vouge 1995
product context
Vogue magazine is created and published by Conde Nast, which is a large global company that make a wide range of printed magazines.
representation
A very famous actress (Sophia Loren) in the 60s. The front cover is a close-up of her that makes her seem important, powerful, exotic, and like a role model.
The exotic nature of her image may reflect Stuart Hall's ideas about the use of Middle Eastern stereotypes, representing ethnic minorities as "other".
- women are also showed as nurturing and carers as they are taking care of kids and their husbands
- women are shown as powerful and confident due to direct address and travelling
- men are shown as breadwinners and superior as men sign off their female cheques and in the picnic advert it showed the men as doing work while sophia was having fun
sheila black
shiela works for the finalcai times . she wrote an article about finances which was quite unusual but this happened during he second wave of feminism meaning women were made to feel powerful and make them feel valued.
The inclusion of an article that gives basic definitions of financial terms might suggest that women don't understand economics and investments, this may represent the new changes in the 60s of women gaining a little independence from their husbands and fathers, but not completely- the article copy suggests that women still are reliant on their husbands in many ways and unable to keep finances secret.
revlon advert
The Revlon advert gives similar representations, calling women "alluring" and "beguiling"- this idea that a woman's role is to attract others visually.
key quotes
- art of eye-making
- fabulash
- brow beautiful
imperial leather
The Imperial Leather advert- the image on this advert reflects the stereotype that women are maternal and domestic. Her body language and facial expression show women as emotional, caring, and loving. Because it's speaking about soap and the softness of your skin, it represents women as needing to be soft and gentle, which may mean delicate or weak.
key quotes
- soft as a child X2
- you NEED cussions imperial leather
- 21 essential oils
- Historical Representation -
The picnic articles and fashion pages show women holding children, nurturing them- they're passive, not doing anything, just lounging around in those photos. It feels quite romantic but also shows women not taking any actions. The passivity of the women in many articles fails to reflect the growing power of some women in the 60s, such as feminists.
This may be because feminism was still considered a new and alternative ideas whereas Vogue was aimed at a mainstream market. May also reflect the fact that richer women were under less financial pressure to go out and work, so many of them did lead lives more centred around leisure and family life.
The use of images of young women as mothers reflects the historical context as women in the 60s were typically expected to marry young and start families. Modern women's magazines aimed at those age 20-35 often choose not to feature content about children, as many women now are able to have careers first, and have children in their 30s or later.
Class Representations
There's a quite complex language going on because the magazine is targeted toward middle-to-upper classes with assumed advanced lexis. The costume, specifically the one on the picnic spread, is very formal. In the article's copy, they talk about lords and ladies, famous artworks, etc, representing upper-class "cultured" women. These upper-class people are featured as a utopia, idealised and being aspirational role models.
This may reflect the fact that readers of Vogue tend to be from the middle/upper classes or aspire to this.
Ethnicity Representations
White models are often pictured in jewels and expensive clothes, representing them as high status. White ethnic appearance is normalised, with darker ethnicities being underrepresented in the range of "nude toned" Cutex products - the colour ranges of lipstick and other makeup in the magazine is clearly representing lighter skin tones and not darker tones. The lack of minority models, and makeup aimed at darker skinned readers, reflects the less inclusive nature of Britain in the 60s.
There are representations for black Egyptian men in the fashion pages but their positions show them as marginalised; they're in the background of the shots, out of focus, and are seen as working and doing deals, whereas the white woman is dancing and enjoying leisure time, this idea that the black men are poorer.
sophia loren
famous actor
she was seen to be a role model for other women and also presented as powerful
cutex
- "bare essentials"
- shade of lipsticks further showcases nudity
-shows the women are sexualised as she is naked or seems to be wearing no clothes
- van zoonen
- are you women enough?
- don't put to summer without this
audience
targets a wealthy AB audience (upper-class) this is shown to us by the pricing of the magazine which was worth more than a average day wage during the 1960s and the high fashion clothing that is worn and advertised and the quotes taken from plays and books which were seen to be known by educated people and usually those who were educated were usually also wealthy or had the ability to go to school and educate themselves
picnic article
- women are shown as ladylike and posh with the terminally used they are also shown as passive and domestic
- biblical references
- costume represent the countries culture
- w=women enjoying herself and men are working
- sophia gallops across the shot to show happiness
- references to french paintings
- elements fo humour/sarcasm
- maids hired
- women taking care of men and children showing societal norms
- has chaperone
- a hat from amateur cricket club ( had to be wealthy to be in it)
- Tissots painting
- references to museums
- references and quotes from novels and plays
- women are also shown as confident and as equal status of men
Pricing
The fashion article has a mixture of £, guineas, shillings and d (pennies).
Because a guinea was close to a pound, putting in guineas made the price seem less. The price of 39 guineas might look like £39 . in fact, it is nearly £41.
Prices in guineas were traditionally used for luxury goods before decimalisation. Saville row tailors, bespoke boot makers, fine jewellers and expensive motorcars were always priced in guineas.
price of the magazine was 3 shillings which in today's money is £6-7 which wasn't even a days wage for them
heatwave article
- well-dressed and fashionable
-suitcase to indicate that she is abroad
- magazine from a different country to show that she is embracing their culture and to reinforce the fact they are abroad
- no men to show that women can stand on their own two feet and don't need men to live life
- heatwave indicates exotic places which only the wealthy had the privilege of doing so due to money
women sexualised to sue her hand placement being near her chest and curves
- women are also shown as confident due to the direct address throughout the whole article
- mentioning of Knightsbridge and other areas in London which were known for their wealthier high-end shops reflects the TA
key quotes
front cover
- how to be scintillating
- sand swim sea sun shiek Sophia
- marvellous mad midsummer
picnic article
- bareback rider
- strictly for addicts
- lover and hate
- probable and improbable
- adventurous,fictionous and romantic
-shimmering seductive silk
revlon
- art of eye making
- fabulash
- brow beautiful
cutex
- bare essentials
- are you woman enough
- don't go out in summer without the bare essentials
- just uncovered
imperial leather
- soft as a child
- 21 essential oils
- you need cussions imperial leather