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What a Girl Wants, What a Girl Needs: Analyzing Postfeminist Themes in Girls' Magazines
[journal article]
Abstract Girls’ magazines play an important role in the maintenance of gender perceptions and the creation of gender by young girls. Due to a recent resurgence within public discussion and mediated content of feminist, postfeminist, and antifeminist repertoires, centered on what femininity entails, young gir... view more
Girls’ magazines play an important role in the maintenance of gender perceptions and the creation of gender by young girls. Due to a recent resurgence within public discussion and mediated content of feminist, postfeminist, and antifeminist repertoires, centered on what femininity entails, young girls are growing up in an environment in which conflicting messages are communicated about their gender. To assess, which shared norms and values related to gender are articulated in girl culture and to what extent these post/anti/feminist repertoires are prevalent in the conceptualization of girlhood, it is important to analyze magazines as vehicles of this culture. The current study analyzes if and how contemporary postfeminist thought is articulated in popular girl’s magazines. To reach this goal, we conducted a thematic analysis of three popular Dutch teenage girls’ magazines (N = 27, from 2018), Fashionchick, Cosmogirl, and Girlz. The results revealed that the magazines incorporate feminist, antifeminist, and as a result, postfeminist discourse in their content. The themes in which these repertoires are articulated are centered around: the body, sex, male–female relationships, female empowerment, and self-reflexivity. The magazines function as a source of gender socialization for teenage girls, where among other gendered messages a large palette of postfeminist themes are part of the magazines’ articulation of what it means to be a girl in contemporary society.... view less
Keywords
periodical; girl; gender; identity formation; feminism; Netherlands
Classification
Media Contents, Content Analysis
Women's Studies, Feminist Studies, Gender Studies
Free Keywords
girl magazines; postfeminism
Document language
English
Publication Year
2021
Page/Pages
p. 27-38
Journal
Media and Communication, 9 (2021) 2
Issue topic
Gender and Media: Recent Trends in Theory, Methodology and Research Subjects
ISSN
2183-2439
Status
Published Version; peer reviewed