The
representation of women on Vogue magazine covers
Our
group is looking at the methodology of Feminism. For my part of the
blog I am going to discuss the representation of women in the popular
media. I am going to focus on Vogue magazine covers as my main
central topic of discussion. Since the 1960s images of women
throughout the media have been a prime topic and concern of feminist
media. This problem still exists today and is a strong topic
throughout popular media. Many images of women throughout popular
media provide inaccurate and unfair representations and stereotypes.
These portrayed stereotypes and representations of women in the media
give a false depiction of the real person behind the image. Instead
they display and stereotype the woman into a certain category. For
instance women are often stereotyped as sex objects in the media they
are sexualised or objectified and are presented to satifiry and
entertain the male audience, other common stereotypes includes the
typical women as housewives or mothers, women are often linked to
domestic situations and are stereotyped into this domestic goddess
role.
Sue
Thornham author of Women's Feminism and Media describes that
(Thornham 2007 :pg. 24) 'inaccurate stereo types damage women's self
perception and limit their social roles' these incorrect and false
fixed images of women in the media damage the way we see and present
ourselves they give us a false perception and alter the way in which
we are being perceived and looked at by others. The vogue magazine
covers are an aspect of poplar media that interest me very much. As
a reader of these magazines I noticed that theres rarely never a
cover that consists of an unattractive woman. The images of women
that usually appear on the cover remain flawless and beautiful. The
representation for instance of Rihanna on April 2011's issue is a
good example. Rihanna appears on the cover directly looking at the
viewer. Her body is angled towards us where she is wearing a sequined
low cut dress modified to show off her body. Her skin appears
flawless and airbrushed. Her waist also appears very thin in contrast
to the rest of her body with the way she has angled the pose. The
overall image of Rihanna has probably been distorted through the use
of post production programs. This altered image of Rihanna begins to
look less natural through the use of airbrushing and post production
techniques we see less of the real Rihanna the image becomes more of
a false representation of her instead. Her natural and real presence
is also concealed behind this fixed image.
 |
| Rihanna March 2011 Vogue cover |
men
look at women. Women watch themselves being looked at.This determines
not only the most relations between men and women but also the
relation of women to themselves. The surveyor of woman is herself is
male: the surveyed female. Thus she turns herself into an object- and
most particularly an object of vision: a sight.
When
we look at this image of Rihanna we immediately survey it and make a
judgment based on the image (Berger, 1972, Pg 8) also believes that
'the way we see things is affected by what we know or what we
believe.' we may straight away form opinions and associate
stereotypes with this image.When we look at this image we see rihanna
as a sex symbol through the way she is presented. This brings us onto
the topic of image as a commodity. Most of the images Vogue uses on
its cover are produced to sell and advertise the magazine. If there
was a less attractive figure on the front, the magazine may not stand
out and sell as much. Laura Mulvey also argues that (Mulvey: 1975 pg.
10)
In
their traditional role women are simultaneously looked at and
displayed with their appearance coded for strong visual and erotic
impact so that they can be said to connote to-be-looked-at.
Women's
appearances are used to provide strong visual and erotic impacts to
its audiences as mentioned above this Image of Rihanna acts in the
same way, this image displayed is used for a strong visual impact
that will lead towards the selling of the magazine. The excessive
objectification of women in some parts of the media, reduces women
entirely to sexual commodities. It is imperative to attract
consumers to want to buy the magazine so by vogue shooting the images
like this the magazine covers get more attention. Its not just this
cover issue the majority of vogue covers present similar principals.
The march 2012 edition of Adele and the March 2010 issue of Rosie
Huntington Whitely are the very same in what they aim to do.
 |
| March 2011 Adele Vogue cover edition. |
 |
| March 2010 Rosie Huntington Whiteley Vogue cover edition. |
Its
not just the cover image but captions that accompany the image for
instance 'worlds most beautiful bodies' ' fashion to flatter every
figure' ' live better push your fitness levels'' 'eat yourself happy'
are to a certain extent stories referring to pleasing a man or
catching someones attention, even though they are stories based on a
woman's own personal recognition. They still suggest that they maybe
relating to the male audiences. Most of the images throughout Vogue
magazine covers tend to feature women with bodies that are
unattainable for the average woman. Most of these captions
accompanying the image are ironic as this is poignantly contrary to
what is expected and intended.
In
conclusion the representation of women in poplar culture presents
many false representations and associations. The above analysis of
how women are presented on Vogue covers show that through the way
these covers are captured and presented to us they appear to give a
false representation of the women. These representations and fixed
images at times show less of the real person and instead a
stereotyped woman. The analysis of Rihanna on the cover of April
2011's edition shows that through the way the image is shot and
presented on this magazine cover with the camera lingering on her
curves and showing parts of her body straight away turns her into an
object for male pleasure throughout the way she is presented she is
immediately associated as a sexual object. The image becomes more of
a product and selling tool for its audiences. The other vogue cover
with Adele and Rosie Huntington Whitley incorporates many of the same
principals as the Rhianna cover they all are presented and turned
into an object of male pleasure. The accompanying captions too that
appear on the magazine to a certain extent are stories that may
suggest about pleasing a man and catching someones attention. Aswell
as the image presented these accompanying captions on the cover of
vogue suggest and also portray women in
stereotypes. For example the following caption that appeared on
Vogues april 2011 issue of Rihanna 'worlds most beautiful bodies'
emphasizes to the audience the importance of women looking attractive
it too connotes the term women as a sex object.
Storey
J. (2009) Cultural theory and popular
culture an introduction. 5ed.
Harlow: Pearson.
Walby
S. (2011) The future of
Feminism.Cambridge:
Polity press
Berger
J. (1972) Ways of seeing.
London:
Penguin books
Thornham
S. (2007) Women, Feminism and
media. Edinburgh:
Edinburgh University press
Mulvey
L. (1989) Visual pleasure and
narrative cinema, in visual and other pleasures. Basingstoke:
Macmillan
Jones
A. (2003) The Feminism and
visual culture Reader. New
York: Routledge
Guantlett
D. (2008) Media, gender and
identity: an introduction. 2ed.
New York: Routledge
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