Chapter Plan Version 3

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, history and meaning to the word ‘feminism’
• How feminism has evolved and where it stands today 

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 - patriarchal society
• Examples of the gaze theory throughout time from fine art to advertising

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

• Traditional women’s magazines from 50’s compared to the content of magazines now
• Facts and figures about readership numbers then and now
• Common characteristics of women’s magazines in general
• Teenagers magazines and how these compare to the content of women’s
• Audience theory - What do women actually want to see in their magazines [primary research]
• Can any existing female magazines be considered feminist? (Spare Rib)
• How things are changing with online magazines and more choice available

Chapter 4. Cosmopolitan. 1,500 words

• Background information about Cosmopolitan
• Information about editor who revolutionized Cosmopolitan, Helen Gurley Brown, and quotes about feminism and Cosmopolitan from her. Relevance to historical context.
• Relevant facts and figures about target audience and numbers of readership
• How Cosmopolitan has changed over its 47 years
• Role reversal - Cosmopolitan uses men as objects for females to gaze at
• Audience theory - What the target audience think about the content they are receiving, and what they want included in the magazine [primary research]
• How the content of the magazine is making the reader feel
• Advertisements and Cosmopolitan - Capitalism
• Design and accessibility - is the design suitable for the target audience?

Chapter 5. Focused Content Analysis of ‘F WORD’ Campaign. 1,500 words

• Design for social change / design activism
• Introducing the Cosmopolitan ‘F’ word campaign
• Facts about what the campaign is about, such as differences in pay
• How does the design deliver the message?
• Quotes from Cosmopolitan about the campaign and celebrities who support it
• Using and referencing different articles in the magazine that support or disprove the magazine claiming to be feminist [primary research]
• Quotes from interview with Vagenda about a feminists opinion on this campaign [primary research]
• Can Cosmopolitan be considered feminist? If not, what would it have to change?

Chapter 6. Conclusion. 1000 words

• Summary answering initial question
• What would a feminist magazine include? How could this magazine be targeted at a mainstream audience?

Bibliography & Appendix to show primary research results

Cosmopolitan Month by Month View - Jan 13

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

January 2013 - Cover Star - Taylor Swift (Singer/Songwriter)

212 pages of which 53 are beauty / fashion adverts = 25%

For

Cosmo Face Off - Regular Feature (pg 26)

- 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: 'Should a bride ever 'submit' to her man?'

 

100% Confident - Regular Feature (pg34)

- 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 probably earned the right to screw up a few times. I don't want the fear of failure to stop me from doing what I really care about." Emma Watson.

Alpha Female - Regular Feature (pg34)

- 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 

Watch Out for the Rise of the Christmas Pregnancy (pg 62-66)

- This Cosmo reports section of the magazine focuses on real life issues that could effect the reader. This article reminds women about the danger of having unprotected sex and encourages women to be sensible. It gives advice about what to do in the situation, as well as examples of real life stories.

What Do You Love About Your Body? (pg 80-84)

- This article is a Cosmo challenge to find out what women love about their bodies
- Woman usually negatively compare themselves to others, so this challenge wants them to say something positive about themselves. It is a good idea in helping women to feel confident about themselves, and ensuring women that they don't all have to look the same to be beautiful.

Bluff Your Way Through Anything (pg 94-95)

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Cash and careers 103

So You Think You Want My Job? - Regular Feature (pg 107)

- This regular feature often explores unusual occupations that readers may not often know about

- Again, it promotes the importance of having a good job to the reader, giving them confidence to achieve whatever they want. The feature also gives advice about how the reader can get in to that profession.

- This issue the job is a senior scientist

Catwalk to Curvy - Regular Feature (pg 132)

- 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

 

Against

Sexy, Confident and Smart - Regular Feature - (pg 19)

- 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 23)

- 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

Men on... - Regular Feature - (pg 28)

- This is a feature which regular features a few men's opinions on a random issue.
- This issue three men give their opinion on women wearing snug hats. There is no reason for women to dress to please men so it seems irrelevant that this feature would be printed in a magazine which is supposed to be about giving confidence to women.

Never Be Tagged in the Same Look Twice - Regular Feature (pg 38)

- 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

Example Advert

Dissertation Tutorial 3

Notes from tutorial / Things to be done:

- Images and references go at the end of the dissertation

- Gaze theory - Go from the general to the specific, images are less necessary

- Chapter 1 - Include 1 traditional piece of art vs a modern advert

- The model is making the fantasy real and changing standards

- Include the results from the survey in the back of the dissertation (appendix)

- Use it to back up points (by saying research shows that...)

Primary Research Survey

These are the questions I have written for my primary survey, and I have used survey monkey to get people to anonymously fill this in online. It will be interesting to find out if people think the same way if I do and if my results back up the initial points I have made.

I aim to get 100 responses for this survey from the target audience of Cosmopolitan magazine and will then analyse the results when I reach my target number of responses.

Cosmopolitan Month by Month View - Dec 12

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.

Body News 26

The Cocktail Swap (pg 263)

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