.23

r... , .
I. .4... :
a): . .3.

 

 

 

 

 

 

graze: .
3.... ..
“haw. .u

. ,
Kr ..

23.1.. in?

a . p O

qli!
itiih.

0:...

Lu..x.‘.

. o
6). . t

H...‘ n.

n. «uhwmmnnmfin fin! ..
. ‘ . z”: ,I....¢Ll. IVA. : ‘
z l.V;_ .11... A
_ V , , . _. v
, 1433.....-

 

THESIS

mummliliil'fiilifiilimmfliiluunml

3 1293 01771 6352

 

LIBRARY

Michigan State
University

 

 

 

This is to certify that the

thesis entitled

A Content Analysis of
Seventeen, Essence and Redbook: 1985-1998

presented by

Allison Daniel Anders

has been accepted towards fulfillment
of the requirements for

_Mas_te.n_'_s degree in Jonmalism

A122,,

Major professor

Date May 7. 1999

0-7639 MS U i: an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Institution

 

 

PLACE IN RETURN Box to remove this checkout from your record.
TO AVOID FINE return on or before date due.
MAY BE RECALLED with earlier due date if requested.

 

DATE DUE

.DATE DUE

DATE DUE

 

Misti}

—'_—

 

 

lit”: 1 4 2880

 

3551‘? 553i4

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1M GENO/WM“

 

A CONTENT ANALYSIS OF SEVENTEEN. ESSENCE AND REDBOOK: 1985-1998
By

Allison Daniel Anders

A THESIS

Submitted to
Michigan State University
in partial firlfillment of the requirements
for the degree of

MASTER OF ARTS
School of Journalism

1 999

ABSTRACT
A CONTENT ANALYSIS OF SEVENTEEN, ESSENCE AND REDBOOK: 1985-1998
By

Allison Daniel Anders

’ This content analysis evaluated material in Seventeen. Essence and Redbook from
1985-1998, in three time periods: 1985-1989, 1990-1994 and 1995-1998. Using a set of
operational definitions selected items were counted and coded to reflect four main
categories: “appearance,” “female/male relations,” “self-development” and
“political/social issues.” These categories were chosen based on previous research in the
area of women’s magazines and utilized to ascertain whether or not a third wave of
feminism began in the 19905. The categories of: “appearance,” and “female/male
relations” were combined to reflect “traditional” content and the categories of “self-
development” and “political/social issues” were combined to reflect “feminist” content.

The magazines differed significantly from one another in terms of the amount of
content present in the categories of “appearance” and self-development,” and the
distribution of “traditional” and “feminist” items in Seventeen provided the most support

for the assertion that a third wave of feminism began in the 1990s

To Joyce Vance

iii

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Words do not reflect the gratitude I feel toward the following individuals who
offered me support and guidance during the completion of this project. I extend thanks to
my committee chair, Professor Stephen Lacy, who helped me through Quantitative
Research in Journalism, and the coding and revising process of this thesis. To my
remaining committee members, Professor Darcy Greene and Cheryl Pell, thank you for
providing feedback on this project and sharing your enthusiasm for visual
communications.

To my families: my mother, Eleanor Workman, thank you for your ceaseless
words of encouragement and empathy on late nights; my father, John Anders, thank you
for your honesty in our dialogues about feminism and politics in general; my brother,
John Creighton Anders, thank you for always helping me keep things in perspective. To
my coder and confidant, Brandy Jensen, thank you for dealing with such heterosexist
material; and to Ari Kohen, my “true practitioner,” thank you for your contributions to

my final vocabulary.

iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF TABLES
LIST OF FIGURES
INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER 1
Literature Review
Valuing the Messages Women Receive
i Seventeen
ii Essence
iii Redbook
iv Identity
v Hypotheses

CHAPTER 2
Methods

CHAPTER 3
Results

CHAPTER 4
Conclusions

APPENDICES
APPENDIX A
Chart of Development by William Perry

APPENDIX B
Coding Protocol
Coding Questions
Operational Definitions

APPENDIX C
Coding Results

APPENDIX D
Total Coded Content in Percentages and Standard Error

From Seventeen, Essence and Redbook

 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

iv

vi

10
3O
46
58
65

79

88

109

118

119

120
122
123

125

131

134

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1
Percentage of Editorial Pages Given to Selected Topics in Seventeen

Table 2
Content Analysis of Seventeen Magazine: 1945-1995

Table 3
Content Analysis Sassy, Seventeen. Teen. YM

Table 4
Career-Related Attitudes and Gender

Table 5
Career-Related Attitudes, Gender, and Career Versus Marriage

Table 6
Career-Related Attitudes, Gender, and Position
on Role of Women in Society

Table 7
Women’s Pay in the USA.

Table 8
Roles of Women in Mademoiselle and Redbook
During 1966-1971 and 1972-1974

Table 9
Frequency Distribution of Roles Appearing in
Mademoiselle, Redbook, and & During 1972-1974

Table 10
Agreement
Simple and Scott’s Pi

Table 11
List of Stratified Samples

Table 12
Total Coded Content in Percentages and Standard Error
from Seventeen. Essence and Redbook during 1985-1989

17

18

26

27

28

45

55

56

83

85

98

Table 13
Total Coded Content in Percentages and Standard Error
from Seventeen. Essence and Redbook during 1990-1994

Table 14
Total Coded Content in Percentages and Standard Error
fi’om Seventeen. Essence and Redbook during 1995-1998

Table 15

Selected Article Items from the Tables of Contents
in Seventeen. Essence and Redbook

vii

99

100

101

LIST OF FIGURES
Figure l
“Jell-O” Heritage Series Advertisement by General Foods

Figure 2
Total Content Percentages of Appearance

Figure 3
Total Content Percentages of Female/Male Relations

Figure 4
Total Content Percentages of Self-Development

Figure 5
Total Content Percentages of Political/Social Issues

viii

43

9O

92

94

96

INTRODUCTION

A concern about the messages adolescents received in the mid- to late-19805 was
the impetus for this project. Curiosity about the lack of diversified material in magazines
targeted at this age group led to cursory research and dialogue about youth, feminism,
oppression and the media.

A neophyte to the philosophical discourses on feminism, the author found herself
bombarded with liberal, socialist and radical feminist sentiment, anti-feminist backlash,
and pejorative denial of- and indifference to- the rights the women’s liberation movement
sought to gain. Definitions and discrimination grew only more complex as she searched
for an operational language on which she could ground her hypotheses.

Researchers Linda Jackson, Ruth Fleury and Donna Lewandowski cite in their
study, “Feminism: Definitions, Support, and Correlates of Support Among Female and
Male College Students,” popular commentary on the demise of feminism. “The new
conventional wisdom holds that feminism is dead, and that the feminist movement is
over, either because it has achieved its goals or because people no longer value its
goals.”1

The National Organization for Women, established in 1966 at the inception of this
country’s second women’s liberation movement, might challenge the contention that the
movement’s goals have been achieved. “NOW’S official priorities are pressing for an
amendment to the Constitution that will guarantee equal rights for women; achieving
economic equality for women; championing abortion rights, reproductive freedom and

other women’s health issues; supporting civil rights for all and opposing racism;

opposing bigotry against lesbians and gays; and ending violence against women.”2 These

goals make obvious the reality that this country has many changes left to embrace before
all her citizens may equally participate in her social and political institutions.

The latter assertion, that people may no longer value the movement’s goals, only
illuminates the uneducated inferences some have made about the movement. For liberal
and socialist feminists are promoting equality for “choice” and that includes and affects
every American family.3

However, much to the convenience of anti-feminists, material reflecting older and
radical positions within the feminist movement yield opportunity for debate. In his
presentation, “The Decline of Manliness and Femininity,” for The Lefrak Forum and The
Symposium on Science, Reason, and Modern Democracy at Michigan State University,
Professor Harvey Mansfield from Harvard University used conservative rhetoric and
selective prose from the late 19605 to chastise feminist philosophy. He implied that all
feminism surrounded the quest to make the nature, roles and identities of men and
women “exchangeable.” He acknowledged that this might well be possible if individuals
lived with “perfect flexibility” and “where nothing external influences (their) choice.”4

Mansfield’s position minimizes the scope and depth of women’s liberation
movement and overemphasizes the implications of language use regarding the term
“manliness.” However, his focus on external influence and choice is significant. In a
country that is saturated by the market and the media, the opportunity for surviving
without “external influence” is all but non-existent. Researching content in the media
provides data for further inquiry about said content’s effects — important analyses, as

content may affect paradigms, attitudes and actions.

Researchers, Jennifer Schlenker, Sandra Caron and William Halteman conducted
an extension study on Kate Peirce’s “A Feminist Theoretical Perspective on the
Socialization of Teenage Girls Through Seventeen Magazine,” in 1996 and found an
increase in what they defined as feminist articles from the content that appeared in 1985
to the material that was published in 1995. They write that as social issues such as “day
care, abortion and comparable pay” became more prevalent a third wave of feminism
appeared.’

Schlenker’s research cites three waves of feminism: the first wave reflecting the
abolitionist conflict of the late 19305, the second tied to the social reforms of the late
19605 and early 19705 and the third moving through the 19905.6 This content analysis
will document content before and after the early 19905 to provide evidence for discussion
about Schlenker’s assertion.

The thesis is structured not only to analyze Seventeen in the five year period prior

to 1990 and the eight years following (in five and four year sets), but Essence and

 

Redbook as well. A young women’s magazine, a magazine for women of color and a
magazine whose website states that it is “the married woman’s survival guide”7 were
chosen for their varying demographics of readership. Each magazine will be coded for
content based on one of the following categories “appearance,” “female/male relations,”
“self-development” and “political/social issues.” Reflecting the structure from Peirce’s
and Schlenker’s research, the former two and the latter two categories will be paired and
labeled “traditional” and “feminist,” respectively.

In terms of labeling roles and identities, Leslie Feinberg, an author, advocate and

keynote speaker for Michigan State University’s 1999 Pride Week, spoke of the need to

“respect each other’s right to express gender any way (we) choose.”8 She/He talked about
thoroughly cleansing the terms “masculine” and “feminine” and embracing women in all
their roles. She/he pushed her/his audience to think of traditional women and the culture
around their identity. “Feminine women are invisible. They melt right into the
patriarchy,” she/he said, and with a sardonic tone added, “And they’re all out there
enjoying feminine privileges.” F einberg also talked about the lesbian community in the
early 19905 using terms like, “butch—fem.” In attempt to highlight the acidic relationship
between “feminine” and “masculine” and their applications she/he used the following
example: “If knowing how to use power tools make someone masculine, then I’m “high
fem.”9
“No one can claim the mantle of true woman in this society,” F einberg believes,
because “it’s not the lipstick or the tie (that’s) oppressing me,” but the machinery of
institutionalized oppression. 1° She/he explained that the women’s liberation movement is
about understanding that oppression. F einberg also, and perhaps much to the
disappointment of Mansfield, suggested that “talking about ‘masculine’ and ‘feminine’ is
only helpful when (you are) talking about oppression.”ll
This thesis addresses some of the oppression that exists for women, because while
the women’s liberation movement has “succeeded to a great degree,” according to
Mansfield, there are still many issues with which to contend. For accompanying the most
rapid increase in earnings for women fi'om 1979 to 1984 was the Reagan Administration
that “staunchly opposed the Equal Rights Amendment, hiring quotas, comparable worth,

and most affirmative action programs.”12

Institutional Oppression, however, is not limited to politics. Susan F aludi, author
of Backlash: T_he Undeclared M Aggy; American Women. writes that a “widespread
backlash against feminism” took place under the surface of 19805 careerism. She notes
backlashes: in the media, e. g. 3311 Attraction and “New Traditionalism” and the
resurgence of feminine fashions; in popular psychology, e. g. self-help books encouraging
“‘to improve your marriage, change yourself’” phiIOSOphies; and in the work place, eg.
lack of day care, parental leave, and the wage gap.13

The targeted audiences of Seventeen. Essence and Redbook all suffer under the
weight of sex-based oppression. In addition, Seventeen’s audience suffers under the

oppression of ageism, Essence’s under the oppression of historical and cultural racism

 

and Redbook’s under the manifestations of institutional oppression, as there is an absence
of equality in the union of marriage,” in the home15 and in the workplace. ’6

One of the purposes of this study is to provide a foundation for future research
concerning each of these areas of oppression and how such discrimination might affect
young women, women of color and married women.

Adolescence typically ravages the egos of young women and sends them doubting
into potentially turbulent years. Researcher P. Orenstein found in a study of 3,000 boys
and girls that adolescence was “marked by a girl’s loss of confidence in herself and her
abilities. After spending a year with teenagers she concluded that the media and
educational system are shortchanging girls by not encouraging self-worth.”” Adolescent
girls struggle with the messages they receive from their peers and the media, perceiving

”18

“the world in black and white terms and missing the nuances and benefits of

functioning within a continuum of choices. Seventeen has a opportunity to provide a
range of choices, ideologies and lifestyles that may enhance this stage of development.

Women of color face “multiple and interlocking systems of oppression.”19 Not
only do they suffer discrimination based on gender identification but in this country they
suffer discrimination based on their race, heritage and ethnicity as well. Essence has an
opportunity to provide information and resources to combat, among other issues, white
privilege, racism and sexism.

Although white women have benefited more from affirmative action than any
other targeted group20 all women remain oppressed. Inequality in terms of salaries,
benefits and opportunities for advancement still exist, and for the married woman,
divorce settlements are often unequal.21 Redbook has an opportunity to produce positive
messages of empowerment and tangible guidelines that may facilitate independent
growth — financially, emotionally and spiritually.

This content analysis will analyze the trend Schlenker et a1. documented in their
research and seek to document results using these three women’s magazines. Only
editorial content will be coded. The analysis does not include advertisements on which
the magazines are dependent and over which the editors have no input regarding content.
Focusing instead on where editors do have control is important in terms of opportunity

for reflection and potential in-house changes.

 

’ Linda A. Jackson, Ruth B. Fleury and Donna A. Lewandowski, “Feminism: Definitions,
Support, and Correlates of Support Among Female and Male College Students,” Sgt
Roles, Vol. 34, (1996) 687.

2 National Organization for Women. (Online) Available
http://www.now.org/, February 1, 1999.

3 Kate Perice, “A Feminist Theoretical Perspective on the Socialization of Teenage Girls
Through Seventeen Magazine,” Sex Roles, Vol. 23, (1990) 492.

4 In The Lefrak Forum and Symposium on Science, Reason, and Modern Democracy,
Michigan State University, Morality and Public Life: Is America in Moral Decline?
conference paper, “The Decline ofManliness and Femininity,” by Harvey Mansfield.

5 Jennifer Schlenker, Sandra L. Caron, and William A. Halteman, “A Feminist Analysis
of Seventeen Magazine: Content Analysis from 1945 to 1995,” Sex Roles, Vol. 38,
(1998) 140.

6 Schlenker, 139.

7 Redbook. (Online) Available
http://www.redbookmag.com, February 1, 1999.

8 In a speech by Leslie Feinberg.
9 [bid

‘° Institutional oppression occurs when within institutional arrangements of a society one
group benefits at the expense of another. Manifestations of institutional oppression
appear in language, media, economics, education and religion.

1 ’Feinberg

’2 Gary S. Becker, “How the Market Acted Affirmatively for Women,” Business Week.
(May 13, 1985) p.16.

’3 “Backlash: The Undeclared War Against Amerigan Women.” Kirkus Reviews.
(Online) Available, Lexis-Nexis, April 13, 1999.

1" “Draft Declarations Against Violence Approved by Commission; United Nations ,
Commission on the Status of Women; Includes Related Article on the Rights of Married
Women,” UN Chronicle, (Online) Available, Lexis-Nexis, April 15, 1999.

’5 Gene Koretz, “Why Married Women Work,” Business Week, (Sept. 22, 1997) p.26.

16 u

Backlash: The Undeclared War Against Amergm Women.”

7

 

‘6 “gagklash: The Undeclared War Against American Women.”

‘7 Schlenker, 136.

’8 Mary Pipher, Ph.D., Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls,
Ballantine Books, New York, (1995) 59.

’9 Susan Stanford Friedman, Mappings, Princeton University Press, Princeton, New
Jersey, (1998) 49.

2° Affirmative Action Myths vs. Facts. (Online) Available
http://bbcc.ctc.edu/~webb/cabb.htm, March 24, 1999.

2’ National Organization for Women.

CHAPTER 1
Literature Review

Valuing the Messages Women Receive

Witch

They told me

I smile prettier with my mouth closed.
They said -

better cut your hair -

long, it’s all frizzy,

looks Jewish.

They hushed me in restaurants
looking around them

while the mirrors above the table
jeered infinite reflections

of a raw, square face.

They questioned me

When I sang in the street.

They stood taller at tea

Smoothly explaining my eyes on the saucers,
Trying to hide the hand grenade
in my pant’s pocket,

or crouched behind the piano.
They mocked me with magazines
Full of breasts and lace,
Published their triumph

When the doctor’s oldest son
Married a nice sweet girl.

They told me tweed-suit stories
of various careers of ladies.

I woke up at night

afraid of dying.

They built screens and room dividers
to hide unsightly desire

sixteen years old

raw and hopeless

they buttoned me into dresses
covered with pink flowers.

They waited for me to finish

then continued the conversation.
I have been invisible,

weird and supernatural.

I want my black dress.

I want my hair

curling wild around me.

I want my broomstick

from the closet where I hid it.
Tonight I meet my sisters

in the graveyard.

