John McDonough
Female Inequality as Perpetuated by the Victimization of Women in Magazines
This paper was a content analysis of illustrations in men's and women's magazines, examining images of female victimization. More specifically, Maxim, Stuff, Cosmopolitan, and Glamour were examined to determine the extent that illustrations depict women as vulnerable, victims, or as being easily manipulated. The hypotheses resulting from this research were designed to illuminate the similarities and differences in the amount and type of female victimization between men's and women's magazines. Out of the 230 analyzed illustrations of women, taken from four popular gender-oriented magazines, 210 (91.3%) were determined to be representations of victimization. It was additionally found that depictions of women were different in the way by which they victimized females, depending on their inclusion in a men's or women's magazine. In men's magazines, examples of victimization were most frequently found in photo displays and layouts, whereas in women's magazines, victimization was mainly utilized in advertisements.
