Advantages and Disadvantages of Women's Magazines - Case Study Example

Are Womens Magazines Sending Empowering Or Disempowering Messages To Women Readers? Table of Contents Introduction 3 Thesis ment 3 Argument for Women’s Magazines 4 Counter Argument for Women’s Magazines 5 Rebuttal 7 Conclusion 8 Works Cited 9 Introduction Nowadays millions of female readers are found to be exposed to women-centric magazines which provide information regarding the up-to-date styles, beauty products, attractive models, prevailing trends and wardrobes among others. These magazines tend to act as a medium for creating negative stereotypes for women. The impact of women-centric magazines on the aspect of empowerment of women is considered to be a strong debatable subject. It has also been observed that women exposed to such magazines tend to be more supportive in terms of sensual behavior which empowers and assists them in prioritizing their personal pleasure. This essay intends to ascertain an appropriate inference or result regarding an argument on the subject that whether women’s magazine are sending empowering or disempowering messages to the readers. Thesis Statement The major objective of the essay is to justify the impact of the messages conveyed by the women’s magazines posed on the readers. The essay would attempt to analyze the messages in order to ensure that whether those actually empower the women readers. Furthermore, the essay would also provide an understanding on the way the women’s magazines are directing the behavior of the readers in recent days. Argument for Women’s Magazines Women’s magazines provide fluidity which as a result generates contradictory behavior among the readers pertaining to supporting feminist thoughts and significance of physical beauty. Women-centric magazines not only offer genuine advice, but also provide to the readers empowerment. The contents of women’s magazines at times have been found to prove helpful in terms of developing their own identity. It has been also observed in this regard that by reading such magazines, the readers make attempts to become more glamorous in order to seduce men. Nowadays, both men as well as women desire to be attractive. These women’s magazines prove to be greatly helpful in terms of providing different methods which assure rapid physical transformations with lower effort. Magazines such as “Instant Tone-Up Tricks” provide strategies to make men fall for the beauty of women. These magazines generate an understanding in the minds of women that men are simply a means of gaining self-pleasure. Women usually desire to get respect and admiration from men. The traditional concepts to gain appreciation from men are presently considered to be obsolete. The women’s magazines smartened-up the traditional concepts of looking more gorgeous and odorous in order to attract men. In the present day scenario, the women’s magazines seem to provide increasing emphasis towards becoming more liberal and maintaining a strong and independent theme. The women-centric magazines help to trigger the notion that women should not wait to find the right men in their life, instead women should act as ‘heat seeking missile’ which would help men to track the right women as an appropriate life partner. These magazines stress on the fact that women should stay attractive and aromatic so that they can successfully target the right men as their eye candy. These magazines underline the fact that women should regulate their life according to their choices (Gauntlett 180-210). Previously, women were usually portrayed as sexual objects for men through advertisements and pornography. However, in the current days, several women’s magazines are found to be using the similar practice by representing men as sex objects. For instance, in ‘Survival of the Sexiest’ magazine, the female readers are provided with the opportunity to choose the man whom they wished to be presented as a sex object. Similarly, ‘The More Centrefold’ magazine provides different photographs of fit men with provocative outfits. These approaches by modern women’s magazines depict the fact that women should “knowingly treat men in the way they traditionally treated women”. More commonly, women usually want men to carry out whatever they request for. This behavior is exaggerated with the help of the messages described in women’s magazines. The central assumption of the women-centric magazines relate to the actuality that men should not raise any kind of protest against the messages displayed in those publications as they had been conducting these activities for ages. However, it also cannot be completely agreed that these women magazines only advise the readers to treat men as sex objects. The contemporary women’s magazines provide a significant source of guidance to the readers in terms of improving the health and happiness of women (Gauntlett 180-210). Counter Argument for Women’s Magazines In reality, the women-centric magazines are found to be incapable of boosting self-respect of the readers and rather resulting in bringing down the confidence level by showing unattainable strategies. The suggestions related to beauty provided in women’s magazines are at times considered to be supreme for majority of the readers due to insufficiency of money as well as