Around midnight

if you stop at a red light

in the wet city traffic,

watch for us against the moon.
We are screaming,

we are flying,

laughing, and won’t stop.

- Jean T epperman

i
m
Mary Pipher, author of Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls
addresses the socialization process of young women from a cultural perspective. “It’s
(Adolescence) an extraordinary time when individual, developmental and cultural factors
combine in ways that shape adulthood. It’s a time of marked internal development and
massive cultural indoctrination.”l
_ A part of this experience involves the construction of self and gender
identification. Pipher cites writer and feminist Simone de Beauvoir to help expound on
the complexities within the adolescent development of young women. “Simone de

Beauvoir believed adolescence is when girls realize that men have the power and that

10

their only power comes from consenting to become submissive adored objects. They do
not suffer from the penis envy Freud postulated, but from power envy.”2

Perceived or actualized issues of power and control within relationships may
influence behavior patterns and relationship dynamics. In this country battering:
emotional hurting, threatening, using power or position to hurt, physical beating and
sexual abuse, is the single major cause of injury to women, exceeding rapes, muggings
and even auto accidents.3 On university campuses nationwide, 25-30% of the college
student pOpulation is battered.4 The reality that women garner less power than men, in
terms of employment and advancement opportunities, equal wages, is absorbed by
females in messages from mainstream media, social institutions, political platforms and
legislation.’ These images, hierarchies, campaigns and laws may potentially undermine
development and dictate limited identity roles to young women.

De Beauvoir also believes “girls stop being and start seeming.”6 During a time
when the integration of feeling and acting may not occur, adolescent girls are also not
communicating with the support system they utilized most as a child — their parents. The
adolescent’s process of seeking independence and pushing social boundaries also
includes an element of distancing. Adolescents move away fi'om those upon whom they
have been most dependent. Pipher writes that, “just when they (adolescents) need help
they are unable to take their parents’ hands.”7

“(Parents’) daughters live in a media-drenched world flooded with junk values.
As girls turn from their parents, they turn to this world for guidance about how to be an

adult.8 The images and language — denoted and connoted meanings of descriptors —

about women found in the media only reflects another level of oppression within the

11

media’s projected and Often distorted images of feminine women. Young women must
become adults in a culture in which feminine is defined as “docile, weak and other-
oriented.”9
Pipher believes girls struggle with mixed messages. “Be beautiful — Teenage
girls spend an estimated $4 billion a year on cosmetics10 — but beauty is only skin
deep. Be sexy — Girls as young as 14 are now seeking surgery to either reduce or
enlarge their breasts11 — but not sexual. Be honest, but don’t hurt anyone’s feelings.
Be independent but be nice. Be smart, but not so smart that you threaten boys. 12
Claudia Bepko and J 0 Ann Kreston describe the internalization process of these
messages an “‘indoctrination into the code of goodness,’ which they argue is essentially
unchanged since the fifties. The rules remain the same: be attractive, be a lady, be
unselfish and of service, make relationships work and be competent without
complaint.”l3
Pipher parallels the pressure adolescent girls experience to the pressures described
in the writings of Alice Miller. Miller wrote about the pressure some young children
experience to deny their true selves and assume false selves to please their parents.”
“Reviving Ophelia suggests that adolescent girls experience a similar pressure to
split into true and false selves, but this time the pressure comes not fiom parents but from
culture?“ Manifestations of societal demands occur in schools, magazines, music,
television, advertisements and movies.“ Parents are no longer the primary influence on
adolescent girls. 17

Media and peers who glean their information from the media may influence the

development of adolescent girls. The messages from Hollywood media contain specific

.12

elements. “Adulthood, as presented by the media, implies drinking, spending money and
being sexually active.”18

Mass media is often cited as one of the causes for the increased risky sexual
behavior among the young and is criticized for showing sex as glamorous and fun.19

For children, “(l)earning about sex and sexuality is substantially different than
other kinds of learning children rarely have first-hand ‘experience’ with sex, either
through participation in or observation of sexual activity.”20 Moreover, parents, schools
and churches, traditional primary sources of information and modeling for other areas of
social learning, are often reticent, if not totally silent about sexual values and behavior.21
The lack of alternative sources of information leads many young adolescents searching
for information in the media. 22

Pipher believes the ideas Hollywood projects about sexual relations are unsafe,
confusing and damaging. “Hollywood lovers don’t discuss birth control, past sexual
encounters or how a sexual experience will affect the involved parties; they just do it. The
Hollywood model of sexual behavior couldn’t be more harmful and misleading if it were
trying to be.”23

Today both boys and girls are initiating sexual intercourse earlier than ever
before, and girls are getting pregnant at greater rates than in any other industrialized
country in the world.”

Only one in three heterosexually active adolescents uses any form of birth control
regularly, and one in seven sexually active teenagers currently have a sexually

transmitted disease. Nearly half of the estimated 20 million sexually transmitted disease

patients are under the age of 25.”

13

Pipher writes that society needs to change if healthy young women are to be
produced.26 She believes the media must be a part of that change and emphasizes the
importance of changing “the way women are portrayed in the media.”27

Research from M. Brake states that “teenage magazine articles focus on romantic
attachment, dependency on men and physical beauty.”28 One might argue that a possible
correlation may exist between the need for romantic attachment and sexual relations;
dependency on men and giving power to men in relationships; the desire to be physically
attractive and pursuing cosmetic and physical alterations to fulfill such desires. These
conjectures seem dangerous in terms of simply presupposing their existence. And
magazine content that reinforces or fails to offer choices as they relate to these trends
seems unhealthy in regards to identity development in adolescence.

Peirce, who conducted the longitudinal analysis, “A Feminist Theoretical
Perspective on the Socialization of Teenage Girls Through Seventeen Magazine,” from a
feminist perspective, writes about the importance of sending messages that show young
readers options in the roles women choose to fulfill.

“Teen magazines have a unique opportunity to shape the world of the teenage girl.
There isn’t an overabundance of magazines targeted to that age group so the magazines
that do exist are read by hundreds of thousands of girls. Changing their fiction to include
more non-traditional messages would show readers that there are options that women
are not confined to a few limited roles.”29

The teen population is growing at twice the rate of the rest of the country. There

are more adolescent readers and consumers between the ages of 13 and 19 than the

country has seen in two decades.30 And in 1996 this population spent $70 Billion.31

14

Seventeen and her advertisers want to keep this generation’s interest.32 Targeting these
consumers is no doubt a lucrative venture, but at what costs are young women
internalizing campaign messages that distort images- and limit roles- of women?

A 1982 study in Britain marks the beginning of research specifically focused on
the area of teenage magazines. A. McRobbie used J_ac_ki§, a British teen magazine, in a
content analysis. She found that a teenage girl’s main concerns were romance, beauty,
fashion and pop stars.33

In 1990 using a popular American teenage magazine Peirce also researched
content. She documented change in content over the years preceding and following the
early 19705 feminist movement. She chose Seventeen and issues from 1961, 1972 and
1985 and found that the women’s liberation movement may have had some effect on
content.

In 1972 there was an increase in the percentages that reflected content labeled as
“self-development” articles and a decrease in “male/female relations” articles. In 1985
the percentage of “self-development” and “male/female relations” articles dropped to
1961 rates.34 Table 1 displays all coded content based on the categories of “appearance,”

“home,” “male-female relations,” and “self-development” in percentage form.

Table 1

Percentage of Editorial Pages Given to Selected Topics in Seventeen
1961 1972 1985

Appearance 48.0% 52.0% 46.0%

Home 9.0% 10.0% 11.0%

Male-female relations 7.0% 2.7% 6.5%

Self-development 7.5% 16.6% 6.8%

Source: Kate Peirce, “A Feminist Theoretical Perspective on the Socialization of
Teenage Girls Through Seventeen Magazine,” Sex Roles, Vol. 23, (1990) 498.

15

Peirce also did an analysis of fiction content in Seventeen and Teen magazines in
1993. Results indicated that women characters were portrayed in dependent roles and that
occupations were segregated by gender. Peirce argued that Seventeen and Teen have a
responsibility to provide information that a young woman needs, including messages that
are not steeped in traditional ideology.35

She provides an operational definition of traditional socialization in the opening
of her research:

By age 17, the traditionally socialized teenage girl will
have learned, from many and varied sources, that how she
looks is more important than what she thinks, that her main
goal in life is to find a man to take care of her financially,
and that her place will be home with the kids and the
cooking and the housework, while his place will be
wherever he wants it to be. She will have learned, too, that
if she has to work (and it would certainly be better if she
didn’t), her job will not be as important as his, it will not
pay as much as his, and she will still be in charge of home
and kids. She will have been told that biological differences
necessitate these gender differences and her lesser status in
society.“

In 1996 Schlenker replicated Peirce’s longitudinal analysis, using the same
method but the years, 1945, 1955, 1965, 1975, 1985 and 1995. She wanted to extend the
research to examine the possible effects of an additional wave of feminism. She
hypothesized that there would be an increase in non-traditional messages after the early
19705 movement, a decrease during the conservative 19805, and a resurgence in the
19905, where she thought the “topics of day care, abortion, day care, and comparable
pay” had become major social issues.37

Schlenker’s research shadowed Peirce’s definitions of “traditional” and

“feminist.” Peirce describes “non-traditional” or feminist socialization as the following:

16

The non-traditionally socialized 17-year-old girl will have
learned the basic tenets of feminism — that biological
differences don’t explain all the differences in social status,
roles, and behavior; that these differences are socially
created and must be removed; that real differences
shouldn’t be grounds for assigning a lower status to female
attributes; and that women shouldn’t be urged to think that
they can find firlfillment only in relation to men and that
their identity is given to them by their appearance in the
eyes and minds of men.38

Schlenker’s findings indicated that there was a relationship between the content
of Seventeen, in terms of “feminist” vs. “traditional messages,” and the women’s
liberation movement. The percentage of “feminist” content, based on the combination of
the items coded in categories “self-development,” “career-development,” and
“political/world issues,” increased in 1975 and 1995. The content in 1985, although lower
than 1975, did not fall significantly compared to 1945 and 1955.39

Table 2
Content Analysis of Seventeen Magazine: 1945-1995

 

Traditional
Appearance 23% 43% 48% 3 5% 42% 45%
Male-female relations 17% 14% 13% 6% 13% 14%
Home 8% 17% 13% 19% 10% <1%
Total Traditional 48% 74% 74% 60% 60% 65%
Feminist

Self-development 32% 15% 17% 29% 23% 24%
Career development 13% 10% 8% 10% 12% 14%
Political/world issues 7% 1% 1% 1% < 1% 1%

 

Total Feminist 52% 26% 26% 40% 35% 40%

Source: Jennifer Schlenker, Sandra L. Caron, and William A. Halteman, “A
Feminist Analysis of Seventeen Magazine: Content Analysis from 1945 to 1995,”

Sex Roles, Vol. 38, (1998) 143.

17

A 1997 study, “Reflections of Girls in the Media,” conducted by the Henry J.
Kaiser Family Foundation and Children Now, examining how females are depicted in
television, movies and magazines, revealed similar results to research by Schlenker.40
Table 3 displays the results of the content analysis that reviewed S_assv, Seventeen. Teen,

and m. The percentages reflect the number of times each category appeared in the

magazines.
Table 3
Content Analysis Sassy, Seventeen, Teen, L1“.
Magazine Sassy, Seventeen, Teen, m
Appearance and Looks 37%
Fashion 32%
Dating 35%
Independence 3%

Note: Percentages do not add to 100% due to multiple topics covered in a single
magazine article

Source: Jennifer Christman, “Teen Zines Some Magazines Aimed at Today’s Youth
Are a Little Different From What You Grew Up With,” The Arkansas Democrat-
Gazette, 25 February 1998, p. F 1.

 

In regards to celebrity coverage in the same study researchers found that “20
percent of the articles focused on famous men while 14 percent focused on famous
women.”41 Every article given to coverage about men limits space that may be used to
highlight a mentor and role model who is female.

Although Schlenker’s study does not categorize celebrities her results in the area
of content focusing on appearance are as disturbing as those found in the Henry J. Kaiser
Family Foundation and Children Now research. Both studies reveal alarmingly high
percentages of content focusing on appearance, looks and fashion: Schlenker’s 45% in

1995, and H. J. K. Family Foundation and Children Now’s 69% in 1997.42

18

In a telephone conversation Peirce includes in her 1990 study, Seventeen’s
managing editor espouses the magazine’s commitment to the provision of information
that young women need to make educated decisions. “While the magazine is primarily
fashion and beauty, (its) editorial purpose is to inform, entertain, and give teenage girls
all the information they need to make sound choices in their lives.”43 However, the lack
of balanced content reflected in Schlenker’s study suggests that Seventeen’s stated
purpose is mere rhetoric.

Seventeen’s managing editor also explained that “the fashion and beauty sections
are “to make the girls feel good about themselves.”"4 In the last ten years almost well
over 40% of Seventeen’s content were articles about appearance. More than 90% of the 5
million Americans suffering from eating disorders are adolescents and young adult
women."5 With such information perhaps Seventeen needs to reconsider the amount of
content about “fashion and beauty” with which she provides her readers.

In a study of nine- to fifteen-year-old girls reported by the Harvard Eating
Disorders Center, more than 50% reported that they exercised to lose weight, and almost
half stated that they ate less to lose weight. One in 20 reported using diet pills or laxatives
to lose weight as well."6

One reason that adolescents and young women are “particularly vulnerable to
eating disorders is their tendency to go on strict diets to achieve an ideal figure.”47
Research has shown that such stringent dieting may trigger eating disorders.48 The
Harvard Eating Disorders Center reports that “three percent of adolescent and adult

women suffer from anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, or binge-eating disorder and

19

that 15 percent of young women have substantially disordered eating attitudes and

behaviors.“9
Anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and binge-eating disorder are diseases that

affect both the body and mind simultaneously. “A young woman with anorexia is 12

”5° and one in ten

times more likely to die than other women her age without anorexia,
cases of anorexia does lead to death. Starvation, cardiac arrest, other medical
complications and suicide are all potential deterrnents in such cases.5 1

Researchers have expressed concern about the images the media projects and the
potential influence they may have on “normal, healthy teens.”52 In Growing Up Female
in America, J. Mann discusses the problems of having “anorexic models in fashion
magazines and on television.’3 The women who are seen are often far below the normal
weight recommendations. “Measurements of Playboy magazine centerfolds and Miss
America contestants were compared between 1979 and 1988. While Playboy magazine
models remained at the same weight, the Miss America contestants decreased over the

”’4 Mann finds that the media produCes images of women in ways that imply

decade.
value only in terms of sexual objectification. She stresses the importance of
communicating the unhealthiness of these societal norms to teenage girls so distortions
may be challenged and young women realize the fallacy and connotations in “girls are
valued for looks and not for other things.”55
At the 1999 Michigan State University Alumni Association’s Kaleidoscope, a
conference targeted toward women and women’s interests, Delta Burke lamented over

the difficulties that exist when trying “to present teenagers with a sense of reality” when

“anorexic 14-year-olds who’ve been airbrushed” are splashed across the media.’6 Burke

20

who starred as Susanne Sugarbaker on “Designing Women” spoke of the weight gain
America witnessed from their living rooms and of the criticism and discrimination she
endured. She was concerned with the slenderness that the media continues to project as
the ideal but moreover, feels that, “our society seems to have made it open season on real
size women.”7

In 1995 Burke launched her own clothing line, the Delta Burke Collection and
Delta Blues Jeanswear, for women who wear size 14 and higher. And although the lines
have been “enthusiastically received by retailers and consumers,” they do not include
items for young women and children.58 Burke shared her own stories of females she
hasn’t yet reached —- girls who approach her in tears at fashion shows wondering if she
has any clothes for them and six-year-olds asking her if they are too fat.’9 Burke also
described her hospital visits to nine- and ten-year-old girls who had tried to commit
suicide, because they could no longer face their weight and the disease of anorexia or
bulimia nervosa.60

She criticized the media and the fashion industry for ignoring the size and needs
of women. “We truly live with the tyranny of the minority I don’t think the fashion
industry is addressing any of us properly.”61 Concluding her keynote speech, Burke
encouraged her audience to be vocal, because she said, the damage of media and the lack
of clothing options for real size women is “affecting us and our children.”62

With this testimony and previous research results, editorial staffs for all

magazines targeted at young women must reevaluate the potential destructiveness of

appearance based content.

21

For Peirce postulates that teenage girls may indeed be dependent on teen
magazines for information, that “girls can’t find as much material targeted to them in any
other medium.”63 She believes that teens are still trying to figure out how to live in the
world and suggests that the dependency on teenage targeted magazines and a fluctuating
social reality may contribute to an increased level of message receptiveness.64

Although research does not reflect balanced coverage in terms of content that in
study’s were labeled “traditional” and “feminist,” items documented as such are present.
There are indications that teen-age girls are receiving both messages, and there is concern
at large about what that may mean.

Avoiding a comprehensive semantic debate on positions within the women’s
liberation movement and the definition of who “a feminist” is, emphasis instead will be
placed on one basic theme that is repeated in feminist literature, and that concerns a
woman’s conscious “choice.”

