This essay is going to analyze ‘The Sunday Times ‘Style’ magazine’ (27/03/10) focusing on how the supplement constructs the idea of the ‘other’ and underlines the identity of the audience.
The readers of ‘Style’ would be upper or middle class educated women between the ages of 20 and 50 who have an interest in fashion, and the sufficient disposable income to feel they are in a position to buy named products and commodities if they choose to. The magazine can be browsed through, although longer articles are kept to a minimum, presented in a small typeface and adding interest throughout because they deal with personal problems pertinent to a wide range of individuals and professionals.
What came to my attention about the supplement in the first instance are the mass commodities, which are advertised from the clothes women wear to the cars they drive. The magazine is a catalogue of top of the range tailored clothes aimed at young professionals in the work place and for leisure, containing intermittent articles of lengthier text. Images of the ideal, slim figure are repeated throughout so this magazine communicates to the reader the idea of glamour to which they feel and know they should conform. It is as if other body shapes do not exist, manipulating the reader into believing that this is how they should look and these are the commodities they should own in order to make them successful in life as well as move up their career ladder. It is as if the way they choose to dress defines who they are as a person.
One of the articles in the magazine exudes female empowerment, stating the things women are better at than men. This is ironic because by conforming to the images of the women in the magazine they are being controlled by the way some men want them to look. The article ‘My wife’s unrealistic career plans are ruining our marriage’ is written from a male perspective, implying that the wife’s ideal career choice should end because of the effect this is having on the man himself.
Interestingly the magazine also includes advertisements for dating websites as if to encourage the female reader to reflect upon their personal relationship statuses, to offer solace for those professional women who may be single or alone.
As well as fashion the back sections of the supplement contain recipes, which serve 2 to 4 people. This gives the impression of the ‘housewife’ image. It is also ironic that at least half of the articles in 'Style' are written by men. It should make women question whether the magazine and its writers are trying to shape the ideal woman out of reader? And whether the magazine itself is hell bent on manipulating women to conform to a certain image and lifestyle, encouraging them to make the perceived ‘right’(?) life choices.
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