time. Magazine contents representing negative stereotypes or impractical pictures of people tend to pose a negative impact on the self-respect and personal understanding of the readers. The article written by Alexandra Starr named ‘You’ve got a long way to go, baby’, creates and exploits the anxiety of women. She further argued that “women’s magazines are pushing the same message which existed half a century ago”, i.e. “women’s existence revolves around landing the right guy”. These magazines create a notion that women should be thin and beautiful, while men need to be rich, muscular and should drive striking vehicles in order to be socially acceptable. The problem of the women’s magazines is considered to be the aspect of self-pride. Several readers while viewing the magazine assume that unless they appear as perfect as the models, it would be difficult for them to become good enough in order to get the attention of men (Starr, “Youve Got a Long Way to Go”). Women’s magazines by representing the perfect models and by plundering on suggestible youth, significantly contribute towards the self-confidence of readers. Majority of the advertisements depicted in the women’s magazines provide information on modern cosmetic products, latest fashions, beauty tips, heath suggestions and to a certain extent about physical relationships. A minimum degree of focus is believed to be provided on significant aspects such as the harmful impact of beauty products and consumption of alcohol, awareness of significant diseases (such as breast cancer or HIV), schools and careers or regarding a positive lifestyle. The articles of women’s magazines are found to strongly focus on luxurious fashions and the models portrayed in those magazines have quite an attractive figure with perfect skin and proportions. These features define the ultimate form of a normal woman, however, in reality; most of the women readers appear to be inferior in comparison to the magazine models. Hence, striving to appear as magazine models at times can cause several physical problems such as low weights (Starr, “Youve Got a Long Way to Go”). Rebuttal On the contrary, it has also been argued that women’s magazines help to highlight the worth of women in maintaining a relationship. These magazines serve as educators for providing step-by-step recommendations to maintain a better life. It creates an impact on the sexual attitudes of women to a certain extent. In modern women’s magazines, the female population is advised and stimulated to wear fashionable clothes, maintain weights, improve appearances to not only attract men but also to develop self-confidence and exhibit personal maturity. The advertisements displayed in women’s magazines also emphasize the significance of women’s beauty and worth for men. The messages provided through such magazines empower readers by underlining the fact that women are no more just considered to be the tools for satisfying men, rather they can also act in order to fulfill their physical fantasies. Women’s magazines constantly highlight the point that being erotic or being physically attractive gives women the authority and ability to gain control over men. Hence, by conveying messages about women’s role in maintaining relationships, the readers are provided with the prospect to achieve an upper hand over their male partners and develop a unique sexual individuality. Magazines such as ‘Cosmopolitan’ encourage women’s active role for achieving physical pleasure and satisfaction for their own sake, rather than to satisfy men. There are other magazines, for instance ‘Our Bodies, Our Selves’ which provide significant knowledge to women about different ways to attain personal satisfaction. These magazines advocate the fact that the sexual desire of women is natural and similarly important in comparison to men and that women have the right to prioritize their own physical pleasure. Conclusion Considering the on-going argument about the impact of women’s magazines on empowerment or disempowerment of readers, it can be stated that women’s magazines are found to provide disempowerment rather than empowerment to the readers. It usually provides unrealistic perception about getting men. These magazines concentrate exclusively on beauty; represent men as exceptionally affluent, fashion cognizant, obsessive along with getting easily attracted to good dressed women. However, average men do not seem to fit in the standardized magazines as models and which is also considered to be a similar phenomenon for women as well. Readers, particularly in a sensitive phase of their life easily fall a victim to the images of the models portrayed in magazines. The women’s magazines does not usually promote a healthy lifestyle for readers, but highly concentrates on attractive apparels, makeup tips and other playful information without concentrating on the talents which are actually considered to be necessary in order to improve in one’s career or professional life. Hence, it can be stated that women’s magazines are sending disempowering messages to the readers, by hampering their progress. Works Cited Gauntlett, David. Media, Gender and Identity: An Introduction. London: Routledge, 2002. Print. Starr, Alexandra. Youve Got a Long Way to Go. The Washington Monthly, 2001. Web. 10 Oct. 2012. Read More