'Woman' magazine- Contents page analysis

‘Woman’ contents page analysis

Layout and design:

The contents page is at the side of page three in the magazine. Next to the contents there is an article called “The long road back to happiness”.  The contents is featured in a blue text box, separating it from the article. Each section has a sub-genre, for example; features, fiction, beauty, cookery, home and knitting. Under each sub-genre there is a series of headlines of the articles under that genre. Each headline includes a page number for reference.

Language and mode of address/ what’s inside:

The magazine contents page includes many sub-genres to accommodate for the articles inside. The first sub-genre is Features which includes articles surrounding topics like; celebrities, domestic lifestyle, health and more. One example of a headline is “Alfred Hitchcock Talks to Margaret Hinxman about the mystery of British women”. Alfred Hitchcock was an English film director and producer, he is often referred to as one of the most influential filmmakers in cinema. The use of a well-known figure attracts a wider audience if they are fans of that figure or want to know their opinions. The phrase “British women” would entice any British women as they are curious as to what the well-known figure has said about them. Although the phrase is referring to a very vague and open group of people, women would still feel as though they had been personally addressed which encourages them to buy the magazine. Another example of one of the sub-genres is Fiction, an example of a headline from these section is “What Could Anybody Say? By Monroe Oppenheimer”. The Fiction sub-genre includes romantic stories for the audience to read. The use of a rhetorical question for the headline of the story entices the audience to read as they are intrigued into the answer. The use of the romantic stories allows housewives to escape their current boring lifestyle, this links to the purpose of the magazine which is relaxation.  Moreover, the use of the romantic story links to the pressure women are put under by society to please their husbands, the story may give them an escape where they don’t have to feel this pressure in a romantic situation. This links to the Liesbet Van Zoonen feminist theory where women are portrayed as objects to men. The romance theme continues in the knitting sub-genre with the headline “Made for Romance”.  The next sub-genres are; beauty, cookery, home and knitting. All of these are seen as typical ‘female’ activities to do, the magazine implies that these should be done by women and reinforces the gender roles that have been created by society. This links to the Women’s Rights Movement taking place at the time, this magazine contents page discourages that and suggests women should stay at home and care for their husbands rather than going to University or work. One of the sub-genres is beauty, the one headline for this is “A-level looks makeup to work miracles”. This headline took place on the front cover of the magazine suggesting it is one of the most interesting/main articles for the magazine. The use of the alliteration in the words “makeup” and “miracles” creates a catchier headline, making it easier to remember and more dominating compared to other headlines which encourages the audience to read it. The word “miracles” implies that women need to wear makeup and that they look so terrible only “miracles” could fix them. This once again, links to the Liesbet Van Zoonen theory that women are seen as objects for men and that pressure is put on women by society to look a certain way is for men. In the contents page for the magazine there is no pictures or articles relating to one ethnicity or class. The bell hooks theory can therefore not be applied here as no certain ethnicity or class is being presented as not presented. In addition, from the contents page we can gain a clear understanding of the audience the magazine is published for. The headlines in the article present aspects such as; “about men”, romance, cooking, beauty, domestic skills and children. From this we can imply that the main audience for the magazine is middle aged, middle class women. This magazine contents page is portrayed to relate to housewives who are expected to stay at home and care for their husband and children. This links to the Stuart Hall representation theory where stereotypes are created and summarise all people into one group. Not all women would want to stay home and care for their children but this magazine only relates to the main stereotype of women, that they are housewives.