Betty Friedan, author of Feminine Mystique, much to the chagrin of some radical-
feminists, acknowledges that the women’s liberation movement must include “family,

”65

children, and a woman’s need for intimacy in the 19905, and Susan Bordo, author of

Unbflable W_eig1_1t: Feminism, Western Culture. an_d lbs 5263!, does not believe that
feminist cultural criticism should be a “blueprint for the conduct of personal life.”66
Feminist cultural criticism, Bordo asserts, “does not empower (or require)
individuals to ‘rise above’ their culture or become martyrs to feminist ideals. It does not
tell us what to do Its goal is edification and understanding, enhanced consciousness of

the power, complexity, and systemic nature of culture, the interconnected webs of its

functioning.”67 Bordo feels the individual must choose “how, when, and where (or

22

whether) to put that understanding to firrther use, in the particular, complicated, and ever-
changing context that is his or her life and no one else’s.”68 She believes that in this
culture of mystification, increasing one’s awareness and raising one’s conscious is a
“tremendous achievement,” because feminist cultural criticism can not eradicate the
complexities of a woman’s role in our society, and it “cannot magically lift us into a
transcendent realm of immunity to cultural images.”69
In her description of feminism and the “liberal feminist” Peirce reflects some of
what Bordo contends about the role of feminist cultural criticism. Acknowledging that
“feminists themselves do not agree on the definition of feminism, the roots of gender

”70 Peirce places feminists into

differences, or the solutions to the problems of women,
three categories: liberal, socialist and radical. She writes that, “the liberal feminist
believes that liberation for women is the freedom to determine their own social role and
to compete with men on terms that are equal as possible?” The liberal feminist is also
supportive of- and works for- legislation that creates and changes laws that effect equal
pay and employment.72

The socialist feminist, as described by Peirce, is a woman who believes women’s
oppression is a “function of the socioeconomic system and argues for comprehensive
changes throughout society to eliminate hierarchies of value and divisions of labor by
class and gender.”73

In contrast, the radical feminist believes that “control over women’s reproductive
systems is the root of women’s Oppression,” and that a “biological revolution” that

embraces test-tube babies and sperm banks must take place. Some radical feminists also

renounce associations with men entirely and suggest that women must become lesbians."

23

Whereas radical feminism seems to be less about “choice,” liberal and socialist
feminism certainly is. Liberal feminists are more likely to embrace a woman’s conscious
choice to stay at home and raise her children than socialists feminists, but the latter does
focus on social change as it relates to gender roles, and such emphasis reflects a
foundation based on the recognition of the need for options and opportunities, i.e.
“choice.” Equal pay and employment, maternity and paternity leaves, and a national day
care program would all become decisive elements in a woman’s decision to embrace a
career, a family or both.

Author of The Lipstick Proviso: Women, & gm Power i the Real World,

 

Karen Lehrman best encapsulates the meaning and living of feminism.
Feminism is simply about equal rights and equal
opportunities: ‘How women exercise those rights and what
they decide to do with their opportunities — these are
matters of personal choice’ Feminism must treat each
woman as a unique individual: She may be a corporate
raider or a full-time mother, may ‘wear slinky dresses and
heels or baggy overalls and combat boots Women don’t
have to sacrifice their individuality, or even their femininity
— whatever it means to each of them — to be equal. ’7’

In their 1996 study, “Being Female in the Eighties and Nineties: Conflicts
Between New Opportunities and Traditional Expectations Among White, Middle Class,
Heterosexual College Women, Lesley Novack and David Novack explore the idea that
“females are presented with conflicting images which nurture new career-related
expectations while simultaneously stressing traditional expressions of femininity,
especially, marriage and motherhood.”76

Their research investigates “the dynamics of conflicting demands on young

women” through a survey about the attitudes college women have gleaned concerning

24

responsibilities toward young children and perceived degree of liberalism-conservatism
pertaining to the place of women in society.”77
Novack and Novack believe that, “(m)any young women are exposed to cultural
images which support new career-related options while also emphasizing traditional
expressions of femininity, especially marriage and motherhood.”78 The researchers seem
concerned about the experiences women may have because of the possible consequences
of this “lag.” They speculate about the conflict women may experience as internal
contradictions arise in their own attitudes and expectations. “(Women) may be dedicated
to establishing a career but find that their deep moral commitment to staying at home
with their new born and young children will jeopardize chances for upward mobility.”79
Novack and Novack contend that a woman’s happiness is at least marginally
“contingent on society providing a support system” for her if she chooses to earn an
income and raise a family.80 They cite the lack of a national day care program and
established policies that would provide paid maternity and paternity leaves as examples
that the American community has yet to embrace the woman who has both a job and
children.81 These support systems are crucial when women comprise of almost 50% of
America’s workforce and three of every four married women work outside their home.82
The increased presence of women in occupational and educational environments
has changed the landscapes of higher education and corporate America over the last thirty
years. In 1950 college populations were only 30% female, but by 1980 the percentage
had risen to over 50%.83 This participation in higher education however, does not directly

translate to women’s positions in America’s workforce. “Most women, of all racial

backgrounds, find themselves occupying service and domestic positions historically

25

associated with their gender and which, not coincidentally offer the lowest wages.”84

Novack and Novack note for an example that, “98% of secretaries continue to be
female.”85
Of the respondents in this study 80% of the men and women planned on pursuing
an advanced degree. This interest by the majority of participants would indicate that these
students, particularly women, plan “to take advantage of the opportunities available to
them.”86
But 97% of the women also intend to marry and most, 72%, plan to have
children. Moreover, 67% of the females and 84% of the males believe that the mother
should stay at home and care for her child during the “first few months.”87 “Not only do
two-thirds of the women appear to experience the traditional pull of motherhood, but
future male spouses believe even more strongly that the women belong at home.”88 Table

4 displays the percentages of the participants’ responses to whether or not the mother

should stay at home and/or make her own choice about that decision.

Table 4
Career-Related Attitudes and Gender

Male Female
Mother home with child
Strongly believe should stay home 69.0% 52.6%
Somewhat believe should stay at home 14.5% 14.4%
Somewhat believe should make own choice 8.4% 9.3%
Strongly believe should make own choice 8.1% 23.7%

Source: Lesley Lazin Novack and David R. Novack, “Being Female in the Eighties
and Nineties: Conflict Between New Opportunities and Traditional Expectations
Among White, Middle Class, Heterosexual College Women,” Sex Roles, Vol. 35,
(1996) 66.

26

In terms of maternal obligations in the context of commitment to marriage and
career, responses from the men revealed that 70% (71.8 marriage orientation and 69.3
career orientation) were in strong support of the mother staying at home and not
participating in the choice about her child’s care. The 70% assigned to “strongly believe
(mother) should stay home” are reflective of all the male participants in this study, those
of both stated marriage and career orientations.89 Responses from study participants
about whether or not they would choose marriage over a career (marriage) or a career

over marriage (career) established the “marriage” and “career” orientations.

Table 5
Career-Related Attitudes, Gender, and Career Versus Marriage

Marriage Career

Male Female Male Female

Mother home with child
Strongly believe should stay home 71.8% 65.0% 69.3% 41.5%

Somewhat believe should stay home 10.3% 12.0% 14.9% 16.9%

Somewhat believe should make
own choice 9.4% 11.0% 8.2% 9.3%

Strongly believe should make

ownchoice 8.5% 12.0% 7.6% 32.3%

Source: Lesley Lazin Novack and David R. Novack, “Being Female in the Eighties
and Nineties: Conflict Between New Opportunities and Traditional Expectations
Among White, Middle Class, Heterosexual College Women,” Sex Roles, Vol. 35,

(1996) 68.

Women who self identified as “liberal” in this study are the ones, Novack and
Novack speculate, would be more likely to pursue careers. However, 41.8% of these
“liberal” women believe that mothers should stay home and take of their children and

“another 13.6% somewhat believe that they should not be given a choice.”90

27

Table 6
Career-Related Attitudes, Gender, and Position on Role of Women in Society

Position on Role of Women

Traditional Liberal

Male Female Male Female
Mother home with child
Strongly believe should stay home 80.4% 64.6% 50.0% 41.8%
Somewhat believe should stay home 12.9% 13.4% 16.4% 13.6%
Somewhat believe should make
own choice 4.3% 11.0% 13.0% 8.2%
Strongly believe should make
own choice 2.4% 11.0% 20.6% 36.4%

Source: Lesley Lazin Novack and David R. Novack, “Being Female in the Eighties
and Nineties: Conflict Between New Opportunities and Traditional Expectations
Among White, Middle Class, Heterosexual College Women,” Sex Roles, Vol. 35,

(1996) 71.

These results reveal that there are “potential inner conflicts that the females may
possibly experience. Many of the women who are oriented toward careers and who view
themselves as liberal simultaneously express very traditional attitudes with regard to

maternal obligations.”91

Novack and Novack believe that without established social systems, that would
provide support for a dual role, young women will find themselves on an “internal
collision course”92 as they attempt to negotiate a path for both career and family.

“The crucial point that must be made is that modern women receive mixed
messages. They are told that they can be whatever they want to be, while they are
simultaneously sent subliminal messages espousing the virtues of traditional femininity,

which may lead to lower self esteem and less satisfaction.”93

28

The findings in attitudinal survey and magazine content research, the possible
internal conflict women may experience over pursuing careers and motherhood, and the
relationship of dependency in which women may participate with their magazines,

reinforce the need for this analysis.

29

Those Beautiful Black Pearls

It is through the black woman
that we are able to see the
true reflections of the black man

Her vision becomes his reality,
As we rise together.

The black woman’s commitment
has been forever strong in
making the permanent.

Her faith has made him seek
dignity within himself.

Her efforts to uplift him has
made him rise to his greatest strength,

And her love has enshrouded him
in the light of hope destined
for the future of our people.

With the highest gratitude and respect we give thanks and
praise to these beautiful black women who:

motivated us to act,

inspired us to think,

and uplifted us to see

the true reflections of ourselves

as the proud black men of the unshakable race.

Peace unto your hearts, minds and souls.

- Dedicated by the Mr. University
Contestants, found in the Black
Caucus room, Yakeley Hall,
Michigan State University

“Until the killing of Black mothers’ sons
becomes as important to the rest of this country
as the killing of white mothers’ sons,

we who believe in freedom can not rest.”

- Ella Baker

30

Essence

In Unbearable ill/Light; Feminism, Western Culture, m mg m, Bordo also
explores the multiple layers of oppression that women in the African American
community endure. “The black woman carries a triple burden of negative bodily
associations.“ By virtue of her sex, she represents the temptations of the flesh and the
source of man’s moral downfall. By virtue of her race, she is instinctual animal,
undeserving of privacy and undemanding of respect. And by virtue of her history a slave
— a piece of property “to be taken and used at will.”95

The “jezebel” and the “mammy” are two images of the stereotyped African
American woman that are reflective of this multi-layered system of oppression. The
“jezebel,” usually a fair-skinned or mulatto woman depicted as “a shapely seductress who
uses her sexuality to get her way,” and the “mammy,” a woman who is usually a “servant

3,96

responsible for domestic duties and rearing children and portrayed as the “antithesis of

American standards of beauty — overweight, with exaggerated buttocks and breasts and

”97 are products of the media and institutional oppression.

wearing a head rag,
Institutional oppression occurs when within institutional arrangements of a
society one group benefits at the expense of another. Manifestations of institutional
oppression appear in language, media, economics, education and religion.98
The Aunt Jemima trademark with a life span of over one hundred years is an

illustration of institutional oppression. Black women in America have been represented

by this “mammy” image for decades.

31

Co-owner of Pearl Milling Company, Chris L. Rutt, developed the idea for Aunt
Jemima after seeing Baker and Farrell, a team of black faced comedians, perform “a
jazzy, rhythmic New Orleans-style cakewalk”99 to a tune originally called “Old Aunt
Jemima.” The comedians wore aprons and red bandannas, items “reminiscent of the

”‘00 in their number. From 1890 when the trademark was

traditional southern cook,
registered to 1964 the image of “mammy” was perpetuated through Aunt Jemima
products and integrated101 into the culture of American consumers.

During this time period four women portrayed Aunt Jemima to promote the
company’s product line. At the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago Nancy
Green “sang songs and told stories of the Old South while greeting fair visitors.”102 She
served more than a million pancakes and generated 50,000 orders for Aunt Jemima
Pancake Mix. “’3

In 1926 the company was sold to Quaker Oats who kept the Aunt Jemima
trademark and in 1933 found 350-pound Anna Robinson in to impersonate “mammy.”
Photographs of Robinson making pancakes with “the stars” were used to promote Aunt
Jemima. The campaign was so successfill that officials at Quaker Oats decided to

”’04 to paint

commission “Haddon Sunblom, a nationally known commercial artist
Robinson. The new portrait featured a heavier and darker Aunt Jemima, and the Quaker
Oats’ Aunt Jemima product line was then redesigned to reflect the new likeness. "’5
From 1948-1964 Quaker Oats used Edith Wilson to continue their advertising
campaign, this time utilizing radio and television along with personal appearances to

promote their product line across the country. Wilson was the last portrait on Aunt

Jemima products that reflected a real person. "’6

32

Concurrently, from 1957-1964 Aylene Lewis was playing “mammy” at
Disneyland in the Aunt Jemima Kitchen. “Clad in her bandanna and matching skirt and

”107

shawl, Lewis posed for pictures with many visitors, and received letters “‘from all

over the world, in all languages and from all races and creeds.”’108
This “mammy” image was used until the mid-19605 and recognized worldwide.
Blacks may have been freed from slavery for 100 years but here they still “found

”‘09 that Pearl Milling

themselves bound by invisible chains forged by distorted images
Company and Quaker Oats projected about them. The manufacturers saturated the market
with images of Aunt Jemima and Americans internalized her as a symbol reflective of
African American women.

This integration “had a profound impact on the image that blacks had of
themselves and of the image whites had of blacks.”1 1° Black women identified
themselves within the confinements of a low economic status “ —— though free they were
slaves to a symbol. The ‘mammy’ phenomenon kept black women in the plantation
kitchen.” 1 l 1

In her dissertation, “An Analysis of the Visual Development of a Stereotype: The
Media’s Portrayal of Mammy and Aunt Jemima as Symbols of Black Womanhood,”
assistant professor of sociology at Ohio State University, Karen Jewell, asserts that “these
images perpetuated stereotypes that have ultimately been assigned to all black women
regardless of social class, financial stability or age.”112

The Aunt Jemima product line was discontinued during the Civil Rights

Movement “because of objections made from blacks who viewed the images as virulent.

These items of material culture gave a physical reality to ideas of racial inferiority. They

33

were props that helped reinforce the racist ideology that emerged after
Reconstruction.”113 The products had contributed to the relegation of “blacks to
subservient positions in society and promulgated the fact that not only were blacks
second class citizens, but proud of it, documented by the black, clownlike caricatures
who were always smiling.””4 .
Noted columnist William Rasberry appears skeptical about the reality of such
institutional oppression. He does observe that if the Aunt Jemima trademark were
introduced in contemporary society opposition would be present and the image would
“probably be labeled as Offensive,”“5 but states that, “the trademark was never that
tenibly offensive in the first place.”116 Rasberry also notes that Quaker Oats has adjusted
to changes in society and modified the symbol when black consumers objected to it.”117
The opposition during the Civil Rights Movement resulted in a younger Aunt
Jemima who was 100 pounds lighter and whose bandanna was replaced with a
headband.118 However, not until 1989, one hundred years after the concept was
developed, was Aunt Jemima raised from the Reconstruction period and placed in
Contemporary society. In April of 1989, finally, all reminders of a “mammy’s” “kerchief

r”119 were removed and in its place soft, gray-streaked hair

to hide her nappy hai
appeared. Pearl earrings along with a lace collar were added as well. no

Over the years most consumers did not even consider the potential ramifications
of the image, the myth it perpetrated or its sequential effect on the psyche and status of

121

black women. The images were “so familiar that few people had any notion that they

degraded black Americans.””2

34

Rasberry contends that one of the reasons for the product’s longevity was the
logo’s life span. He purports that because Aunt Jemima was so familiar to the American
consumer its distorted image of African American women was never deliberated.
Rasberry explains that with familiarity comes “innocuousness.”123 Familiarity, however,
does not excuse a century of subconscious discrimination.

Joseph Borkin, a noted historian, asserts that “once a stereotype of a group is
solidly etched into American folklore, it becomes permanently ‘imbedded in people’s
minds and profoundly affects thoughts and actions.””2" The chief problem with
stereotypes of ethnic. and racial groups is that “one character is allowed to stand for a
whole diverse collection of human beings.”125

Although advertisers perpetuate this process they are also products of its
influence. Writer Marilyn Kem-Foxworth asserts that for years advertisers, conditioned
to view all African American women through the ”mammy’ image, dismissed a
“potentially lucrative market — black women/women of color.”126 Kem-Foxworth
explains that “(Advertisers) didn’t think black women had enough money to purchase the
products being advertised and they didn’t think black women were pretty enough to
be used in advertising campaigns.”127 Not until the 19805 were black women used to
“advertise mainstream health and beauty aid products.”128 An interesting oversight when
“black women currently spend $600 million annually on color cosmetics and

”’29 and spend five times more than the average consumer on personal care

foundation
products. Kern-Foxworth believes that this market remains untapped. She asserts that
myths about black women have superseded market research that would study this target

audience. 13°

35

This example seems to be a manifestation of Kem-Foxworth’s contention that,
“(s)tereotypes associated with blacks, earlier versions of Aunt Jemima among them, may
have been influential in developing behavior patterns exhibited by dominant groups
toward blacks the only contact many whites had with blacks was their exposure to
these advertisements. Such depictions perpetuated discrimination against blacks and the
‘mammy’ image reinforced by Aunt Jemima offered a one dimensional view of black

”131

women.

Offering multi-dimensional views of black women and transcending institutional

oppression is a role Essence has an opportunity to embrace for the stereotypes of

 

“mammy” were not perpetuated by Quaker Oats alone.

