Representation and stereotyping of the female image in modern mass media (based on glossy magazines)

Lobanova Tatiana Nikolaevna ORCID: 0000-0003-4901-3251 Doctor of Philology Professor, State University of Education 141031, Russia, Moscow region, Mytishchi, Malaya Borodinskaya str., 1, sq. 1 lobanovaty@mail.ru Other publications by this author

Dubyaga Anastasiya Mikhailovna ORCID: 0009-0002-1743-4377 English and Chinese teacher at school №1367 115547, Russia, Moscow region, Moscow, ul. Biryulevskaya, d 58 k 1, office 90 anastasiya.dubyaga.96@mail.ru

Introduction

The study of female images in the context of discursive linguistics involves the study of the linguistic and visual representation of a woman on a specific material and in a certain period of time. The glossy press as a genre of modern mass media is a kind of mirror that reflects the ideological orientation and "tonality" of the state and the nation, understood as one of the ways to interpret information in the context of relations between society and the state. These factors determine the dynamics of stereotyping the image of female beauty in the media and society. The modern Russian media sector is at the center of humanitarian anthropological paradigmatics not only for journalism, but also for modern discursive linguistics and media linguistics, since it actualizes the issues of language theory in general, and, in particular, the issues of quantitative justification of various "signs" and entities. ^[5]

In addition, this research uses not only general scientific methods such as description, classification, comparison, interpretation, analysis, classification, systematization, but also special linguistic methods for analyzing lexico-semantic groups: contextual and stylistic analysis of semantics, the method of psycholinguistic modeling, the method of complex analysis. It is the combination of general scientific and special methods that allows us to fulfill the goals of this study.

The purpose of this article is to analyze the linguistic and visual representation of women in modern mass media (based on the material of glossy magazines), as well as the features of linguistic (linguistic and visual) construction of the image of a woman in modern discursive linguistics.

Representation and stereotyping of the female image

in modern mass media (based on the material of glossy magazines)

The peculiarities of visual beauty in the mass media and its representation depend on the policy of the media publication, public sentiment, mutual understanding between society and the state.

It makes sense to precede each study with an analysis of the basic concepts that have to be operated on in the process of studying the issue, since its effectiveness largely depends on a clear understanding of scientific concepts and terms.

By visual culture we mean the sphere of intellectual values in the field of visual media. Under the products of mass media – the resulting texts created through social institutions (printing and publishing houses or printing houses, social media, neural networks) - linear and visual, printed and digital – potentially having media effects on the reader. The "glossy magazine" genre is not new, but in the conditions of neural networks it becomes a managed media product and is less tied to the human factor and the natural beauty of man." The concept of "language" in the study is closely related to the concepts of visual culture and representation.

The scientific basis of this research is based on the theoretical positions of both domestic and foreign scientists in various interdisciplinary fields. Thus, the conclusions reflected in this article are based on a block of work in the following areas:    

1.      Studies dealing with the problems of online journalism: S. S. Bodrunova (2015), E. Vartanova (2018), A. A. Tertychny (2013), Ya. N. Zasursky (2011), V. V. Kihtan (2004), A. A. Gradyushko (2019), N. A. Akhrenova (2018), T. N. Lobanova (2020);

2.      Research on media, journalistic discourse, psycholinguistics of advertising text and TV texts, PR discourse: A. A. Leontiev (2016), E. Yu. Kolomiytseva (2008), O. V. Sokolova (2014), L. Manovich (2018), D. S. Khramchenko (2017);

3.      Research on the methodology of discursive research (A. A. Barkovich, E. V. Budaev, A. P. Chudinov, M. Meyer, N. Fairclough, R. Vodak, M. V. Jorgensen, M. Titcher) (2009, 2013, 2017)

4.      Studies reflecting the theoretical status of gender and the concept of its perception (A.V. Kirilina, O. A. Kolosova, E. I. Goroshko);

5.      Research aimed at analyzing gender by the psycho- and sociolinguistic and communicative-discursive method of analysis (E. A. Zemskaya, M. A. Kitaygorodskaya, N. N. Rozanova; A.V. Kirilina, A. N. Eremina; V. Bergvall; M. Meyerhoff; M. Bucholtz);

6.      Research on the problems of glossy magazines, stereotypes, images in the press and media (A. A. Barkovich, O. V. Romakh, A. A. Sleptsova (2009), Kolomiytseva (2008), J.V. Chernova (2014), Yorgos C. Zotos, Eirini Tsichla (2015), Fang Pan (2024);

7.      Research, the conclusion of which is based on the study of gender in the pragmatic aspect of language (T. A. Tripolskaya, E. Y. Bulygina; D. Tannen; A. Weatherall).

