A woman in two worlds : A study on the definition of women in Cosmopolitan and Slitz magazines

Every day readers of magazines receive advice on how their life is expected to be. Magazines write about what to wear, who you should be dating and where you should work. People are social beings and are affected on what they read, hear and see. In that way media is one of the main channels which defines people and draws examples on for example how a "normal" woman should be. This essay dealt with several questions: how women are described in Swedish women magazine Cosmopolitan and men ́s magazine Slitz and how they are differ from each other. The possible consequences of the way magazines write about women have on the society as a whole were also discussed. The theoretical framework included Judith Butler’s theories about gender and language. Gauntlett theories were used as an implement to analyze the relationship between media and the identity. As a resource for this study both Anja Hirdman’s and Pia Höök’s studies were also used. The main findings of this essay are that the descriptions of women differ between Slitz and Cosmopolitan. In Slitz women are objectified and their role is to please and obey the will of men. Women are defined by their looks. Also in Cosmopolitans message an obvious double standard could be found. On one hand women were described as independent and powerful but on the other as dependant on their look and men. Women were described as always striving for perfection and through the instructions from Cosmopolitan they could reach that. The findings of the study are relevant and significant because not only do the readers get affected, but others who do not read these magazines are also influenced by the use of the same language as in the magazines in their everyday lives. In that way the discourses on women do not just stay on the pages of the magazines.