With the medium of television the image of “mammy” jumped from the grocery
store shelves into living rooms, and “jezebel” joined her.

The physical manifestation of “mammy’s” role changed in size from sitcom to
sitcom but the nature of her role did not. “Good Times’,” Esther Rolle played by Florida
Evans was originally responsible for the domestic duties of a white household; “Gimme a
Br ’s” Nell Carter was a live-in housekeeper for a single white father and his children;
and although, Marla Gibbs worked for other Afiican Americans on “The J effersons,” she
was still their housekeeper and embodied the image of “mammy” — a nurturing woman
“good at comforting and taking care of others, but also verbally aggressive.”m'

The image of ‘jezebel appeared in sitcoms as well. Sandra Clark played by Jackeé
Harry on “227” exemplifies the stereotyped image of the “jezebel.” The image Jewell
believes, reinforces “cultural stereotypes regarding the supposed hyper-sexuality of

African-American women.”133

36

White producers, Jewell notes, are not the only ones exploiting this myth. Keenen
Ivory and Damon Wayans’s comedy show “In Living Color,” contains negative imagery
of African-American women as well. ’34

Jewell contends that the media’s stereotypical portrayal of these women has “real-
life consequences. ‘It affects how the majority culture treats black women. As a result of
media images, many people have inaccurate and negative expectations about how
African-American women should act and look. Only when these stereotypical images are
replaced with more accurate representations will we see changes in societal perceptions
and expectations of African-American women.”’135

Jewell does cite examples of television series that provide a “new and positive
image of African-American women.”136 “The Cosby Show,” “The Fresh Prince of Bell
Air,” and “Roe” are programs that do not “demean black females,” however, she feels the
new roles and images on these shows are still “overshadowed by the traditional, negative
images which remain.”137

Jewell does not mention “Living Single,” which 1e_t magazine touts as the first
sitcom to showcase “four upwardly mobile Black women, who provide positive images
by displaying their professional, elegant and intellectual sides while keeping the laughs
going.”138 The program is set in New York City and stars Kim Fields, Queen Latifah,
Kim Coles and Erika Alexander. Alexander in an interview with Jet said: “All the woman
are professional or entrepreneurs. We’ve never seen a show where women are all young
and making it in New York City. The characters dress well and are well spoken and

intelligent.”139

37

Whereas consensus may be absent in terms of unilateral agreement with Jewell,
an obvious need for more positive role models in the media for African American women
is apparent if a century of stereotyped image based discrimination is to be countered.

In terms of physical appearance some black adolescent females embrace the black
images they see on television, because viewing women of all sizes in the media reassures
them about their own bodies.

Ayanna Doms, a young black student told interviewer John Stossel in the ABC
report, “Common Sense with John Stossel,” that “she and other young ladies like her
have a greater comfort level with their bodies because of black images on television. ‘We
just see people like Oprah and Kim Fields from “Living Single” and people who are just
naturally bigger and plus we get that positive energy fi'om Black males.”140 Full figure
model Lisa Scott, agreed with Doms’ comment on the opposite sex, “African-American
guys don’t mind a little meat on the bones. They love it.”Ml

ABC’s report highlighted research that recently concluded, “Black female
adolescents are happier with their bodies than their White counterparts.”142 The study,
“Body Image and Weight Concern among African American and White Adolescent
Females: Differences that Make a Difference,” conducted by researchers at the University
of Arizona found that “Black women, who tend to be ‘thick,’ or well endowed with
ample hips and thighs, were happier with their bodies than White woman who often
starve themselves bone thin.”143

Results of the study revealed that “while ninety percent of White teen-age girls

were unhappy with their bodies, Black girls weren’t,” and that 70% (of the black

adolescent females) “liked the way they looked.”144

38

The white girls in the study perceived dieting and being thin as the “ideal” method
“to achieving a more perfect life” which included “winning friends and getting attention
from boys.”145 Conversely, the black girls who participated in the study perceived
achieving a dynamic personality, rather than particular physical attributes, as the “ideal”
method “to achieve a more perfect life.”146
Reports of positive self-images from Afiican American girls are encouraging, but
Bordo maintains that eating disorders transcend ethnic and racial boundaries. She
confi'onts eating disorders from multi-ethnic and multi-racial perspectives. “The equation
of slenderness and success in this culture continually undermines the preservation of
alternative ideals of beauty. The legacy of reverence for the zaftig body has not protected
Jewish women from eating disorders; the possibility of greater upward mobility is now
having a similar effect on young Afiican American women, as the numerous diet and
exercise features appearing in Essence magazine make clear. To imagine that Afiican
American women are immune to the standards of slenderness that reign today is,
moreover, to come very close to the racist notion that the art and glamour — the culture
— of femininity belong to the white woman alone “5,147
Bordo illuminates the struggle one African American woman endured as she
fought her weight and body image:
‘Fat is a black woman’s issue, too,’ insisted the author of a
1990 Essence article, bitterly criticizing the high-school
guidance counselor who had told her she did not have to
wony about managing her weight because ‘black women
aren’t seen as sex objects but as women. So, really you’re
lucky because you can go beyond the stereotypes of woman
as sex object Also, fat (women) are more acceptable in
the black community.’ Apparently, as the author notes, the

guidance counselor had herself not ‘gone beyond’
stereotypes of maternal desexualized Mammy as the

39

prototype of black womanhood. Saddled with these

projected racial notions, the young woman, who had

struggled with compulsive eating and yo-yo dieting for

years was left alone to deal with an eating disorder that she

wasn’t ‘supposed’ to have. ’48
The guidance counselor mentions that “fat (women) are more acceptable in the black
community,” and Bordo concedes that “a case could once he made for a contrast between
(middle-class, heterosexual) white women’s obsessive relations with food and a more
accepting attitude toward women’s appetites within African American communities.”149
However, in the 19905, she states, that articles on dieting and exercising and “body-image
problems” have become more prominent in magazines targeted toward African American
readers. 15°

Bordo feels that this growth reflects “the cultural reality that for most women

today--whatever their racial or ethnic identity, and increasingly across class and sexual-

orientation differences as well — free and easy relations with food are at best a relic of

the past. (More frequently in Essence than in Cosmo, there may be a focus on health

 

problems associated with overweight among African Americans, in addition to the
glamorization of slenderness.”’51
Whereas Essence is marked in these excerpts as a medium that provides

information on dieting, exercise and problems with body image, the magazine also
provides content that reflects positive diversified messages about black women.
Unfortunately, the messages of self-acceptance that Essence tries to send and reinforce
are often undermined by the advertisements on which it is dependent:

Essence magazine has consciously and strenuously tried to

promote diverse images of black strength, beauty, and self-

acceptance. Beauty features celebrate the glory of black
skin and lush lips; other departments feature interviews

40

with accomplished black women writers, activists, teachers,
many of whom display styles of body and dress that
challenge the hegemony of white Anglo-Saxon standards.
The magazine’s advertisers, however, continually play
upon and perpetuate consumers’ feelings of inadequacy and
insecurity over the racial characteristics of their bodies.
They insist that, in order to be beautifirl, hair must be
straightened and eyes lightened; they almost always
employ models with fair skin, Anglo-Saxon features, and
“hair that moves,” ensuring association of their products
with fantasies of becoming what the white culture most
prizes and rewards This invitation to cognitive
dissonance reveals what Essence must grapple with, in
every issue, as it tries to keep its message to African
American self-acceptance clear and dominant, while
submitting to economic necessities on which its survival
depends.1 2

 

Battling the messages of advertisers appears to be an inherent struggle for the
black community. Advertising’s assault on the black community fires from grocery
shelves and glossy pages, but even as consumers can avoid food products that exploit
their heritage or magazine content that sparks cognitive dissonance, they can not
dismantle giant billboards that saturate their neighborhoods. “Black neighborhoods are
rampant with billboards and a probe of the Detroit Planning Commission found that 55 to
58 percent of billboards in poor neighborhood(s) advertise two substances, cigarettes and
alcohol?”3 Manufacturers of these substances have been targeting the black consumer
for years and promoting their products through “contributions to black social, cultural
and community-oriented events, issues and causes. Philip Morris and R]. Reynolds gave
over $2.4 million and $1.9 million respectively, in 1987 to minority groups.””4

Black community members find themselves in a bind, because “most black

publications would have to cease publication if they denied these advertisers access to

their periodicals.”155 Publications are often the most utilized resource by black

41

individuals to gain information about important issues and events in their community.
Contentions have been made that because of such tenuous business relationships and the
correlations between blacks and “incidences of tobacco related cancer and cirrhosis of the
liver caused by alcohol consumption at rates 25 to 58 percent higher than whites, support
given by these firms to black organizations amount(s) to ‘philanthropic genocide. ”"56
A seemingly much less harmful advertising campaign, the “‘Jell-O’ Heritage”
series, created by General Foods to reach African American consumers by promoting
historically black colleges with their product, still damages members of the black 1
community. With its total lack of gender equality the advertising series becomes another
example of institutional oppression. This potentially positive campaign becomes
disturbing when no females are portrayed as the “students discovering their black
heritage (or learning how to rely on convenience foods!) at college?”7 Bordo recognizes
the possibility that the “‘Jell-O’ Heritage” series may be “exploiting contemporary
notions that the ‘crisis in black manhood’ is the fault of black women and identifying its
products with an imagined world in which opportunities for black men go hand in hand
with ‘natural,’ prefeminist gender relations. Black men will find their way to college, it is
suggested, so long as women remain in the background, encouraging and supporting
rather than competing and undermining.”158
The absence of females speaks as loudly to women as those images that are
distorted representations of their culture. And the implications surrounding the forfeit of a

woman’s chance to pursue a higher education so that her male counterpart may instead

are terrifying. 1”

42

MHREHHE

;.- MC‘MNVHW-

mun It 7‘ ‘ {if-5‘3 CUP? l'.._“ - -
. .v in"??? ‘v ' ‘ > , ”I J r.t-‘--"E.'zl=°.

3522;; WWW”; ’

 

Figure l

“‘Jell-O’ Heritage” Series Advertisement by General Foods

43

In 1993-94 a nationwide survey found that “20 percent of blacks believed that
black women should eschew positions of political leadership so as not to ‘undermine’
black men. And whereas 63 percent supported black feminists, 29 percent thought that
‘feminist groups just divide the black community.”160 Even with the lack of
representation in the “‘Jell-O’ Heritage” campaign and lack of support for the
advancement of women from their own community black women are graduating and are
succeeding.

More black women than black men attend college and work as professionals.
“An analysis of data from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission by The Wall
Street Journal in 1992 put the ratio at 1.8 to 13”“ However, the wages black women are
making are disconcerting.

The National Organization for Women President Patricia Ireland explains that
after years of trying to “break through the glass ceiling, women are still working more
than three extra months to catch up with men.”162 Ireland believes that as women move
onto the “top floors of major cooperations” and into “skilled craft positions, the gap will
finally close.”"53 Among other official priorities the National Organization for Women
campaigns for “an amendment to the US. Constitution that will guarantee equal rights
for women” and for “economic equality for women?“4 The organization has also been
working actively to end wage discrimination since the organization’s inception in 1966,
but the closing of the gap over the last thirty years is attributed mostly to men’s falling
earnings rather than an increase in women’s earnings.“5 Table 7 shows the 1996 median

annual earnings for full-time female employees who work year-round.

44

Table 7
Women’s Pay in the USA
1996 Median Annual Earnings of Year-Round, Full-Time Workers

Women earn $.74 for every $1.00 earned by men
African American Women earn $.67 for every $1.00 earned by men

Source: National Organization for Women. http://www.now.org/

Examples of institutional and economic oppression through advertising and
television images, and wage discrimination offers compelling evidence for the
investigation into a black woman’s reality. Her survival and the resources to which she
turns while living under these multiple layers of oppression are significant. Black

publications, like Essence may block new discoveries with traditional rhetoric or link

 

women to innovative avenues of liberation.

This analysis will offer insight into the content with which Essence fills her pages

 

and the hearts and minds of her readers.

45

But let there be spaces in your togetherness,
And let the winds of the heavens dance between you

Love one another, but make not a bond of love:

Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores
of your souls.

Fill each other’s cup but drink not from one cup.

Give one another of your bread but eat not from the
same loaf.

Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let
each one of you be alone,

Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they
quiver with the same music

Give your hearts, but not into each other’s keeping.
For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts.
And stand together yet not too near together:
For the pillars of the temple stand apart,
And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in

each other’s shadow.

- Kahlil Gibran, _7_h_e Prophet

Redbook

F ifty years ago many companies refused to hire married women “as a matter of

policy.”“’6 Between the 19505 and 19805 minimal change occurred in the nature of work

experience for married women and the wage gap remained fixed. Additionally, breadth of

67
o.1

I occupational segregation in 1970 mirrored the divide in 190 At the turn of the

century women comprised only 15% of the labor force and barely over 25% in 1950.168

And long after women gained the right to vote they still found themselves excluded by

schools and labor unions. “’9

46

A disturbing court case tried in 1994 exposes the discrimination that married
women have suffered and continue to face in the culture of America’s workforce and the
power prejudice holds over them, altering careers and changing lives.

Eleanor Jackson Piel, a solo practitioner from New York, “never doubted that
Vassar College had denied tenure to her client, assistant biology professor Cynthia
Fisher, because Fisher was a married woman.”170 Her concern rested in whether or not a
court would accept that “the denial violated federal civil rights law.”171

On May 16, 1994, New York senior US. district judge Constance Baker Motley
believed Piel’s contention and issued an order establishing that “if sex plus some other
characteristic results in discrimination against one sex, then Title VII (of the Civil Rights
Act of 1964) is violated.”172 Judge Motley’s order also criticized Vassar College’s
biology department for accepting the stereotype and bias that “a married woman with an
active and ongoing family life cannot be a productive scientist and, therefore, is not one
despite much evidence to the contrary.“73 Piel presented comparisons of classroom
teaching reviews, published scholarly articles and grant applications —— all of which
revealed Fisher’s achievements “to be equal to or better than those of the tenured
professors.”’74

In her opinion, Judge Motley declared that Fisher was entitled to reinstatement at
Vassar. A social worker at the time of the decision, Fisher commented that she intended
to return to the college. Unfortunately, Piel’s and Fisher’s struggle against institutional
Oppression may not end with Judge Motley, for Vassar’s regular counsel, John Donoghue

of New York’s Anderson, Banks, Curan and Donoghue, said he is “relatively certain”

that Vassar College will appeal the judge’s “stunning order, which he asserts is

47

‘inconsistent with what Vassar is.”175 Donoghue seems incredulous of Vassar’s
discrimination against Fisher. I-Iis denial that oppression exists, even at Vassar, is as
disheartening as the reality that discrimination exists.

Today, although more than 50% of all married women are working,176 and some
external barriers to advancement are splintering, many women are confi'onted with other

9,, 6‘

forms of discrimination: “ dirty jokes at the office177 , conceptions of female
workers as marginal and transient178 ”; “ social norms which dictate what jobs are
deemed appropriate179 ”; lack of opportunities in job placement and advancement that
require a commute180 ; and internal conflict or cognitive dissonance, because of

”’8’ and their dual commitment to a career and family. ’82

“gendered familial roles
Research indicates that the proportion of working married women with children
under the age of six has increased from 16% in 1956 to 54% in 1998.183 As married
women continue to join the workforce the bi-directional relationship of work-life and
family-life acquire new practical and theoretical significance. The importance of this
transition and its occupational and familial relationship rests in the assigned
responsibilities of new and old Obligations. Although women are pursuing the demanding
new role of ‘employee,’ they are typically not experiencing any freedom to relinquish
their traditional role. “For instance, the major responsibility for household work and
parenting chores still appears to be the province of women and the cultural definition of
women’s primary role as that of ‘mother’ is as much a reality today as it was in 1979
when Russo discussed the ‘motherhood mandate,’ the notion that women are seen as

”184

fulfilled adults only when they have children.

48

Consequently, many women confront what Donald Campbell, Kathleen Campbell
and Daniel Kennard call in “The Effects of Family Responsibilities on the Work

1’ 6‘

Commitment and Job Performance of Non-Professional Women role expansion.”
Campbell, Campbell and Kennard contend that “such expansion has potential
repercussions for the women themselves; their families; and for their employing
institutions.”185 Their research suggests that the women suffer from varying degrees of
role conflict and stress as “they struggle to fulfill multiple obligations.” Families as well
are “often subject to increased stress as new role relationships have to be negotiated and
refined.”’86

Researchers are finding that while married women put more total work hours in
both their jobs and their home, “than they used to, their husbands don’t.”187 Economist
Allen M. Parkman of the University of New Mexico asks, “If wives are working harder
why aren’t their husbands helping out more at home?”188

Lehrman believes that working through personal relationships with men is as
important to the advancement of women and the feminist movement as social and
political change. “The primary problem for most American women today isn’t how
society deals with women, it’s how individual men do — and how women let them get
away with it.”189 Women, Lehrman writes, should demand equality, emotional support,
and balanced and equitable housework and child care.190

These issues are affecting the majority. In a 1990 Virginia Slims poll, 57% of the

women respondents stated that they preferred a lifestyle that included a career, marriage

and children. ’9’ Also, statistics fiom the 1992 Bureau of Labor Statistics indicated that in

49

55% of the 52 million married couples in the United States “both spouses worked outside
the home.”

