Magazines play in women’s lives Essay

The chars magazine came into existence in the late eighteenth and azoic(a) nineteenth century (Marg art Beetham, 1996 pg 6). They were generally aimed at the upper and middle configuration ladies, as these were the only wo manpower who had spare leisure time and the disposable income to leverage luxuries such as weekly magazines. During 1949-74 there were two extremely sovereign themes in womens magazines. First there was the overwhelming star armorial bearing given to love and marriage- and the family.Second there was the heavy emphasis located upon the Self, and the responsibility ethic laid upon every fair sex to be the self staring, self finishing producer of herself (Marjorie Ferguson 1983 pg 44). It is clear from the beginning that womens magazines promoted a picture of a perfect woman, which still exists today. 1 could beseech the continued success of womens magazines is due to the development of the magazine as a commodity. They have also become a crucial spot for the announce and sale of other commodities, whether nightg testifys or convenience foods (Margaret Beetham 1996 pg 2).Womens magazines consortfulness a vital subr startine in some(prenominal) readers lives. But do they wrongly portray a perfect woman? valet de chambrey women struggle to maintain a perfect home, their children and a capable marriage. 1 could argue womens magazines both add to this pressure, and act as a form of advice to women unable to lot with what is expected from them according to the media and sexuality stereotyping. In the early years of womens magazines the emphasis was put upon providing pastime and practical advice.In this case the magazine fulfilled a usance of a reference text, which women could refer to for recipes and other advice. The entertainment factor meant the magazines were viewed as a bit of light relief for women with busy lives. Janice Winship portrayed the role of womens magazines in the eyes of the existing culture extremely diff erently. manpower do not have or need magazines for A Mans World it is their world, out there, beyond the shelves the culture of the workplace, of politics and semipublic life, the world of business, property and technology, there they are all boys together.Women have no culture and world out there other than the one which is controlled and negociate by men (Janice Winship 1987 pg 6). In this respect womens magazines provide an sagacity into the Womans world. The womans world which womens magazines signify is created precisely because it does not exist outside their pages (Janice Winship 1987 pg 7). Therefore the role which magazines play in this respect is of high importance to women. It acts as an escape into their own world which suggests why womens magazines have been so popular in the past and continue to be as successful today.Marjorie Ferguson argued that womens magazines conjointly comprise a social institution which serves to foster and maintain a cult of femininity ( Marjorie Ferguson 1983 pg 184). She puts forward a much more haughty view of womens magazines and feels that the magazines purely identify their target market and consequently aim to provide their readers with encouragement and entertainment to do with the business of world a woman (Marjorie Ferguson 1983 pg 184). It is clear from the above that in the past when women had exact rights the role of the womens magazines had a great importance to women.It enabled them to have a world of their own al about, a world which was not purely active with males. In todays society where women have equal rights to men (supposedly ) the role of their magazine is not nearly as important in their lives. It does continue to provide the same features although there is a world out there not purely controlled by men, therefore the role of womens magazines is slightly less important in the day to day activities of women. One could claim it acts as light relief although the images portrayed in these magazines nookie lead to this portrayal of the perfect woman. In todays society, it is ambitious not to examine ones body and feel a sense of discontent if it doesnt mirror the lanky images one sees in not only fashion magazines, but also all areas of advertising (Annie Doig 1998). Women are increasingly faced with images of the perfect woman. The portrayal of women in womens magazines all follow the same pattern, they have a well-groomed appearance and a slim body image. Media such as television, movies, and magazines are considered to be among the most influential promoters of the thin standard, given their popularity and accessibility to the people (Anne Marlowe1998).As womens magazines have a massive influence on womens self-concept many women quickly become dissatisfied with their body even at an early age. Ironically the ideal of feminine beauty which is being promoted is impossible for the ordinary woman to achieve. This level of unhappiness can lead to an take disoblig e in an attempt to conform with the publicised norms. Between 1970 and 1990, there was an boilers suit increased emphasis on weight loss and body find in the content of a popular womens magazine (Anne Marlowe 1998).This concludes that the roles of womens magazines changed from traditional and entertaining values into portraying women as consumers and directly targeting womens own anxieties to make money. Interestingly there is evidence to suggest that eating disorders, especially anorexia and bulimia, are most prominently seen in white women (Molloy 1998). One could claim a high proportion of womens magazines are aimed at white females. They are not directly discriminative but you rarely see a black cover girl with features on how to cope with African hair types for example.This example outlines the impact these magazines have upon womens self-perception. Males are also less likely to suffer with an eating disorder. This can be directly linked with the fact that male magazines a re primarily implicated with leisure, pleasure and activities, in contrast as discussed womens magazines focus on beauty, dieting and domesticity. Women are under massive pressure to conform to these chimerical pictures of beauty. That in turn results in many women in narcissistic submersion with oneself- with ones physical appearance (The image of femininity in womens magazines 1998).