Femininity and traditionality: A textual analysis of gender roles and sexuality in women\u27s magazines, 1986-1995

While many theorists highlight issues relating to gender and race, popular women\u27s magazines appear to maintain notions of gender traditionality and continually bleach color from their pages. This dissertation examines two women\u27s magazines in an attempt to delineate the ways in which they perpetuate gendered traditions and de-racialize images of women. I explore contemporary images magazines generate, and the advice they offer, with respect to female gender roles and sexuality. Findings reveal that white and black readers encounter similar messages with respect to the promotion of heterosexuality, traditional gender roles, and female sexuality. The maintenance of traditionality and the similarity of images across race are potentially related to the influence of empowered members of society and mechanisms of self-policing