Preference and increased family income have been reasons attributed to women
entering the work force by increasing degrees, but Parkman believes that the high
incidence of divorce in this country is related to women’s work decisions. 192 The
economist notes that “many working wives now come fi'om higher-income households,
and a big chunk of their added earnings is often eaten up by taxes, child care, and work-
related expenses — sharply reducing the immediate economic gain.”193 His research
indicates that a correlation exists with the advent of no-fault divorce. He argues that prior
to 1970 needing cooperation from a spouse to obtain a divorce “provided nonworking
wives with strong leverage to secure decent divorce settlements.” However, by 1985
every state had adopted a no-fault, unilateral, non-consensual divorce laws, and “many
wives losing that ‘leverage’ “sought outside work to protect themselves from economic
hardship in the event of a divorce.”194

Analyzing nationwide survey data from 1981 helped Parkman form his
conclusion. He found that not only were women who lived in states with no-fault divorce
more likely to work outside the home, but they also invested significantly more hours of
total work per week.195

William Galston, a professor in the School of Public Affairs and Director of the
Institute for PhilOSOphy and Public Policy at the University of Maryland, asserts that
these no-fault divorce laws and their consequences are negatively affecting “women

who’ve made long term commitments to traditional marriages.”196 In 1999 during his

presentation on “Maniage and The Family” at The Lefrak Forum and The Symposium on

50

Science, Reason, and Modern Democracy at Michigan State University, Galston stated
that this “new regime” of divorce law favors the economically independent more than the
dependent, and that the former position translates most often to that of the man and the
latter to the woman. He believes that “low barriers to exit produce a larger number of
departures.”197 With well over 40% of all marriages in America ending in divorce,198
Galston’s observations seem to be substantiated.

Questions about the possibly inferred defeatist nature of this dialogue within a
larger discussion of marriage might have validity; however, if one truly considers the
reality of America’s alarmingly high divorce rate such challenges become moot points.
For if a married woman thinks of herself and her two closest friends, she will realize that
at least one of their marriages, perhaps her own, will end in divorce. Galston adds
complexity to the issue by asserting that for families to merely survive economically in
the 215t century they will need two incomes. A two-parent household will become a
necessity. ‘99

With the oppression and potential instability women face on the job and in the
home, one would hope that magazines dedicated to serving women in these positions
would provide them with information about resources promoting alternatives, embracing
choice and advocating change. Unfortunately, research focusing on women’s magazines
found other messages.

Brake’s findings, that teenage articles focus on romantic attachment, dependency
on men and physical beauty,200 are not unlike those found in a 1975 content analysis by
Helen Franzwa. After reviewing 122 stories fiom Good Housekrgpflg, m H_o_m_e

Journal and McCalls F ranzwa found two major themes:

 

51

1. marriage is inevitable for every normal female and for
those who want to bring it about more quickly

2. to catch a man you must be less competent than he,
passive and virtuous

“Specifically, the only pursuit a woman was interested in was finding a husband.”201 A
few articles portrayed talented, successful women, but the protagonist was unfirlfilled,
because she didn’t have a man. There were no stories of what Franzwa called a “well-
adjusted woman.”202
Other research, particularly a study conducted by Virginia Kidd, provides little
evidence of change over the past thirty years where roles of women were concerned.
Kidd’s research documents two “visions” concerning interpersonal communication, both
of which oppress the woman in her role as homemaker and wife. Kidd opens her study,
“Happily Ever After and Other Relationship Styles: Advice on Interpersonal Relations in
Popular Magazines, 1951-1973,” by acknowledging the power of media messages. “Mass
media (has) become the ‘authority of the transcript’; they provide what Walter Lippman
termed ‘pictures in our heads — pictures which are representations of the real world.’203
Through these representations a composite image of ‘reality’ is constructed, a rhetorical

”204

vision which has its base not so much in ‘reality’ as in rhetoric. Kidd contends that

popular magazines play an important role in projecting and reinforcing “rhetorical
visions.”2°5
Two rhetorical visions were documented in her study. Vision 1 dramas
communicated traditional ideology concerning sex roles, presenting “the woman as the
passive homemaker and the man as the aggressive breadwinner.”206 Vision 11 dramas

presented readers with negotiation techniques for relationships, rather than “specific

standards” of roles that would produce amicability in relationships?”

52

Vision I dominated content in the 19505 and early 19605 but also appeared
throughout the study which ended in 1973. Vision 11 emerged sporadically in the early
19605, gained prominence in the late sixties and held a ‘major position’ in the early
19705.

The magazines Kidd analyzed included but were not limited to the following:

Coronet, Cosmopolitan, Ebony, Esquire, Newsweek. New York Times Magazine,

 

Redbook, Reader’s Digest, Seventeen, and Life.208 Kidd found that the dramas in these

 

magazines reflected the ideology that the man should be the breadwinner and the woman
the home- and peace- maker, in Vision I and Vision 11, respectively. Vision 1 dramas
dictated that females and males “behave according to traditional patterns, and when one
did not do so it was not the pattern but the individual’s sexuality that was at fault.”209
“So pervasive was this standard as a basis for relationships that Robert Coughlan
could write in Life, 1956, of the violation of the norm. In New York City the ‘career
woman’ can be seen in fullest bloom and it is not irrelevant that New York City also has
the greatest concentration of psychiatrists.”210 Responding to this commentary, Kidd
writes that during this time any deviation from traditional rOles “literally communicated
emotional problems.”211 Coughlan also assigns212 a mental health position to the woman
who is a working wife. “She may find many satisfactions in her job, but the chances are
that she, her husband and her children will suffer psychological damage, and that she will
he basically an unhappy woman.”213
The emotional welfare of the entire familial unit seems to be the responsibility of

the female in the household. This implied unilateral responsibility only reemerges in a

more covert forms in the quasi-progressive dramas of Vision 11. In the dramas the “we

53

”214

can talk it out” theme becomes paramount. Vision 11 also equated “talking about

”215

problems with resolution of problems, — a dangerous misrepresentation of conflict in

reality.

Magazine content targeted women as the initiators in these supposedly bi-
directional exchanges. And in doing so assigned the role of accountability to women, and
therefore, implicated them in communication failure if compromise and/or resolution
were not reached. Responsibility for initiating conversations about relationship problems
was clearly ascribed to the woman.

Articles were generally slanted toward the woman reader,
accenting the woman’s role in the dramas presented. The
extension of this journalistic slanting is that articles taken
as a whole seem to be suggesting that the woman bears a
greater responsibility in human relations than does her male
counterpart. Dramas in both visions featured examples of
how women could resolve problems and how women could
interpret behavior. The modeling process provided by these
dramas left little doubt as to who bore the responsibility for
solving relationship difficulties or enhancing relationships

in general, and implied by the absence of modeling

examples that the male’s responsibility was negligible.216

A 1977 study on the portrayals of women’s roles in non-fiction in Mademoiselle,
M_s. and Redbook by Carole Newkirk yielded similar results. There were few changes in
the roles and interests of the women who were portrayed in non-fiction articles.217
Newkirk designed the study to review two separate time periods, 1966-1971 and 1972-
1974. Her interest rested in the postulation that media reflects societal issues.

Mademoiselle, M5. and Redbook claimed to “portray today’s woman,” and
Newkirk, questioning their purported inclusiveness chose for her analysis a time period

that spanned the inception and growth of the 19605 women’s liberation. As the first

54

publication of m did not appear until 1972, only Mademoiselle and Redbook were
reviewed in the first sample.218

Newkirk used the following labels and activities to help her code the roles of
women: Women portrayed as “wives, mothers and/or homemakers,” were coded
“domestic.” Women who were employed in either part or firll time positions as
volunteers, social activists or paid workers were coded “non-domestic,” and women who
were “pursuing their own goals and ambitions,” were coded “self identity.”219

From 1966-1971 and 1972-1974 Redbook more consistently generated content
that portrayed women in domestic roles than Mademoiselle. Table 8 reflects the number
of items found in each category: “non-domestic,” “domestic,” “self-identity,” and
“professional and managerial,” for each specified time period.

Table 8

Roles of Women in Mademoiselle and Redbook
during 1966-1971 and 1972-1974

1966-1971 1972-1974
Mademoiselle Redbook Mademoiselle Redbook

Non-domestic 19a 8a 9 9
Domestic 5a 45ac 2b 19bc
Self Identity 7 10 6 10
Professional 12a la 8 2
and Managerial

Note: Values with same subscript, as you read horizontally, are significantly
different from each other.

Source: Carol Newkirk, “Female Roles in Non-Fiction of Three Women’s
Magazines,” Journalism Quarterly, Vol. 54, (1977) 780.

55

However, Redbook led the other two magazines in content reflecting women in
“self-identity” roles. Perhaps not as surprising, Mi which was created as a “cause”
magazine produced the most content on women in the role of social activist.220

Overall, Newkirk’s findings show that, “Mademoiselle has most consistently
presented a balanced image of woman as homemaker, career person and individual. My
definitely supports employed women, social change and self-identity. Redbook is most

conservative and most supportive of motherhood.”221

Table 9

Frequency Distribution of Roles Appearing in Mademoiselle, Redbook,
and _M_s., During 1972-1974

1972-1974
Roles Mademoiselle Redbook &
Non-domestic 9 10 37*
Self Identity 6 10 8
Social Activist Mademoiselle and Redbook 32*

5 combined total

Professional Mademoiselle and Redbook 9
and Managerial 10 combined total

*p<.01, using Chi Square test.

Source: Carol Newkirk, “Female Roles in Non-Fiction of Three Women’s

Magazines,” Journalism Quarterly, Vol. 54, (1977) 781.

Based on Newkirk’s results these magazines failed to accurately reflect the
traditional and expanding roles of women in the late sixties and early seventies. If

Mademoiselle and Redbook wanted to provide content applicable to the needs of “today’s

56

woman” then they needed to increase their portrayals of the “non-domestic” role and M_s_.
needed to include material for women who choose222 to participate in a “domestic” role.
Finally, in a review of fiction and advertising in Ladies Home Journal, N. Roberts
compared early 19605 issues with issues from the late 19705 (before and after the
feminist wave of the early 19705). “Results indicated that fiction remained the same
between the two periods, while advertising showed a change with more non-domestic,
active, nontraditional portrayals of women in the second period than the first.”223
Contemporary feminism seems to embrace all roles women consciously choose to
adopt, however, research on women’s magazines reveal a much less inclusive agenda.

Redbook as well as Seventeen and Essence have the opportunity to truly celebrate all

women and their personal and role identities.

57

iv

Identity

Since the late 19605 research on self-esteem, self-concept and positive self-
identities has revealed that, “positive self-regard and a valued personal identity are
critical components of a well developed person.”224 Researchers purport that attaining a
positive and valued self-concept may be “more difficult for women and minorities
because of the negative portrayals of these groups in the media, unequal educational and
business opportunities, disproportionate representation in the government, and the
like.”225

In their study “Feminist Identity Development: Psychometric Analyses of Two
Feminist Scales,” Elena Gerstmann and Deirdre Kramer documented the reliability and
validity of feminist identity scales by administering questionnaires to students in a
general psychology and women’s studies class. The questionnaires measured the
Downing and Roush Feminist Identity Development Model.226

The five level model moves from a position of passive acceptance in viewing
society to one that involves “an active commitment to feminist ideals.”227 Consistent with
other models the Downing and Roush model assumes points of regression will occur
where movement through previous levels begins to affect further advancement and/or
analysis of prevenient positions may need to be addressed and then processed in order to
progress. Additionally, progression from stage to stage is determined “not only by the

woman’s readiness, but also by the unique interpersonal and environmental context of her

life ”228

58

Passive Acceptance is the first level of the Downing and Roush model. A woman
at Level One does not perceive the sexism that exists in society. “She either does not
recognize it or she denies that discrimination and prejudice exist at the individual,
institutional, and cultural levels of society.”229

Level Two, Revelation, “begins with crisis, or a set of crises, about reality and
gender issues that are inconsistent with her view of reality and can no longer be
ignored.”230 Anger is the feeling most associated with this stage for as a woman confronts
her reality she feels disillusioned and “misled by society.” Her anger may lead her “to
view most men as negative and most women as positive.”23 1

Level Three contains two phases, Embeddedness and Emanation, The definitive
element of embeddedness is a woman’s attempt to “embed” herself in the culture of
women. A woman identifying with this stage may take a women’s studies course or
explore manifestations of women’s oppression in art, theater or music. The second phase
of this stage, Emanation, “involves the realization that one’s total withdrawal from
mainstream society may have little effect on the dominant culture.”232 Also, during this
phase a woman may realize the rigidity of her past belief system in the Passive
Acceptance stage and of her current system of thought in the Emanation phase.233

Synthesis marks Level Four, and reflects women who unite the “positive aspects

”234 (“Comfortableness”

of being female” with “authentic, comfortable feminist identity.
seems to imply an absence of the cognitive dissonance experienced in Level Two and
Level Three or at least the existence of conflict within an experience of less intensity in

terms of the dissonance. Although in our culture “female” is often linked 23’ to

59

femininity. This stage of managing dissonance subsequently allows a woman to embrace

these two potentially dichotomized positions, “female,” and “feminist identity.”236)

A Level Four woman “begins to make decisions based on a new value system that can

incorporate both the positive and negative values and intentions embedded within

”237

existing social structure. She perceives both the individual and the system as well as

their co-existence and can evaluate people within that structure.238

The final level, Level Five, is Active Commitment in which the woman commits
herself to the process of actively pursuing and creating a more egalitarian society.239

These levels of feminist identity are reflective of similar changes that occur in
social-cognitive development models. William Perry’s theory of intellectual and ethical
development mirrors to some degree the cognitive development model that Kramer
constructed. Kramer believes “an individual proceeds through the following levels of
thought: Absolute, Relativistic, and Dialectical levels, which correspond roughly to
Perry’s dualistic, multiplicity, and commitment within relativism phases.”24° Kramer
offers operational definitions for the intellectual development stages of her model:

Absolute thinking is both reductionist and dualistic. It rests
on the belief that reality is a stable and knowable entity. An
absolute thought pattern would involve the search for the
‘correct’ answer that can be found when the person,
problem or scenario is broken down into its raw
components and put into its proper category and/or studied
in a reductionist manner. Relativistic thinking, on the other
hand, assumes reality cannot be construed or constructed in
an absolute manner because it is always changing and
knowledge of it does not exist apart from its context. The
world is seen as potentially unstable and inherently
unknowable through direct perception. Thus, knowledge is
inherently subjective and existing in a state of flux. Lastly,
Dialectical thinking develops out of the previous two
cognitive levels and addresses the need to commit, despite
pluralism, to a framework that one can evaluate on different

60

levels. Knowledge is seen as continually evolving as

contradictions in one’s experience are synthesized into

dialectical wholes characterized by emergence, reciprocity,

and interdependence.241

Gerstmann and Kramer explain the related shifts in Downing and Roush’s

feminist identity development model, Kramer’s cognitive development model and Perry’s
intellectual and ethical development theory. “Absolute thinking, by definition, underlies
the Passive Acceptance and Revelation levels, Relativism begins to emerge within and
further fosters Embededness-Emanation, and Dialectical thinking allows for the
9,242

dialectical synthesis necessary to achieve a synthesis in one’s feminist identity.

In Forms O_f Intellectual QC! Ethical Development i_n th_e College Years - A

 

_S_chgm_e Perry writes that “(a) sense of identity seems to require some feeling of
continuity in what ‘I’ know and what ‘I’ value If one comes to look upon all knowing
and all valuing as contingent on context, and if one is then confronted with an infinite
universe of potential context for truth and care, one is threatened with loss of identity If
one construes knowledge and values as relativistic, one is therefore threatened with the
possibility of humanly unbearable disorientation.”243 His study follows the intellectual
and ethical development of students over a four-year period through annual interviews.
He documents their movement along his model“ as they struggle to advance from
dualistic thinking patterns to ones requiring commitment and the acknowledgment of
multiplicity and relativity. Without this commitment to identity, Perry postulates, that an
individual may remain an opportunist who manipulates the reality of relativism.

Perry, Gerstmann and Kramer imply through their studies that accepting and
creating an identity is important in terms of self-development. Results of Gerstmann’s

and Kramer’s study indicate that the two feminist identity scales, the Feminist Identity

61

Development Scale and the Feminist Identity Scale, they analyzed revealed “high internal
consistency, high test-retest reliability and (were) free of social desirability
influences?” More importantly however, is the difference their study revealed between
the general psychology students and the women’s studies students. What Gerstmann and
Kramer used merely as a tool to measure the scales’ effectiveness in terms of construct
validity, is of the utmost importance to women’s roles of identity and this thesis. Over the
course of a semester the women’s studies students increased their levels of feminist
identity -— the general psychology students did not.246

The exposure to women’s and issues and the education about women’s history
appear to have affected the cognitive and identity development of the students in the
women’s studies course. The power of this information seems apparent.

Seventeen, Essence and Redbook garner the same power as that collegiate
classroom. Each magazine purports to provide useful information for women. But how
much of their content reflects the needs ofa woman’s holistic development, which
includes her identification process as a feminist? For claiming such an identity at Level
Four, Synthesis, facilitates an understanding of her self, her community and her choices.

Seventeen, Essence and Redbook need not establish campaigns that tout self
actualization in terms of Active Commitment (Level Five), but they should move toward
creating more inclusive content to offer more perspective on identity development.

