ELLE & CAFÉ : – en studie av modemagasins omslag

ABSTRACT Title: Elle & Café – a study of fashion magazines cover pages. Number of pages: 38 Author: Greta Simonsson Tutor: Amelie Hössjer Course: Media and Communication Studies D Period: Spring Semester 2008 University: Division of Media and Communication, Department of Information Science, Uppsala University Aim: The purpose of this essay is to: Analyze the cover images from the 2007 editions of the magazines Elles and Café, using semiotic analysis. Analyzes eventual resemblances or differences between the two magazine's cover images based upon the result of the semiotic analysis. Material and methods: The study of Elles's and Café's cover pages has been done using a model built upon semiotic analysis, developed with the purpose of suiting observation and examination of cover pages of fashion magazines. The cover pages were analyzed from the categories character, context, and environment. Main results: The main results include the observation that both Elles and Café chooses well-known figures from women's fashion industry as prime characters on their covers. In Elles, all main characters are famous women emerging from the music, television and fashion industries. The women in Café are known for similar professions. However, the men in Café are associated with politics, sports and music. Men and women are, through the ideals and styles conveyed in the magazines, associated with gender-specific roles, contrasting and contributing to, a problematic contemporary definition of gender, identity and ideal. Keywords: Fashion magazines, semiotic analysis, identity, gender ideal and information society