Body Image and the Media - Article Example

 Essence is a monthly magazine established in 1968 that is geared towards African-American women aged 18-49. The magazine tries to convey the “girlfriend” attitude towards the readers, with the “Fun, Fearless and Fabulous” slogan. The goal of the magazine is to empower the women of the African-American descent. Like other fashion and lifestyle magazines in the market, the magazine features African-American celebrities, fashion and also the problems concerning the African American community. The problems of the community can be as huge as problems of the African American issues towards the society or maybe issues about African American hair. The magazine is complex, reaching out to many people of different ages. With that in mind, the publishers have to devise a marketing plan that would cater to the people who read the magazine and these readers have a lot of age difference. Therefore, their ads and their articles must be generic enough to accommodate African-American women of all ages. However, they must also be specific enough to cater to African-American women and enable them to identify themselves with the magazine. The magazine also caters to the fact that people of other color would be wanting to read the specific title. This paper attempts to analyze the contents of the magazine. How it is formatted to fit into the tastes of the readers. The first ten pages of the magazine are more on advertisements. As the magazine is catered for American-American women, the advertisements are geared towards women and are mostly of beauty products. Hair product advertisements are also numerous, as it is known that African-American women value their hair a lot. The advertisements feature black women as well. The black women models project the image of being successful, beautiful and having it all. There is also an ad that features a non-African-American woman, but that is the only advertisement that features a non-colored model. It was an advertisement for Loreal. Skin products are also advertised, such as lotions and baby oils. These products promote skin moisture. The skin of African-Americans is quite prone to dryness, and when the skin gets dry, ash-like substances appear on the skin. Thus, the advertisement is understandable as its major clientele needs the product as part of their grooming. There are at least three skin moisturizing products that are advertised in the first ten pages of the magazine. Other cosmetic products such as nail polish are also advertised, one of them being nail polish brand Essie, advertised the color gold. In pop culture, African-Americans tend to use gold accessories, because it conveys glamour and “swagger”. The letter-from-the-editor puts a spotlight on the empowerment of the African-American woman with special association to the upcoming elections. Basically, the editor wants the reader to go out and be the empowered. The magazine promotes becoming a proactive member of the community and not a passive receiver of the actions of so many people. The middle twenty five pages of the school offer fashion and interviews with successful black women. In this issue, the fashion spread focuses on work clothes. The magazine uses real people, or at least realistic models, not those who are size 0. The fashion reflects the need of the working woman, that being to look good both at work and socially. The models are the embodiment of the successful African-American woman. The fashion spread also features real, fashionable women of different shades of black. All of these fashionistas are slender, though, subtly telling the audience that being slender is the way to be a fashionista (one can be fashionable even if one is not slender). There are advertisements for moisturizing skin products and hair products as well, just like in the first ten pages. Hair is also featured in the magazine as in articles and advertisements too. There are also other articles that feature ideal men and “the things we are talking about”, an article about what’s popular in their circle. The articles only feature African-American people. The articles also empower the ordinary African-American, especially the article that features success stories of women in their jobs and financial planning. The cover story is also about empowering the woman. Queen Latifah is a worthy cover. Not only is she an African-American who models for a successful makeup brand, she is also the first full-figured woman to be used by Covergirl as their brand ambassador. It shows that beauty is not limited to color or figure, which again empowers African American women. This instills confidence towards the full figured women, as they can also hope that being skinny is not the passport to being a covergirl. Even if the magazine features advertisements with skinny women, the fact that Queen Latifah, a full-figured woman, is featured prominently is quite significant to the readers. This sends out a strong message that even if there are skinnier women, being full figured can actually make one shine more. The message is, one’s significance or power is not measured by body size. The issue also features an article on Maxine Waters, a California congresswoman, and a weight loss success story. Putting out stories like these surely inspire the readers. The last ten pages offer other lifestyle articles about cooking, complemented by an article about weight story, as well as health articles. The lifestyle and health sections promote health, not fashion or the superficial appearances. This implies that the magazine endorses healthy lifestyle more, or at least not less, than fashion, the “fix the inside to fix the outside” routine. The most common advertisement in this section is the hair advertisement. The magazine reflects the new trend in magazines/advertising today, where healthiness is celebrated - not being fashionable. The women presented in these ads are smart and sophisticated and capable to hold on their own. The women in these ads are all positively represented. They are not representing the sexy temptress, but rather the nurturer and the one who takes care of everyone, who has the intelligence and independence to do what she wants. This is actually not limited to African-American magazines like Essence. The front and back covers feature hair again. The front cover features Queen Latifah with long, straight hair and the back cover features an ad that features natural, curly hair. The front cover is special because Queen Latifah is a true champion for the African-American people, by not compromising her shape to be successful. Overall, the magazine Essence is a magazine features a healthy example of body images towards its readers. It never deludes readers to an impossible ideal, in terms of body figures. It promotes a healthy concept of the body image to its readers by using real people, real success stories. The advertisements, although using slender models, do not really highlight the bodies as the advertisements are usually for hair and skin. In fact, it glamorizes African-American hair and skin. The magazine is actually quite forgiving about body types and sizes. The magazine is open to all women in all shapes and ages, and the article about surgery and healthy lifestyle is all about that. The advertisements, although most feature skinny African-American women, also promote health, as in their products. Their models empower women as they do not (generally) put men in the ads. This message is positive towards all body types as tolerance and openness is being practiced in this form of medium. The advertisements support the ideas that the magazine represents empowerment of women. Though the products that they represent are usually the ones African-American women use (like hair and skin products that moisturize), the models directly represent the product. Health foods are advertised as recipes in the magazine. The models here are not realistic models and they represent the majority of the readers who want to imitate the lifestyle that the magazine represents. Reference: Constance C.R. White, ed., (2011), Essence Magazine. New York: Time Magazine, Inc. Read More