At the turn of the XIX-XX centuries, the social role of women has completely changed. Changes have occurred not only in the issue of changing social roles and standards of appearance and understanding of beauty, but the psychological and moral units, taken together, the representations of a modern woman have also undergone serious changes. And this is inextricably linked to globalization and the continuous development of the mass communication system.

The division by type in the context of cultural discourse plays a crucial role. Since we study the female image, we can "trace the dynamics of the development of the retransmission of various types of female images in transnational media culture: Marilyn Monroe (1950s), Audrey Hepburn (1960s), Madonna (1980s), Kate Moss (1990s), Angelina Jolie (2000-e)" ^{[4, p. 271]}.  

Hollywood images from the world of fashion and the film industry (Naomi Campbell, Christie Evangelista, Kate Moss, Cindy Crawford, etc.) can be attributed to the prototypes of beauty and style for inspiration and imitation in the modern global transnational media culture. Undoubtedly, every new decade carries a new image. For example, Madonna is an icon of the style of the 1990s of the XX century, while Marco Robbie is a symbol of the 2010-2020s of the XXI century. But, do not forget the peculiarities of national types of female images: somewhere between Madonna and Margot Robbie, you can remember the Australian actress Nicole Kidman. The average Russian resident associates Russian female beauty images with the names of Alla Pugacheva, Lyudmila Gurchenko, Lyudmila Zykina and other actresses and singers of Soviet and Russian cinema and show business.

Visual culture in modern linguistic discourse is broadly aimed at "a female audience as a carrier of cultural semantics." A certain absence of earlier writers and researchers raising this issue gradually forced people to "marginalize or ignore this issue" ^[9].

 It is believed that it is women who are able and should change reality in terms of external factors. Modern mass media only contribute to this process and convey the basic concepts of the gender culture of society. In turn, such concepts form certain standards and stereotypes in the subconscious of people about the appearance and position of a modern woman in society.

To achieve this understanding, people use one of the most effective mechanisms for creating "correct images". This method includes the publication of glossy magazines that help identify certain stereotypes in the reader's subconscious, forming "persistent images of prosperous and beautiful young women of a specific time stage."  ^{[1, p. 8]}

Language in this matter plays a key role in the construction and socialization of gender roles. This is an area in which publications from any country in the world can contribute both inter-linguistically to the growing amount of literature on this topic, and in the interdisciplinary field to broader gender issues. ^{[10, p. 46]}

The authors of glossy publications tell and show how a successful woman should look and what success is: It's a kind of encyclopedia of a happy life." Like any other mass media products, glossy publications and their digital counterparts form the aesthetic ideals and tastes of the audience, have media effects: in parallel, they sell other products placed and advertised on the pages of a magazine or publication.

In the middle of the XVII century, the French edition of the Journal des savants opens the history of world gloss. Since that time, many magazines for women have appeared all over the world. Speaking of Russia, even before the revolutionary period, the magazine "Niva" was published. In part, it can be considered close to glossy, but it still remained "literary".

In the Soviet Union, the magazines "Peasant Woman" and "Worker" were published. But the limitations and stinginess of thematic and visual content, the "heaviness" of ideologically oriented texts of the Soviet trend did not allow the full potential of "gloss" to be fully revealed. ^{[3, p. 67]}

Tracing the history of gloss in Europe, by the end of the 20th century, the so-called "Elle", published by Helen Gordon Lazareff in France since 1945, became one of the most popular. Another glossy magazine called "Harper's Bazaar" was published for the first time in 1867 in America and still holds a leading position. Together with him, another magazine "Vogue" 1892 has been competing for leadership for a long time. Also, the main place in the studied segment is occupied by no less popular publications such as "Marie-Claire", "Vanity Fair", "L'Officiel de la couture" and "Esquire", the first glossy magazine for a male audience. It is these publications that have been pointing to fashion trends for more than a century and to a greater extent influence the development of global "transnational media culture in the aspect of the media phenomenon "the beauty of the female image" ^{[2, p. 151]}.

It is worth noting that modern Russian women are still at a slight loss in matters of status and role positions in society: Western glossy products of the media market do not resonate in the hearts of Soviet-Russian women due to ethnopsychological differences between Russia and the West.

Media culture, creating a "transnational image of a reference young woman" and instilling a similar image, deliberately resort to standardized female images, which often adversely affect the psychological state of female readers. If we reveal this "stereotyped and reference image", then such a girl is tall, anorexic body, has a model appearance and exudes sexuality in the picture. But along with all the above, American magazines have recently deliberately moved away from the usual standards towards new trends, such as body positivity, the "antiage" standard and advocate the individualization of each female image ^{[3, p. 67]}.