A wonderfill and powerful opportunity exists for all these publications but in
particular Seventeen. In their study “Adolescent Female Identity Development” L. Jean
Lytle, Linda Bakken and Charles Romig present substantive reasoning for the struggle

women face in cultivating an identity. “Adolescents have been reared by parents and

62

media that continue to reinforce sex-typed behaviors of aggression and autonomy for
boys; nurturant, emotional, and passive behavior for girls. This gender-role stereotyping
instills the fear of social isolation and abandonment in women which exacerbates the
difficulties of achieving a balanced identity.”247

If women can face the crises within the Revelation stage during adolescence or
young adulthood, their chances for completing Synthesis, and internalizing a
comprehension of “choice” and “roles” increases exponentially as they encounter new
experiences. The question is whether or not the content in these women’s magazines is
inclusive enough to facilitate such intellectual development.

Gertsmann has acknowledged that the context of a woman’s life also influences
her movement through these stages. Using content as a catalyst to develop a working
vocabulary for young women, women of color and married women will only empower
them and lend them insight into their current position and opportunity for change and/or
re-commitment.

One of Lehrmans’ major themes addressed in The Lipstick Proviso concerns the
personal choices of the women and their choice about identity within feminism.
“(C)ompleting the feminist revolution is largely up to women themselves: it primarily
involves completing their own personal evolutions.”248 Personal evolution may include a
marriage, or a career or both. Lehrman also stresses the importance emotional
independence and self-confidence, the very entities that Gerstmann and Kramer stated

may be undermined in the culture of minorities and women because of the negative

messages they receive about themselves from the media. This process, however, will only

63

come to fruition if women are “actively committed” to their own journeys and not
“passively accepting” the ones assigned to them.

Seventeen. Essence and Redbook must aid women in the process of developing
and nurturing healthy identities. If these magazines truly serve their women in the way
Redbook’s editor-in-chief Lesley Jane Seymour wants, “as a girlfriend,”249 then they
assume a responsibility and an obligation to support, not undermine, the development of

a woman — including her self-esteem, self-concept and self-worth.

64

Hypotheses

The purpose of this content analysis is to document the type of material that

structures Seventeen, Essence and Redbook and to evaluate any changes that may ocCur

 

in that content over time and among the three magazines.

Schlenker, who did an extension study based on Peirce’s research cites three
waves of feminism: the first wave reflecting the abolitionist conflict of the late 19305, the
second tied to the social reforms of the late 19605 and early 19705, and the third moving
through the 19905, “where topics of abortion, day care, and comparable pay have been
major social issues.”250 My hope is to document Schlenker’s assertion with evidence that
supports her hypothesis of a third wave of feminism.

The hypotheses state that there will be a higher percentage of “feminist” items
after 1990 in the two latter time periods, 1990-1994 and 1995-1998, when compared to
“feminist” items in the first time period, 1985-1989. The following eight statements are
the hypotheses for this study:

1. An analysis of the percentage of items about appearance,
(traditional items,) in Seventeen. Esseng: and Redbook will
yield a statistically significant higher percentage in the first
time period, 1985-1989, when compared to the results of the
latter two time periods, 1990-1994 and 1995-1998.

2. An analysis of the percentage of items about female-male
relations, (traditional items,) in Seventeen, Essence and
Redbopk will yield a statistically significant higher percentage
in the first time period, 1985-1989, when compared to the

results of the latter two time periods, 1990-1994 and 1995-
1 998.

 

65

3. An analysis of the percentage of items about self-
development, (feminist items,) in Seventeen, Essence and
Redbook will yield a statistically significant lower percentage
in the first time period, 1985-1989, when compared to the
results of the latter two time periods, 1990-1994 and 1995-
1998.

4. An analysis of the percentage of items about political and
social issues, (feminist items,) in Seventeen. Essence and
Redbook will yield a statistically significant lower percentage
in the first time period, 1985-1989, when compared to the
results of the latter two time periods, 1990-1994 and 1995-
1998.

The expectation is that a predominantly white, heterosexual, married women’s magazine
(Redbook) will follow and reinforce trends in content that a predominantly white,
heterosexual young women’s magazine (Seventeen) establishes. Although Essence
addresses women of color, expectations that content will differ significantly from that

which will be documented in Seventeen and Redbook are not present.

5. An analysis of the percentage of items about appearance,
(traditional items,) in Seventeen. Essence and Redbook will
not yield a statistically significant differences in a tri-
magazine comparison.

6. An analysis of the percentage of items about female-male
relations, (traditional items,) in Seventeen. Essence and
Redbook will not yield a statistically significant differences in
a tri-magazine comparison.

7. An analysis of the percentage of items about self-
development, (feminist items,) in Seventeen, Essence and
Redbook will not yield a statistically significant differences in
a tri-magazine comparison.

8. An analysis of the percentage of items about political and
social issues, (feminist items,) in Seventeen, Essence and
Redbook will not yield a statistically significant differences in
a tri-magazine comparison.

 

66

 

1 Mary Pipher, Ph.D., Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls.
Ballantine Books, New York, (1995).

2 Pipher, 21.
3 Michigan State University Safe Place, The Dating and Domestic Violence Program.
4 Ibid.

5 Elena A. Gerstmann and Deirdre A. Kramer, “Feminist Identity Development:
Psychometric Analyses of Two Feminist Identity Scales,” Sex Roles, Vol. 36 (1997) 328.

6 Pipher, 22.
7 Ibid.

3 Ibid, 66.

9 Pipher, 258.

1° Sarah Means, “Teen Magazines Challenge Sex Obsession; New Publications Echo
Right and Left,” The Washington Times, (Sept. 11, 1997) p. A2.

” Ibid.

'2 Pipher, 36.
‘3 Ibid, 39.

'4 Ibid, 22.

‘5 Ibid.

‘6 Ibid, 38.

‘7 Ibid, 82.

‘8 Ibid.

’9 Jane Brown, Kim Walsh and Cynthia Waszak, “Television and Adolescent Sexuality,”
Journal of Adolescent Health Cara, Vol. 62, (1990) 62.

2° Ibid, 63.

67

 

2‘ Ibid.

22 Ibid.

23 Pipher, 224.

2" Brown, 62.

2’ Ibid.

2" Pipher, 253.

27 Ibid, 42.

28 Jennifer Schlenker, Sandra L. Caron, and William A. Halteman, “A Feminist Analysis
of Seventeen Magazine: Content Analysis from 1945 to 1995,” Sex Roles, Vol. 38,
(1998) 136.

29 Ibid, 138.

3° Jennifer Christman, “Teen Zines Some Magazines Aimed at Today’s Youth Are a
Little Different From What You Grew Up With,” The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. 25
February 1998, p. F1.

31[bid

32 Ibid.

33 Kate Peirce, “A Feminist Theoretical Perspective on the Socialization of Teenage Girls
Through Seventeen Magazine,” Sex Roles, Vol. 23, (1990) 496.

3" Ibid, 491.
3’ Ibid.
3‘ Ibid.
37
Schlenker, 139.
’8 Peirce, 491.
39 Schlenker, 143.
’0 Christman, F1.

4‘ Ibid.

68

 

42 Ibid, and Schlenker, 143.
’3 Peirce, 497.
‘4 Ibid.

45 Mental Health Net. (Online) Available
http://www.mhnet.org/, April 20, 1999.

4" Harvard Eating Disorders Center. (Online) Available
http://www.hedc.org/, April 20, 1999.

47 Mental Health Net.

‘8 Ibid.

49 Harvard Eating Disorders Center.
5° Ibid.

5‘ Mental Health Net.

’2 Schlenker, 136.

53 Ibid,

5“ Ibid.

’5 Ibid.

’6 A speech by Delta Burke.
’7 Ibid.

‘8 Ibid,

’9 Ibid.

6" Ibid.

6‘ Ibid.

6’ Ibid.

63 Schlenker, 146.

69

 

6“ Ibid.

6’ Peirce, 494.
66 Bordo, 30.
67 Ibid.

63 Ibid.

‘9 Ibid.

70 Peirce, 492.
7‘ Ibid,

72 Ibid.

73 Ibid.

7" Peirce, 493.

7’ Cathy Young, “The Lipstick Proviso: Women, Sex and Power in the Real World,”
Reason, Vol. 29, (1997) 52.

7" Lesley Lazin Novack and David R. Novack, “Being Female in the Eighties and
Nineties: Conflict Between New Opportunities and Traditional Expectations Among
White, Middle Class, Heterosexual College Women,” Sex Roles, Vol. 35, (1996) 57.
7" Ibid.

73 Ibid, 62.

79 Ibid,

80 Novack, 61.

8‘ Ibid.

82 Robin Widgery, Madhuker G. Angur, and Rajan Nataraajan, “The Impact of
Employment Status on Married Women’s Perceptions of Advertising Message Appeals,

Journal of Advertising Research, Vol. 37, (1997) 54.

’9

‘3 Novack, 59.

7O

 

8“ Ibid.

8’ Ibid,

86 Novack, 65.
87 Ibid.

88 Ibid.

89 Novack, 66.
9° Ibid, 70.

9‘ Ibid, 72.

92 Ibid, 74.

93 Ibid, 73.

9" Bordo, 9.

9’ Ibid, 11.

9" “Black Women on TV Still Stereotyped,” USA Today (Magazine), (July 1993) p.7.
97 Ibid.

98 Michigan State University Department of Residence Life Training Manual for Lesbian,
Bi-sexual, Gay and Transgendered Concerns, 1998-99.

99 Marilyn Kent-Foxworth, “Plantation Kitchen to American Icon: Aunt Jemima;
Publicity and American Culture,” Public Relations Review. (Online) Available, Lexis-
Nexis, April 13, 1999.

‘°° Ibid.

'0’ Please read “insidiously integrated,” author’s bias.

102 Kent-Foxworth, 55.

"’3 Ibid.

”’4 Ibid.

“’5 Ibid.

71

 

"’6 Ibid.
"’7 Ibid,
"’8 Ibid.
“’9 Ibid.
“° Ibid.
“' Ibid
“2 Ibid.
“3 Ibid.
“4 Ibid,
“5 Ibid,
“6 Ibid.
“7 Ibid.
“8 Ibid.
“9 Ibid.
12° Ibid.
‘2‘ Ibid.
”2 Ibid.
”3 Ibid.
”4 Ibid.
”5 Ibid,
”6 Ibid.
‘27 Ibid.

”8 Ibid.

72

 

”9 Ibid.

13° Ibid,

‘3‘ Ibid.

‘32 “Black Women on TV Still Stereotyped,” p. 7.
‘33 Ibid.

‘34 Ibid.

‘3’ Ibid.

‘36 Ibid.

‘37 Ibid.

'38 “TV’s ‘Living Single Gives Positive Image of Black Women,” Je_t, (Oct. 4, 1993) 57.
‘39 Ibid.

”0 “A Study Reports Black Women Like Their Bodies and White WOmen Are
Unhappy,” Je_t, (July 31, 1995) 12.

‘4‘ Ibid.

”2 Ibid.

”3 Ibid.

”4 Ibid.

‘4’ Ibid.

”6 Ibid,

’47 Bordo, 63.
“8 Ibid.

”9 Ibid, 103.

"° Ibid,

73

 

‘5' Ibid.

”2 Bordo, 263.

’53 Kem-Foxworth, 55.

"4 Ibid.

1” Ibid.

”6 Ibid,

157 Bordo, 125.

"8 Ibid.

”9 Also infer “terrifying,” author’s bias.

16° Ellis Cose, “Black Men and Black Women,” Newsweek, (June 5, 1995) p.66.
‘6‘ Ibid.

’62 Christina Sciammacco. “Feminists Call for Closing of Wage Gap: Equal Pay Day
Shows Women Still Behind.” (Online) Available
http://www.now.org/nnt/05-98/wagegap.html, April 15, 1999.

'63 Ibid.

‘6‘ Ibid.

‘6’ Ibid.

’66 Young, 52.

’67 Sue Bowden, “UnderSLandingthe Gender Gap: An Economic History of American
Women,” Business History, Vol. 33 (1991) 122.

’68 Gary S. Becker, “How the Market Acted Affirmatively for Women,” Business Week,
(May 13, 1985) p16.

’69 Marianne A. Ferber, “In Defense of Affirmative Action,” I_ndustrial and La_bo_r
Relations Review. Vol. 50 (1997) 516.

17° Vera Titunik, “Exposing Discrimination Against Married Women,” The American
Lawyer, (July 1994/Aug. 1994) p. 33.

74

 

"1 Ibid.
”2 Ibid.
”3 Ibid.
”4 Ibid.
‘7’ Ibid.
’76 Becker, 16.
177 Young, 52.
”8 Titunik, 33.
”9 Ibid.

18° Thomas J. Cooke and Adrian J. Bailey, “Family Migration and the Employment of
Married Women and Men,” Economic Geography, Vol. 72 (1996) 38.

'3‘ Ibid,
’82 Young, 52.

’83 Daniel Seligman, “The Day Care Follies,” Fortune, (Feb. 15, 1988) p. 123.

 

’84 Donald J. Campbell, Kathleen M. Campbell and Daniel Kennard, “The Effects of
Family Responsibilities on the Work Commitment and Job Performance of Non-
Professional Women,” Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, Vol. 67
(1994) 283.

‘8’ Ibid.

‘86 Ibid,

'87 Gene Koretz, “Why Married Women Work,” Business Week, (Sept. 22 1997) p.26.
‘88 Ibid.

"’9 Young, 52.

19° Ibid.

’91 Widgery, 54.

75

 

'92 Koretz, 26.

‘93 Ibid.

‘94 Ibid.

'9’ Ibid.

’96 In The LeFrak Forum and Symposium on Science, Reason, and Modern Democracy,
Michigan State University, Morality and Public Life: Is America in Moral Decline?
Conference paper, session: Love and Marriage, by William Galston.

‘97 Ibid.

‘98 Ibid.

'99 Ibid.

’00 Schlenker, 136.

2‘” Ibid, 137.

202 Ibid.

203 Virginia Kidd, “Happily Ever After and Other Relationship Styles: Advice on
Interpersonal Relations in Popular Magazines, 1951-1973,” Qu_arterly Journal of Speech.
Vol. 61, (1975) 33.

2°“ Ibid.

20’ Ibid.

20‘ Kidd, 33.

2‘” Ibid, 35.

20“ Ibid, 33.

”9 Ibid.

21° Ibid.

2” Ibid.

212 Infer, “insults,” not “assigns,” author’s bias.

76

 

2‘3 Kidd, 33.
2” Ibid, 36.
2" Ibid, 37.

“6 Ibid, 38.

217 Carol Newkirk, “Female Roles in Non-Fiction of Three Women’s Magazines,”
Journalism Quarterly, Vol. 54, (1977) 780.

"8 Ibid.
“9 Ibid.
220 Newkirk, 782.
’2‘ Ibid.

222 “(C)hoose” is reflective of my idealistic hope that every woman will choose her own

path, instead of following, often submissively, one that has been chosen for her. I am,
however, aware that the reality presented to women in this country and around the world
is not congruent with my vision.

”3 Schlenker, 137.

22" Gerstmann, 328.

’2’ Ibid.

”6 Ibid.

”7 Ibid.

”8 Ibid,

”9 Ibid.

23° Ibid.

23‘ Ibid.

232 Ibid.

2” Ibid.

77

 

23" Ibid, 329.

23’ Read “ofien ‘corrosively’ linked,” as discussions about “femininity” and
“masculinity” according to Leslie F einberg, with whom I agree, are only usefirl when
discussing oppression. Linking or associating “female” with “feminine” only erodes the
advancements the women’s liberation movement has made — author’s bias.

23" Author’s note.

237 Gerstmann, 329.

23" Ibid.

2” Ibid.

24° Ibid.

2‘“ Ibid.

242 Ibid.

243 William Graves Perry, Forms of Intellectual and Ethical Development in the Collega
Years: A Scheme, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, New York, New York (1970) 134.

2"" Please see Appendix A.
24’ Gerstmann, 347.
24‘ Ibid.

247 L. Jean Lytle, Linda Bakken and Charles Romig, “Adolescent Female Identity
Development,” Sex Roles, Vol. 37 (1997) 182.

248 Young, 52.

249 Lisa Granatstein, “A New Redbook Juggler,” Mediaweek, (Online) Available, Lexis-
Nexis, February 1, 1999.

25" Schlenker, 139.

78

CHAPTER 2

Method

Peirce describes a liberal feminist as one who believes that “liberation for women
is the fi'eedom to determine (her) own social role and to compete with men on terms that
are as equal as possible.”1 She defined feminist messages as those that emphasize “taking
care of oneself, being independent, and not relying on a man for fulfillment or identity.”2
These concepts help define the category, “feminist.”

The “traditional” categorization is also based on Peirce’s conception and used by
Schlenker as well. Peirce defines traditional messages as those that concentrate on
appearance, looking good, and finding a man.3

Traditional messages stress the importance of appearance, beauty, finding a man
and being responsible for the maintenance/development of the relationship, being
identified as a unit of a relationship instead of an individual, being fulfilled solely by the
man in the relationship and what a woman can do for the man in the relationship.4 Kidd’s
observations are also incorporated in this description.

“Self-development,” conversely, stresses the importance of independence, self-
fulfillment, self-identity, taking care of oneself, and emphasizing shared responsibility in
the maintenance/development in relationships — a “feminist” concept.’

The spirit of these definitions dictates the structure of the four main areas of this

analysis. Schlenker’s research also prompts the combination of “appearance” and

“female/male relations,” and “self-development” and “political/social issues,” into two

79

categories -— the former combination receiving the label of “feminist,” the latter,
“traditional.” Tables for each time period will reflect this structure.

