Gender in magazine discourse

Gender in magazine dis Gender dis in magazines has evolved from social changes in different perspectives such as sociology, literature, psychology and other aspects. Thus, increased social change has adopted different waves such as feminism and metro sexuality through time (Gill 54).
Social change has sparked varying presentations in gender discourse and linguistic styles by appealing to the basic human interpretive theories passed on as magazine information. For instance, in the Attitude magazine, forums revolve around sport, technology, cars, grooming, food and music. Essentially it leans on suggesting that the modern male; dons hip fashion, has a ripped frame, and lives the playboy lifestyle at work or home. Whereas female magazines like Elle and Martha Stewart Living, revolve within beauty, dating tips, gender equality, relationships and celebrities. Even more in the Cosmopolitan. Just as well, there are discourse similarities too such as money, careers, health and religion. As such, male magazines often feature sexist discourse and imagery in emphasizing physical attributes of female personalities, thus objectify women. In contrast, a female magazine would also feature a woman, and thus personify her as a social pillar or role model in a particular discipline for purposes of gender empowerment to all women.
Additionally, articles engage and use various activities that ultimately set the pace in defining fashion trends and identifying with society’s perceptions of the ideal man or woman. In manly magazines, like Attitude featuring Alan Cummings, car races, hunting sprees and boxing are prime examples. For female types; Glamour magazine featuring gardening tips, tend to lean toward; remodeling, recipes, shopping, interior design and décor or even gossip. Through discourse these activities define society’s unwritten social statuses where more often than not, gender identities are tailored to fit traditional masculinity or alpha male identity.
Articles therefore embody use of political, socio-cultural, verbal and body language signs as channels of communication to further their discourse (Gill 196). However, I do not conform to the depiction of gender in magazines because whatever is portrayed through them is often a discriminative blind fold that not only overlooks divergent and different views but also reproduces biased stereotypes to society’s minority.
Works Cited
Gill, Rosalind. Gender and the Media. New York: Polity, 2007.

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