Most studies conducted in the field of gender stereotypes resort to quantitative content analysis in order to identify specific types of stereotypical images. Content analysis is chosen for this type of research because it is a generalizing, "quantitative analysis of messages that relies on a scientific method, including attention to objectivity/intersubjectivity, a priori design, reliability, validity, generalizability, reproducibility and hypothesis testing." ^[6] This type of research is relevant in this context, as it provides researchers in the field of gender with a set of useful tools for studying messages containing information about gender and gender roles. A useful tool for researching stereotypes about women's roles should reflect the diversity of women's roles. Such a tool is based on categories proposed and accepted as a result of numerous studies in this field.  ^{[8, p. 447]}.

Below we turn to examples from glossy magazines, which in their visual component have a core of representation and stereotyping of the female image. It is worth noting that the sample of examples is continuous, random and carried out without the use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools.

Fig. 1 – Penelope Cruz in the images of Christian Dior Haute Couture

by John Galliano for Spanish Vogue, 2000

In Figure 1, the famous actress Penelope Cruz from Spain appeared in a stylized image of the 20-30s of the XX century. In this image, we see a combination of such qualities as femininity, a sense of cinema, style and fashion of the 30s. This aesthetic image is complex and does not represent a stereo-typed image of a young Spanish woman of the 2000s of the XXI century.  The image proposed in Figure 4 actualizes the concept of "retro-sexism", often exploited by the media and to which foreign scientists appeal: "it is interesting to observe that modern media seem to portray female bodies through the use of "retro-sexist" imagery of women in advertising" ^[8].

 Fig. 2 – Kate Moss on the cover of Russian Vogue, 2013

Figure 2 shows the supermodel Kate Moss of the 1990s.. The popularity of this model is demonstrated for the entire issue of the magazine, ensuring the commercial success of all products advertised in this issue of the publication.

Fig. 3 – "Natalia Vodianova Wears Louis Vuitton on Vogue Paris September 2014 Cover"/ Natalia Vodianova on the cover of Vogue magazine, 2014 (Digital)

As can be seen from Figure 3, the glossy magazine "Vogue" has its own "digital counterpart". It was the media that created and continue to create the process of changing the representation of women, as well as the transformation of images and ideas about beauty around the world. Thus, the glossy Vogue magazine allows you to follow the interpretation of the beauty of female images (the cover is a tool for popularizing and stereotyping the image of beauty of a particular time).

Figure 4 – Margot Robbie on the cover of the glossy Vogue magazine, 2021 (left) and the new American printed glossy Vogue magazine, 2024 (right)

Figure 4 shows that the American model-actress Margot Robbie has confidently held the position of a reference young woman of 20+ in American society in terms of external data over the past years and is in demand, iconic and published female image on the covers of modern glossy magazines.

 Fig. 5 – American singer Beyonce in the nude, "broadcasting" body positivity and canons of beauty (for the cover of the new album Cowboy Carter, March 2024)

Figure 5 shows that the 42-year-old singer poses without clothes, but hiding behind a ribbon and hands, while broadcasting the values of American society in terms of a woman's appearance and behavior. Thus, it is emphasized that in the context of culture and socio-political events or even armed conflicts in different countries, the female image and the "beauty of the female image" will be presented in different ways.

Figure 6 – Sarah Paulson for The New York Post

As can be seen from Figure 6, modern American trends in beauty and women's image are associated with the phenomena of body positivity and positive attitude towards 45+ age women (anti-age movement).

Fig. 7 – Image of Anastasia Ivleeva (a popular presenter and blogger) in the 2020s on the cover of Cosmopolitan

Figure 7 shows the popular TV presenter and blogger Anastasia Ivleeva. Her image is a typical image of a young beautiful woman in Russia. It should be noted that for the Russian media sphere of "gloss", external data and female images are far from perfect; at the same time, it is the factor of media and fame that ensures the popularization and replication of these female images in modern Russian society. 

Below we turn to examples from glossy magazines, which in their linguistic component have a core of representation and stereotyping of the female image. We also draw attention to the fact that the sample of examples is continuous, random and carried out without the use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools.

Figure 8 – An article published in The Voice explaining to young women which skirt to choose for a stylish look (https://www.thevoicemag.ru/fashion/how_to/effekt-zhivotika-kakie-yubki-vybirat-chtoby-ne-pribavit-sebe-lishnie-kilogrammy/)

"The tummy effect: which skirts to choose so as not to add extra pounds to yourself." In this article, from a linguistic point of view, the lexical unit "tummy" will be interesting. In the vocabulary of gender linguistics, diminutive suffixes give an emotional coloring to the noun. It is worth noting that the coloring can be both positive and negative.  The suffix "ir" in this example shows a negative value. The author of this article intentionally uses this phrase to attract the reader's attention.    