The following questions and operational definitions will be applied in the coding
process:

Coding Questions

1: This item is primarily, but perhaps not exclusively about:
0= appearance

1= female/male relations

2= self-development

3= political/social issues

4= other

2: This item is from the following magazine:
0= Seventeen

1= Essence

2= Redbook

3: Record the magazine’s date and month of publication.

4: Record the total number of items listed in the magazine’s table of contents.

Operational Definitions6

Appearance: makeup; hair, hair-cuts, hair-styles, nails; beauty products;
accessories; fashion, “Hollywood” fashion; fashion tips; newest trends in
accessories, fashion, decorating; shopping for clothes; how you look to others;
dieting, exercising to lose weight.

Female/Male relations: advice columns on female/male relations, finding a
boyfriend, dating, sex; fiction stories about female/male relations, dating, sex, love;
feature articles about female/male relations, dating, sex, love; how to articles: how
to please a boyfriend - emotionally, sexually, through planning, developing and
maintaining a relationship; how to keep a boyfriend; how to shop for a boyfriend;
entertaining a boyfriend; romance woes, how to evaluate a female/male relations,
development of female/male relations, (not quizzes) tips on how to improve,
change, fix female/male relations; feature article on a male in the entertainment
industry, “Hollywood” men, all men.

80

Self-development: mental, spiritual and physical health articles; personality
quizzes; best friend quizzes; familial and platonic relationship feature articles;
familial and platonic relationship fiction stories; entertaining family and friends;
mentors: leaders in a community or abroad, famous women;

education: getting good grades, studying, going to college;

career: choices, changing jobs, getting jobs;

money: investments, finances, management;

lifestyle: hobbies, cooking (not recipes), exercising (not to lose weight), reading,
books to read (not reviews); films to see (not reviews), travel, volunteerism,
community service; time/impression management.

Political/Social Issues: AIDS; environment; welfare; homophobia, heterosexism;
ageism; racism; relationship violence; international relations; war; political articles;
news items; articles on women abroad.

Each item will be coded using these definitions. Only editorial material will be
evaluated, therefore, advertising, horoscopes, recipes, reviews and any reader submitted
material, including letters, poetry and prose, will be excluded.

Seventeen. Essence and Redbook were chosen because of the spectrum of
readership they represent and the common bonds of oppression their readers endure.

The study is designed to document the content of women’s magazines in the
19905, and to discern if a change occurred in the content from the politically conservative
19805 to the 19905. Perhaps results from this analysis will substantiate Schlenker’s
assertion that a third wave of feminism began in the 19905.7

The fourteen years, from 1985-1998 are divided into two five-year and one four-
year period for analysis.

In terms of selecting the magazines for the analysis, Lacy’s, Riffe’s and Randle’s

“Sample Size in Multi-year Content Analysis of Monthly Consumer Magazines,” helped

dictate decisions. Their study compared simple random samples to stratified samples and

81

evaluated increasingly larger simple random samples by comparing them to calculated
population parameters, statistically.8

In the stratified sampling method, they took one issue randomly selected from all
issues of a particular month, and repeated the process until one issue over a five-year
period was randomly selected for each month. They created a sample size of 12, and a
constructed year.9 They found that this “constructed year sampling technique provided a
better estimate of magazine content from a five-year period than did the simple random
sampling.”10 In fact, “samples did not begin to consistently approximate the levels
predicted by Central Limits until the sample size reached 16.”11 Not only does the
stratified sample yield a better estimate of content, but takes fewer issues to do so.

Stratified sampling is used in this analysis to achieve a representative content
sample by constructing a year within each of the three time periods. The following table

reflects each constructed year for each magazine by time period:

82

Table 10
Items from Seventeen were selected from the following issues:

1985-1989

1985: April, June, November
1986: January, May

1987: July, August, September
1988: October

1989: February, March, December

1990-1994

1990: December

1991: March, November

1992: January, September

1993: February, April, May, July, August
1994: June, October

1995-1998

1995: January, March

1996: February, April, June, July, August, November, December
1997: May

1998: September, October

Items from Essence were selected from the following issues:

1985-1989

1985: January

1986: March, July

1987: February, November

1988: April, August, October, December
1989: May, June, September

 

1990-1994

1990: April, May, July, October
1991: December

1992: February, March, June
1993: January, August, November
1994: September

1995-1998

1995: January, February, March, April, June, July, January
1996: May, October

1997: August, November

1998: September

83

Items from Redbook were selected from the following issues:

1985-1989

1985: March, April

1986: July, November

1987: January, February, August, October
1988:June

1989: May, September, December

1990-1994

1990: February, June, August, November
1991: January, May, October, December
1992: March, April

1993: July

1994: September

1995-1998

1995: April

1996: October

1997: May, June, July, August, November, December
1998: January, February, March, September

The author and one independent coder completed all data collecting and coding.
To assess coding reliability sample issues were randomly selected using a random digit
table. This analysis strove for an 85% or higher intercoder reliability rate in the coder-
sample of magazine items. Coding followed each question in a series, with answers
recorded in numerical form. Coders applied the definitions from APPENDIX B to
establish reliability with a pretest of 59 sample magazines.12 The final analysis reflected
the coding of 108 magazines.

After establishing simple agreement, Scott’s Pi, “a test that looks at category
values and ‘corrects’ for chance agreement in computing a reliability assessment,”13 was
applied to the data to establish agreement including consideration of ‘chance.’ “Simple
agreement figures may be criticized as possibly over-inflating reliability because the

chances of accidentally agreeing increase as the number of coders decreases?” so

84

solving for the expected agreement by chance is important when only two coders are

present.

Table l 1

Simple Agreement and Agreement with Scott’s Pi on Content in
Seventeen, Essence and Redbook with Two Coders and Five Variables

Number of Units=59

 

 

Agreement
Variable Outcome Simple Scott’s Pi
Agree Disagree
v0: Appearance 51 8 .86 .77
v1: Female/Male Relations 52 7 .88 .80
v2: Self-Development 56 3 .95 .92
v3: Political/Social Issues 55 4 .93 .89
v4: Other 54 5 .92 .87
Total 268 27 .91 .85

EA=.39

The coders achieved an 85% overall reliability rate. Three variables “self-
development” (92%), “political/social issues” (89%), and “other” (87%) had an
agreement of over 85%. “Appearance” (77%), and “female/male relations” (80%),
however, did not. The coder and author discussed the discrepancies and decided that
some careless referrals to the operational definitions had occurred on the part of the
coder. Upon reviewing the definitions the coder conceded to having consistently
misinterpreted data that concerned the categories of both “appearance” and “female/male
relations.”

Confident in the definitions and their future application, and having established an
overall reliability rate of 85% and higher with three of the five variables, the author

moved forward to code the remaining of the 108 magazines.

85

In this analysis Z-tests were also applied. They were used to establish whether or
not the findings from the coding responses were statistically significant or due to
sampling error. Sampling error was calculated for each category, magazine and time
period. Z-tests were applied to each variable with each coded magazine so that the
process of analysis would include all possible pairings. Confidence intervals were

established for each of the categories: “appearance,” “female/male relations,” “self-

”15

,9 ‘6

development, political/social issues “ and “other.
Results that might reflect Peirce and Schlenker would be both reinforcing and
disturbing; reinforcing, because the chances of misinterpreting data would be less, but

disturbing, because of the absence of messages that would portray women as

independent, self-identifying individuals with choice.

86

 

1 Kate Peirce, “A Feminist Theoretical Perspective on the Socialization of Teenage Girls
Through Seventeen Magazine,” Sex Roles, Vol. 23, (1990) 492.

2 Peirce, 497.
3 Ibid, 491.

4 Ibid, 497.

5 Ibid.

6 This set of definitions is incomplete and only includes the four main areas in the
prevenient discussion. Please see Appendix C for the entire list.

7 Schlenker, 139.

8 Stephen Lacy, Daniel Riffe and Quint Randle, “Sample Size in Multi-year Content
Analysis of Monthly Consumer Magazines,” Jourratlism and Mass Communication
Qparterly, Vol. 75 (1998) 408-417.

9 Ibid.

1" Ibid.

“ Ibid.

'2 Daniel Riffe, Stephen Lacy and Frederick G. Fico, Analyzing Media Messagms Using
Quantitative Content mlysis in Resear_ch, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers,
New Jersey, (1998) 127.

‘3 Riffe, 129.

'4 Ibid, 128.

’5 Confidence intervals were established in each category as follows: “appearance,” with
agreement at .77 had an interval of $066, or 70.3-83.6, “female/male relations,” with
agreement at .80 had an interval of $063, or 73.6-86.3, “self-development,” with
agreement at .92 had an interval ofrt.042, or 87.7-96.2, “political/ social issues,” with

agreement at .89 had an interval of $049, or 84.0-93.9, and “other,” with agreement at
.87 had an interval of 212.053, or 81.6-92.3.

87

CHAPTER 3

Results

Created to substantiate Schlenker’s assertion that a third wave of feminism
exists,1 the following eight hypotheses were applied to this content analysis. The
hypotheses state that overall, a higher percentage of feminist items will be present after
1990 than before, i.e. 1985-1989.

This study provided data on magazine content in percentage form. Each item

listed in the table of contents of each magazine, Seventeen, Essence and Redbook, was

 

counted and then, those items that were congruent with the descriptions in the coding
procedure were documented and labeled as “appearance,” “female/male relations, “self-
development,” “political/social issues,” or “other.”

To assess statistical significance Z-tests were used. A Z-test was applied to every
variable with every magazine so that a three by three system would compute all possible
combinations. A sampling error or margin of error for each magazine in each category
from 1985-1989, 1990-1994 and 1995-1998 was also calculated.2 Sampling error is the
difference between the characteristics of a sample and the characteristics of the
population from which the sample was drawn. Sampling error determines how close
results from a sample are to a whole population.

From 1985-1989 Seventeen’s standard error for “total traditional” was i6.02%,

Essence’s i9.18%, and Redbook’s 18.25%. For “total feminist” the errors were i9.22%,

 

i8.25%, and $8.53% respectively, (See Table 12).

88

Results in “total traditional” from 1990-1994 produced a standard error of i7.85%

in Seventeen, ilO.27% in Essence, and 3:817 in Redbook. For “total feminist” Seventeen

 

yielded a standard error ofi9.8%, Essence an i8.31%, and Redbook a i7.9%, (See Table

 

13).
From 1995-1998 the standard error for “total traditional” for Seventeen was

i6.86%, for Essence i9.14%, and for Redbook :l:7.65%. For “total feminist” Seventeen’s

 

standard error was 21:9. 14%, Essence’s was 21:7.98%, and Redbook’s was 21:7 .61%, (See

 

Table 14).

Tables 12, 13, 14 and Figures 2, 3, 4, and 5 were constructed to complement the
summary of results. The hypotheses of the analysis and their corresponding results are
presented as follows:

The first hypothesis states that an analysis of the percentage of items about
appearance, (traditional items,) in Seventeen. Essence and Redbook will yield a
statistically significant higher percentage in the first time period, 1985-1989, when
compared to the results of the latter two time periods, 1990-1994 and 1995-1998.

The total percentage of messages about “appearance” in Seventeen fiom 1985-
1989 was 38%, from 1990-1994, 27% and fi'om 1995-1998, 33%, (See Figure 2). The
results support the first hypothesis. Although from 1995-1998 a marked increase was
shown in items about “appearance,” the percentage, 33% is still lower than the figure
from 1985-1989, 38%.

The content reflecting “appearance” in Essence was 21% fi'om 1985-1989 and

 

1990-1994 and 23% from 1995-1998, (See Figure 2). The hypothesis is not supported by

89

n 8:2...
86a 25... 3 sesame:
82-32 32-82 $2-32

diseased
“mammal”.— I
=l|io£=o>om D

 

8§§aa< mo moms—.020.— EoEoU .88.

the findings in Essence magazine. Essence maintains the same percentage of items about

 

 

“appearance” over the first two time periods and then increases coverage.

From 1985-1989 Redbook’s result reflecting content about “appearance” was
23%, from 1990-1994, 25%, and from 1995-1998, 26%, (See Figure 2). Results from
Redbook also do not support the first hypothesis. Redbook displayed a steady increase in
items reflecting content about “appearance.”

From 1985-1989 the differences in the category of “appearance” were found to be

statistically significant between Seventeen and Essence and Seventeen and Redbook.

 

The second hypothesis states that an analysis of the percentage of items about
female-male relations, (traditional items,) in Seventeen. Essence and Redbook will yield
a statistically significant higher percentage in the first time period, 1985-1989, when
compared to the results of the latter two time periods, 1990-1994 and 1995-1998.

For total percentage of messagesabout “female/male relations,” Seventeen’s
results yielded 10% from 1985-1989, 15% from 1990-1994, and 17% fi'om 1995-1998,
(See Figure 3). Seventeen’s percentages do not support the second hypothesis. The
magazine’s content rose in the number of items reflecting content about “female/male
relations” from 1985-1989 to 1990-1994 and from 1990-1994 to 1995-1998.

In M the category of “female/male relations” showed a result of 11% from
1985-1989, 7% from 1990-1994, and 8% from 1995-1998, (See Figure 3). Results from

Essence do not support the second hypothesis, as “female/male relations” items decreased

 

from 1985-1989 to 1990-1994, and increased by 1% from 1990-1994 to 1995-1998.

91

ieooaaom n...
owcwmmm I
floggiom n.

woo _ imam—

». use...
oer—om 08:. .3 $55.52
32-82

A...

2.233— ofizxofifiom mo momaucoohm 38:60 36,—.

33.33

 

“Female/male relations” totals for Redbook were 19% from 1985-1989, 16%
from 1990-1994, and 15% from 1995-1998, (See Figure 3). The second hypothesis is not
supported by the percentages in Redbook. There is a decrease in percentages about
“female/male relations” from 1985-1989 to 1990-1994 and from 1990-1994 to 1995-
1998, but the decline is not statistically significant. Statistically significant differences in
the category of “female/male relations” were not found among Seventeen. Essence and
Redbook in any time period.

The third hypothesis states that an analysis of the percentage of items about self-
development, (feminist items,) in Seventeen. Essence and Redbook will yield a
statistically significant lower percentage in the first time period, 1985-1989, when
compared to the results of the latter two time periods, 1990-1994 and 1995-1998.

From 1985-1989, 18% of Seventeen was coded “self-development,” from 1990-
1994 and from 1995-1998, 25% of the magazine was coded “self-development,” (See
Figure 4). Although Seventeen’s items about “self-development” were lower in the first
time period than in the latter two time periods, the differences fi'om 1985-1989 and from
1990-1994 are not statistically significant. The third hypothesis is not supported.

“Self-development” yielded a percentage of 37% from 1985-1989, 40% from

1990-1994, and 38% from 1995-1998 in Essence, (See Figure 4). Essence’s findings do

 

 

not support the third hypothesis. The number of items reflecting content on “self-

development” was lower from 1985-1989 than from 1990-1994, but the results are not

 

statistically significant . Essence also experienced an decrease in the same type of
content from 1995-1998, but her percentage still remains higher than the one recorded

from the first time period.

93

waging—

Salaam.
35.3w.-

j 25> B

 

v 2:9...
8.5.. sea. 3 8:543:
82.82 $2-82

afietuoorad

Eugene—059:3 mo moms—820m 28:60 .33.

94

Content reflecting “self-development” in Redbook was 38% of the magazine from
1985-1989, 41% from 1990-1994, and 38% again from 1995-1998, (See Figure 4). Even
though the percentage of content about “self-development” increases from 1985-1989 to
1990-1994, Redbook’s results from the first two time periods do not support the third
hypothesis, as the differences were not statistically significant.

The fourth hypothesis states that an analysis of the percentage of items about
“political and social issues,” (feminist items,) in Seventeen. Essence and Redbook will
yield a statistically significant lower percentage in the first time period, 1985-1989, when
compared to the results of the latter two time periods, 1990-1994 and 1995-1998.

The category of “political/social issues” reflected 3% of Seventeen from 1985-
1989, 2% of the magazine from 1990-1994 and 3% as well from 1995-1998, (See Figure
5). The results from Seventeen do not support the fourth hypothesis. The findings show a
decrease and then regression to the first period’s percentage. Also, the differences in the
findings in the category of “political/social issues” were not statistically significant.

Essence reflected “political/social issues” with 2% of her content from 1985-

 

1989, 3% from 1990-1994 and 3% fi'om 1995-1998, (See Figure 5). The percentages

reflecting content about “political/social issues” in Essence do not support the fourth

 

hypothesis, as the differences were not statistically significant.

In Redbook the percentages of “political/social issues” were 1% from 1985-1989,
3% from 1990-1994, and 4% from 1995-1998, (See Figure 5). There was a lower
percentage for items about “political/social issues” from 1985-1989 than from either

1990-1994 or 1995-1998, and these findings from Redbook might appear to support the

95

jgem
amm-
gn—

 

m 8.3....
eocoa sea. B 8:582
82-32 $2.82 32.32

afimuaored

8:3— Eoomfiogom mo moms—.023 E880 «Sou.

96

fourth hypothesis, however, statistical significance was not found in any results from the
“political/social issues” category; consequently, the fourth hypothesis was not supported.

Although no corresponding hypothesis exists, the following are the results of the
category, “other,” which includes e. g. car tips, “Hollywood gossip” and gift making ideas
and guides, and in-house contests, surveys and results. “Other” was 8% of the Seventeen
from 1985-1989, and 6% of the magazine from 1990-1994 and 1995-1998.

In Essence “other” was coded as 1% of the content from 1985-1989, 2% from

 

1990-1994, and 1% from 1995-1998.

The category of “other” comprised 4% ofRedbook from 1985-1989, 3% from
1990-1994, and 3% from 1995-1998.

