The Influence of Popular Culture on Societys Self-Perception Essay

The Influence of Popular Culture on Societys Self-PerceptionPopular refinement has an undeniable influence on how society perceives itself. When examining mass culture, one must(prenominal) keep in mind the equilibrium between how much we, as a society, affect the way customary culture is builded and to what extent stick to forthular culture influences the way we view ourselves and shapes our ideologies. An aspect of popular culture that whitethorn serve to greatly exemplify this theory of society as both(prenominal) the affecter and the affected is the genre of magazines targeted at young women. Though these publications are targeted as the representation of our societys adolescent females, they actually have a great influence over the ways in which teens view and construct certain social ideologies. This essay will shed light on the influences these publications have in shaping, regulating, and defining young womens perceptions of femininity, sexuality, and romance. Consequ ently, it will similarly reveal an irony in the fact that womens magazines, written for (and in the main by) women actually mold their beliefs and actions into those that reinforce female subordination through the traditionalistic standards of a patriarchal society. For the purpose of analysis, I will focus on three publications for women, each with a slightly different audience correspond to the age and class brackets targeted and the subjects offered. In her analysis of one of Britains womens magazines called Jackie, McRobbie identifies quaternion codes that form the content of these publications those of fashion and beauty, romance, personal and domestic life, and pop music (Christian-Smith,8). The magazines I will examine all exemplify the four factors of McRobbies codes. The first publication is a magazine called Twist. From the content, one may infer that the main target of this magazine is a high schooling age bracket. The cover stories include Make-him-Melt Prom Hair an d Makeup, Is it get along or Lust, Real Guys Reveal What Their Mixed Messages Really mingy, New Zit Zappers, and Celebs Happiness Secrets. Inside, the reader finds pop music icons, advice on how to act and look to find a member of the opposite sex, advertisements targeted at younger consumers of cheaper goods, and pictures of stereotypically attractive teenagers. The second magazine I will be discussing is Complete Woman. This magazine is aimed at a ... ...logies? A broader representation of other forms of society would be necessary to dissolve the stereotypes that mass culture has come to represent. BIBLIOGRAPHY1.Twist Magazine, May 2000. Heinrich Bauer Publishing, L.P.2.Complete Woman Magazine, June/July 2000. James L. Herlock, Publisher.3.Marie Claire Magazine, May 2000. Hearst Communications.4.Christian-Smith, Linda. becoming a Woman Through Romance. Routledge, Inc. 1990.5.Modleski, Tania. Feminism Without Women. Routledge, Inc. 1991.6.Lewin, Ellen. Writing Lesbian descript ive anthropology reprinted in Women Writing Culture. University of calcium Press. 1995.7.Craik, Jennifer. I Must Put My introduce On 1989. reprinted in Feminist Cultural Studies I. Edward Elgar Publishing. 19958.Winship, Janice. Handling Sex 1981. reprinted in Feminist Cultural Studies I. Edward Elgar Publishing. 19959.Lutz, Catherine. The Gender Of Theory reprinted in Women Writing Culture. Univ. of California Press. 199510.Coward, Ruth. Female Desire. Palladin Books. 1984.11.Schlesinger, Philip. From Production to Propaganda? reprinted in Culture and Power. Sage Publications. 1992