 Fig. 9 – An article published in The Voice explaining popular manicure trends to young women in the spring of 2024 (https://www.thevoicemag.ru/beauty/nails/ot-tropicheskoi-ekzotiki-do-sladkoi-nejnyatiny-5-vesennih-idei-manikyura-s-roskoshnymi-cvetami / )

In this article, from a linguistic point of view, the lexical syntagma "nezhnyatina" will be interesting. Russian, being an inflectional language, is often replete with the addition of various suffixes that betray the word's emotional coloring. In this example, the syntagma "nezhnyatina" is a kind of comparison to the shades used by women in manicure. The author intentionally uses a slang unit in the title of the article, thereby showing not only the highest degree of tenderness in the choice of shades.  

Figure 10 – An article published in Elle explaining to young women 3 popular trends in jewelry selection in 2024 (https://www.elle.com.au/fashion/3-jewellery-trends-set-to-dominate-2024 /)

In this article, from a linguistic point of view, the lexical syntagma "dominate" will be interesting. The author intentionally uses it in order to determine the three advantages of the given trends in 2024 over the rest. Analyzing this word from the point of view of gender linguistics, we can conclude that this is a kind of reference to feminist movements in the modern world.

Fig. 11 – The cover of the Chinese Vogue magazine. April 2024 (https://yaoshihui .vip/99799.html )

Publications published not only in Russian and English, but also in other languages of the world are of great interest for modern research. It should be noted that due to linguistic and cultural differences, the means and features of expressing gender-colored vocabulary may be different. Figure 11 shows the cover of the Chinese Vogue magazine, published in April 2024. In the name ““ (Beauty and simplicity in fashion), several gender-colored lexical units can be identified. For example, the combination of the characters A (beauty, beautiful) and ? (simplicity, simple) is used by publishers to show readers the main fashion trends of 2024 in China.

Thus, analyzing the above examples, it is absolutely clear that modern glossy magazines reflect the current level of development of society and language synchronously.  Virtual visual images and linguistic representation in magazines are a kind of informational and textual compression. The degree of compression of the article can be determined by the set discursive task.

Conclusion

Currently, many media outlets from traditional formats (printed, glossy as expensive products) are switching to digital platforms and analogues; "assets" to promote their content and implement new socially significant projects (with the participation of TV presenters, top actresses and models). Online media is becoming a social institution with even greater powers than in traditional formats, as the number of copies is high; the responsibility of founders, media publishers and journalists is higher. Thus, modern not only glossy publications, but also other printed publications act as a kind of trendsetter: they determine the trends of visualization and linguistic representation in the media industry, the film industry and fashion journalism in Russia and abroad. For modern linguistics, this trend is a source of new research not only at the linguistic level, but also at the interdisciplinary level.

The entire range of scientific works and sources involved should be considered extremely important from a scientific, theoretical and scientific-practical point of view, since the results of the theoretical analysis made it possible to isolate the methodology of analysis and interpretation of visual texts of glossy magazines, including in the aspect of studying the visual culture of national media systems. The "New Language of Media Culture", broadcast through official and social media, provides linguists and philologists with tools for visualizing women's images through photographs and other visualization tools, including virtualization using neural networks with a much higher degree of media effects.

Modern media texts are already being studied by special techniques (e.g., the technique of multimodal text analysis), which "evaluate" the visual, graphic and linguistic components of the digital media text. Modern "glossy" media (print and digital) is a separate social institution. The authors of glossy publications demonstrate the success cases of young women, broadcasting female role models to the world, forming beauty stereotypes in societies. Like any other mass media products, glossy publications and their digital counterparts shape the aesthetic ideals and tastes of national audiences, and have media effects. Visual images in modern publications are a kind of informational and textual compression, the degree of which depends on the discursive task set, for example, media effects designed for the audience, and further can be different: from a slight reduction to compression into one sentence of a title or one image (caricature, meme, infographic, map), expressing either the main idea of the publication, or a distraction from the main text.

An analysis of the visualization of "glossy" media indicates that they are "characterized by a certain ideological "tonality" or "intonation", understood as a way of interpreting information that reflects a certain value system of society and the state." The analysis of linguistic representation showed that compression and the choice of gender-colored vocabulary is of key importance for the reproduction of a female image. It is worth pointing out that modern publications in most cases tend to combine both visual and linguistic representation in one product. The glossy magazine genre is not new, however, under the conditions of Russian sanctions, it becomes an additional marketing tool for brands, and with the use of neural networks, gloss becomes a rapidly developing industry that media experts refer to the latest information technologies around the world.