- what do you want to say about the topic - you should know where you stand already
- neo feminist
- moodle - look at practising academic writing
- is it clear and does it have a logical progression of the argument?
- move from the general to the specific
- critical analysis step by step on estudio screenshot

Dissertation: Rough Chapter Plans

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

6-8000 words. Bibliographies, references, quotations and appendices are not included in the word count.

Chapter 1. Introduction. 1000 words

• A brief history and introduction into feminism.
• What does it mean to be a feminist?

Chapter 2. Methodology

• Introducing the gaze theory [relates to 05 essay]
• John Berger ‘Men act and women appear’
• How are women depicted in magazines for females? (Through content and advertisements)
• And why?
• Why are women depicted differently to men?

Chapter 3. All about Cosmo. [Bulk of essay]

• Introducing the Cosmopolitan ‘F’ world campaign
• Background information about cosmopolitan, including a brief history and relevant information about target audience and numbers of readership etc.
• Information answering these questions:
• Do the articles end up lowering self-esteem (so you buy the products advertised) or helping women?
• Has Cosmopolitan (and its portrayal of women) changed since its launch?
• Primary research - examples of the content of the magazine which can be considered feminist and examples which disprove this [triangulated argument]

Chapter 4. Design & Accessibility

• What should a feminist magazine include? [Primary Research]
• Try to get primary feedback from feminists such as Vagenda magazine
• Audience theory: Discuss what the target audience want to see in the magazines they buy in comparison to what they are getting.
• What are the pros of advertising a magazine as being feminist in relation to how the audience will view that magazine?

Chapter 5. Design Activism

• What is design activism?
• How can design cause social change?
• Has the content of magazines like Cosmopolitan made it socially acceptable for women to be treated the way they are?
• Is Cosmopolitan written and designed by men or women? And does this effect the content of the magazine?
• Is the feminist campaign trying to disrupt the superstructure cycle and cause change?
• But does the content of the magazine disrupt any progress this campaign has done?

Chapter 6. Conclusion. 1000 words

Answering these questions:

• Can Cosmopolitan be considered feminist?
• How would it have to change to be considered so?
• What good does the magazine do for feminism?
• Which magazines can be considered feminist?

Questions to ask at tutorial:

• Do all chapters have to be the same size?
• Are the into + conclusion chapters or as well as the four?
• Am i going off topic discussing too many theories?

Dissertation Group Meeting

Notes:

- Look at the info on moodle dissertation section
- Richard.miles@leeds-art.ac.uk room G06
- You get 3hrs contact time with supervisors in 30 min tutorials... Make the most of them, come early
- Drafts must be submitted at least 3 working days in advance to guarantee feedback
- Four chapters, 6-8,000 words
- Dissertation word count excludes: extended quotes, bibliography, title/index page, list of illustrations, appendices (such as transcripts of interviews, surveys). Small quotes interwoven with your text are included.
- Look in library for dissertation writing guides, look at short introduction books.
- Dissertation is marked by supervisor then checked by outside person then may be passed on to external examiner

Tutorial 1: 12th Oct
- Bring summer research and discuss essay structure
Tutorial 2: Middle/end Oct
- Bring a sample of critical writing and more research
Tutorial 3: Nov
- Draft of two chapters
Tutorial 4: Before Christmas
- Plan for what needs to be done over christmas break
Tutorial 5: Jan
- Advice on finished draft
Tutorial 6: End of Jan
- Checking over final dissertation
Deadline: Thursday 14th Feb 4pm
- Signed into administration office, G23, 2 bound copies & CD

Learning Outcomes:
- Research (30%)
- Critical Analysis (30%)
- Link between theory and practice (25%)
- Academic conventions (15%)

A good dissertation contains:
- Triangulation (3 sides to the argument)
- Solid underlying methodology
- Clear and unambiguous writing
- Critical depth with a range of sources
- Clear argument and progression

Other sources of research:
- athens.ac.uk (E-books and journals)
- JSTOR (try and include journals in research)
- Liberty (E-books on library search)
- Online journals (list on portal)
- Ask for a SCONUL card in library to get an inter-library agreement