Dissertation Tutorial 2

Notes:

- E-mail Richard with primary research q's to check over

- Focus on writing of John Berger for 1st chapter

Updated Chapter Plan

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. 750 words

• Introduction to dissertation topic
• Introduction and meaning to the word ‘feminism’

Chapter 2. Gaze Theory. 1,500 words

• Introducing the Gaze Theory [relates to 05 essay]
• FOCUS ON --- John Berger ‘Men act and women appear’
• Laura Mulvey and Rosalind Coward on the gaze theory

• How and why women are depicted differently to men - write about patriarchal society where men are in charge
• Example throughout time from fine art to advertising

Chapter 3. Women’s Magazines. 1,500 words

• Talking about common characteristics of women’s magazines in general
• Traditional magazines from 50’s to the content of magazines now
• Referencing books I have read such as: N.Walker - Living Dolls, N.Wolf - The Beauty Myth etc.
• Women’s magazines through history and how the content has changed
• Audience theory - What do women actually want to see in their magazines [Primary research needed for this] Style questions to what results you want to get - qualitative and quantative

Chapter 4. Cosmopolitan. 1,500 words

• Background information about Cosmopolitan
• Information about editor who revolutionized Cosmopolitan, Helen Gurley Brown
• Quotes about feminism and Cosmopolitan from HGB
• Relevant facts and figures about target audience and numbers of readership etc.

- How Cosmopolitan has changed over its 47 years

Chapter 5. Focused Content Analysis of Cosmo. 1,500 words

- Introducing the Cosmopolitan ‘F’ word campaign

• Facts about what the campaign is about, such as differences in pay
• Quotes from Cosmopolitan about the campaign and celebrities who support in, such as Annie Lennox
• For & Against triangulation - Using and referencing different articles in the magazine that support and disprove the magazine claiming to be feminist [primary research]

Chapter 6. Conclusion. 1000 words

• Content for conclusion will be decided on after completing essay

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