The expectation that there would be no statistically significant differences among
the three magazines in the aforementioned areas of study dictated hypotheses five
through eight. Although targeting different audiences, Redbook was expected to reinforce
trends in Seventeen as both magazines focus predominantly on white, upper to middle

class, heterosexual women. Essence although focused on women of color in a similar

 

socioeconomic status was expected to follow a similar trend.
Z-tests were applied to each variable with each coded magazine so that the
process of analysis would include all possible pairings and confidence intervals were

established for each category.

97

Table 12

Total Coded Content in Percentages from Seventeen, Essence and Redbook

 

 

 

During 1985-1989
1985-1989
Seventeen Essence Redbook

Traditional

Appearance (210) 38%ac (76) 21 %a (76) 23%c

Female/Male Relations (55) 10% (38) 11% (65) 19%
(S.S.) Total Traditional (265) 48%g (114) 32%gi (141) 42%i
S.E. (16.02) (i918) (i825)
Feminist

Self-Development (97) 18%jl (l 34) 37 %j (127) 38%]

Political/Social Issues (16) 3% (7) 2% (5) 1%
(S.S.) Total Feminist (113) 21 %pr (141) 39%p (132) 39%r
S.E. (£9.22) (i825) ($8.53)
Other (43) 8% (5) 1% (13) 4%
p<.05

Notes: Percentages do not total 100% because only items perceived to be editorial

material were considered for this analysis.

Values with the same subscript are significantly different from each other when

read horizontally.

“S.S.” denotes Sample Size and “SE,” Standard Error.

98

Table 13

Total Coded Content in Percentages from Seventeen, Essence and Redbook

During 1990-1994

 

 

 

1990-1994
Seventeen Essence Redbook

Traditional

Appearance (99) 27% (67) 21% (87) 25%

Female/Male Relations (57) 15% (24) 7% (57) 16%
(S.S.) Total Traditional (156) 42%g (91) 28%gh (144) 41 %h
SE. (3:785) ($10.27) (21:8.17)
Feminist

Self-Development (92) 25%jl (130) 40%j (143) 41 %l

Political/Social Issues (8) 2% (9) 3% (11) 3%
(S.S.) Total Feminist (100) 27 %pr (139) 43%p (154) 44%r
SE. ($9.8) (i831) (3:7.9)
Other (24) 6% (5) 2% (12) 3%
p<.05

Notes: Percentages do not total 100% because only items perceived to be editorial

material were considered for this analysis.

Values with the same subscript are significantly different from each other when

read horizontally.

“S.S.” denotes Sample Size and “SE,” Standard Error.

99

Table 14

Total Coded Content in Percentages from Seventeen, Essence and Redbook

During 1995-1998

 

 

 

1995-1998
Seventeen Egsarlg Redbook

Traditional

Appearance (134) 33% (87) 23% (104) 26%

Female/Male Relations (70) 17% (28) 8% (60) 15%
(S.S.) Total Traditional (204) 50%g (115) 31%gh (164) 51%h
S.E. (i686) ($9.14) ($7.65)
Feminist

Self-Development (103) 25%jl (141) 38%j (152) 38%]

Political/Social Issues (12) 3% (10) 3% (14) 4%
(S.S.) Total Feminist (115) 28%pr (151)41%p (166) 42%r
S.E. (3:914) (3:798) ($7.61)
Other (25) 6% (3) 1% (12) 3%
p<.05

Notes: Percentages do not total 100% because only items perceived to be editorial

material were considered for this analysis.

Values with the same subscript are significantly different from each other when

read horizontally.

“SS.” denotes Sample Size and “SE,” Standard Error.

100

The fifth hypothesis states that an analysis of the percentage of items about
appearance, (traditional items,) in Seventeen, Essence and Redbook will not yield
statistically significant differences in a tri-magazine comparison. This hypothesis is not
supported by the results of this study, as results from 1985-1989 showed the differences
in the category of “appearance” to be statistically significant between Seventeen and

Essence, and Seventeen and Redbook. The fifth hypothesis is supported by results from

 

1990-1994 and 1995-1998.

The sixth hypothesis states that an analysis of the percentage of items about
female-male relations, (traditional items,) in Seventeen. Essence and Redbook will not
yield a statistically significant differences in a tri-magazine comparison. The sixth
hypothesis is supported by the results. Statistically significant differences in the category
of “female/male relations” were not found among Seventeen. Essence and Redbook in
any time period.

The seventh hypothesis states that an analysis of the percentage of items about
self-development, (feminist items,) in Seventeen, Essence and Redbook will not yield a
statistically significant differences in a tri-magazine comparison. The results between

Seventeen and Essence, and Seventeen and Redbook from 1985-1989, 1990-1994 and

 

1995-1998 in the category of “female/male relations” revealed statistically significant
differences; thus, the seventh hypothesis is not supported.

The eighth hypothesis states that an analysis of the percentage of items about
political and social issues, (feminist items,) in Seventeen. E_ssence and Redbook will not

yield a statistically significant differences in a tri-magazine comparison. The eighth

101

hypothesis receives support, as differences in this category were not found to be
statistically significant.

The study’s first and second hypotheses stated that the percentage of items about
“appearance” and “female/male relations” would be higher from 1985-1989 than from
1990-1994 and 1995-1998. Although percentages might appear to support both
hypotheses, the differences were not statistically significant, except from 1985-1989 in
the category of “appearance.”

The third and forth hypotheses stated that percentages reflecting the categories of
“self-development” and political/social issues” were to be lower fi'om 1985-1989 than
from 1990-1994 and 1995-1998. Results showed some support in the category of “self-
development,” however, none in the category of “political/social issues” as there were no
statistically significant differences present in any of the time periods among any of the
magazines.

In addition, the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth hypothesis stated that there would
not be any statistically significant differences among the three magazines when compared
to one another by each variable: “appearance,” female/male relations,” “self-

99 ‘6

development, political/social issues.” Statistical significance, however, was determined
by a series of Z-tests, and results indicate that there are statistically significant differences
in the categories of “appearance” and “self-development.”

Tables 12, 13 and 14 combine the first two categories, “appearance” and

“female/male relations” under the label of “traditional,” and the latter two categories,

“self-development” and “political/social issues,” under the label “feminist.” These

102

pairings are consistent with those created by Schlenker in her study “A Feminist Analysis
of Seventeen Magazine: Content Analysis from 1945 to 1995.”

Schlenker asserted in her research that a third wave of feminism might be present
in the 19905. (The first and second occurring in the 19405 and the 19705.3) The structure
of this content analysis allowed for a five- and four-year period to straddle the inception
of a third wave. Figures 2, 3, 4 an 5 and Tables 12, 13, 14, show that although there were
higher percentages in the categories of “appearance” and “female/male relations” from
1985-1989 than from 1990-1994 in Seventeen, in Redbook, the percentage actually

increased from 1985-1989 to 1990-1994, and in Essence the same percentage was

 

maintained over time. All three magazines experienced an increase in percentages from
1990-1994 to 1995-1998.

Percentages reflecting content in the category of “self-development” were
expected to be lower from 1985-1989 than the percentages from 1990-1994 and 1995-
1998. Seventeen. Essence and Redbook all increased in “self-deveIOpment” percentages
from 1985-1989 to 1990-1994. However, Seventeen maintained the 1990-1994

percentage to 1995-1998, and both Essence and Redbook declined fiom their respective

 

1990-1994 percentages.
The category of “political/social issues” was predicted to follow the same increase

from 1985-1989 to 1990-1994, and both Essence and Redbook showed increases;

 

however, Seventeen’s percentage on “political/social issues” actually fell. Seventeen did
match the percentage from 1985-1989 to that from 1995-1998 though — returning to her

original percentage. Essence maintained the same percentage from 1990-1994 to 1995-

 

1998, and Redbook steadily increased over time from 1985-1989 to 1990-1994 and fiom

103

1990-1994 to 1995-1998. Statistical significance of the differences was not found in this
category, though.

Overall, from 1985-1989 to 1990-1994 Seventeen’s percentage of “traditional”

 

content decreased by 6%, Essence’s by 5%, and Redbook’s by 1%. From 1990-1994 to
1995-1998 Seventeen’s “traditional” content rose by 8%, Essence’s by 3%, and
Redbook’s by 10%. However, when comparing “total traditional” content to “total

feminist” content over time, Essence provides more “feminist” material than either

 

Seventeen or Redbook.
From 1985-1989 Seventeen provided readers with 27% more “traditional” content

than “feminist,” and Redbook 3% more. Essence, in contrast, offered readers 7% more

 

“feminist” content than “traditional.” From 1990-1994 Seventeen experienced a decline
in “traditional” content, but “traditional” content still harnessed 15% more of the
magazine’s content when compared to “feminist” content. Essence continued to rise in
“feminist” content in the bi-content comparison. The differential between “feminist” and
“traditional” content was 16%. Redbook’s readers received 3% more “feminist” content
than “traditional.” From 1995-1998 only Essence continued to provide readers with more
“feminist” content, 10% more, than “traditional” content. Seventeen and Redbook both
fell to providing more “traditional” than “feminist” content to her readers — by 22% and
9%, respectively.

Table 15 provides selected titles from each time period that reflect each of the five

categories used in the coding process.

104

Table 16

Selected Articles from Tables of Contents in Seventeen, Essence and Redbook

From 1985-1989

Seventeen

 

1985: November: Glorious Gifts to Treasure

1986: May:
1987: September:
1988: October:

1989: March:

Essence

1985: January:
1986: July:
1987: February:
1988: December:

1989: September:

Redbook
1 985 : March:

1986: November:
1987: February:
1988:June:

1989: December:

Whitney: Stunning, Stylish A Star <Whitney Houston>

Can You Stay Friends with Your Ex?
Test Your Tobacco Smarts

Can Weather Effect Your Mood?
How to Handle a Picky Boyfriend

How to Stand Out on Your College Applications
When Three’s a Crush

Moonlighting: Nighttime Make-up
The Agony and Ecstasy of First Dates

How a Woman’s Body Ages
Food: Saltbusters

Games Lovers Play
Armageddon Is Now

Remembering Malcolm X
Wedding Day Beauty Blunders

Sexual Ease
Cut Holiday Calories

Alice Walker
Finance Your Dreams

How the Stars Lose
Sexuality “Why Isn’t He a More Aggressive Lover?”

Present the Best: 51 Gifts from a Southern Kitchen
Have You Talked to Your Kids about Crack?

What Your Husband Is Afi'aid to Tell You
Pep Up! or Calm Down! Mood Foods to Raise or Lower Your Stress

Dr. Ruth Asks: Is Your Husband a Hit and Run Lover?
A Parents’ Guide to the Tween Years

Dolly Parton and Sally Field — Straight fi'om the Heart
Celebrate and Decorate with Martha Stewart

105

Selected Articles from Tables of Contents in Seventeen, Essence and Redbook

From 1990-1994

Men

1990: December:

1991 : November:

1992: January:

1993: May:

1994: October:

Essence
1990: July:

 

Boy Eau Boy! What Guys Really Think of Your Fragrance
Winona Ryder

Love and Sex in the 905: Our National Survey
Things That Make You Go Hmmmm about Keaunu Reeves

It’s Not Black and White
Other People’s Problems: How to Help a Friend in Need without
Hurting Yourself

Way to Glow
Harassment at School: The Truth Is Out

15 He Yours?
Is Your Best Friend a Witch?

Fat War
Top Women Designers

1991: December: They Call It Buppie Love

19921June:

1993: August:

1994: September:

Redbook
1990: February:

1991 : December:

1992: April:

1993: July:

1994: September:

The New Nationalists

The Taming of Eddie <Eddie Murphy>
Summer’s Hair

Straight Women/Gay Men: A Talk Between Friends
Full-Moon Madness

Should Children Be Tried as Adults?
Update Your Style

Always Be Lovers First
Kissable Lips

Food Gifts Sent by the Stars
What’s So Good about Sex after 30 (Plenty)

Susan Sarandon: Rebel with 100 Causes
The Diet Women Need Most

Tough Love <Meg Ryan>
New Ways to Heal

Picking the Right Diet
The Families Who Are Dying For Our Country

106

Selected Articles from Tables of Contents in Seventeen, Essence and Redbook

From 1995-1998

Seventeen

1995: January:

1996: March:

1997: May:

1998: September:

Essence
1995: March:

1996: May:

1997: November:

1998: September:

Redbook
1995: April:

1996: October:

1997: November:

1998: September:

 

17 Guys to Watch in 1995
Are You a Slacker?

Do Your Friends Rule Your Life?
Mad Love <Domestic Violence>

The Boyfiiendless Wonder
3 Celebs: 9 Great Workouts

Famous Amos <Tori Arnos>
15 Cool Ways to Hang with Your Boyfriend after School

Proud Mary <Mary J. Blige>
Black Power

Surround Scent
Toni’s Second Take <Toni Braxton>

The Many Ways of Looking at Black Men
The Bad Boy <Sean “Puffy” Combs>

Mission Impossible: You Can Meet Your Soul Mate
Parenting: Race in Their Face

“I’m So Fat!” When Kids Hate Their Bodies
What I Got When I Acted Like a Guy

10 Myths about Breast Cancer
Love Your Hair Again

How to Turn $50 into $100,000
Love Lessons: What Couples Learn at Marriage School

12 Secrets of Women Who Always Look Fantastic
Kathie Lee: How She Found the Courage to Forgive

107

 

1 Jennifer Schlenker, Sandra L. Caron, and William A. Halteman, “A Feminist Analysis
of Seventeen Magazine: Content Analysis from 1945 to 1995,” Sex Roles, Vol. 38,

(1998)142.

2 Please see Appendix D for a complete listing of standard error by category, magazine
and year.

3 Ibid.

108

Chapter 4

Conclusion

Susan Taylor, senior vice president and editor-in-chief for Essence magazine,
stated that “Essence has always been a reliable source of information and guidance for
black women.”1 The statistics generated from this study reveal that Essence provided 7%
to 16% more information on issues of “self-development” and “political/social issues”
than “appearance” and “female/male relations.” Providing information that is inclusive of
women interested in both “traditional” and “feminist” content is important. Exposing her
readers to varying information Essence reinforces the “liberal” and socialist” feminist
ideology that emphasizes “choice.”

The managing editor of Seventeen as documented by Peirce’s study also espouses
a commitment to giving young women “the information they need in their lives.”2
However, in contrast to Essence. Seventeen shares 15% to 27% more content reflecting
“appearance” and “female/male relations.” These percentages closely mirror those in
Schlenker’s study where “feminist” messages increased betheen 1985 and 1995.
Schlenker’s findings are reinforcing but also disturbing as one notes that even when
“feminist” content increased fi'om 35% in 1985 to 40% in 1995, “traditional” content still
remained 60% of the magazine.’

Former m Editor-in-Chief Lesley Jane Seymour would argue that issues
centering on appearance are important as young women worry about how they are seen

by others. She feels concerns over appearance must be addressed in magazine content.4

109

Editorial staffs in support of Seymour’s contention might join her in stating that
magazines are simply giving readers what they want. Unfortunately, without a deliberate
and monitored in—house change in magazine content, such an assertion remains
inconclusive. Only a cyclical discussion may result, as responsibility may be shifted from
the media to the audiences that support her. This “bi-directional” flow of information
and the possible effects particular information may have on an audience is not limited to
these publications. And this is why:

1. a. Information — Audience - Magazine

b. Magazine — Information — Audience
2. a. Magazine - Information — Audience — Magazine
b. Magazine - Information — Audience
The arguments appear simple, but a resolution seems far from being 50.

Does existing information influence an audience, and does that audience then
dictate editorial agenda, (1a)? Or does the media, a magazine perhaps, generate editorial
content based on an internal agenda, disseminate that content and possibly influence
audiences, (1b)? The media and, in this study, the magazines may be placed in a position
of responsibility regardless of where one resumes this argument, (2a). This is important.

“Culpability” remains illusive. But in light of that reality, why wouldn’t
magazines that claim to offer information that is needed embrace an opportunity to
broaden their scope? Revenue and profit are valid responses, but maintaining such high
percentages of “traditional” content doesn’t enable young women to break through

existing barriers of institutional oppression.

110

Novack and Novack were concerned about the potential “internal conflict” that
many self-identified “feminists” might experience due to the overwhelming amount of
“traditional” messages that are presented without equal representation of options.
Dissonance will occur during a lifetime of development regardless of any percentage
comparisons displayed in a content analysis, but why not create dissonance about not
being active enough in the community rather than reinforce “traditional” rhetoric about
not being pretty enough for the community?6

Redbook offers a bit of relief, as differences between paired “traditional” and
“feminist” combinations for ten years are less substantial. From the 1995-1998 time
period though, a greater disparity between total “traditional” and “feminist” categories
appeared.

The results overall show an increase in “feminist” issues from 1985-1989 to 1990-
1994, but not so much from 1994-1998. The trend to increase content in the categories of
“self-development” and “political/social issues” did not last. And quite clearly, numbers
from 1995-1998 are gravitating back toward those from 1985-1989. Schlenker’s assertion
is reflected in Redbook’s development, but describing the change as a “wave” may be
overstating the reality of the content that was present in the magazine. A “trend” more
than a “wave” of feminist messages may more accurately describe the application of the
results found in this study.

Essence, however, appears to be a bit of an anomaly. With higher “feminist”
percentages than “traditional” percentages from the beginning, 1985-1989, the magazine
challenges the research previously conducted on women’s magazines. With so much of

the focus in past research centering around “traditional” and “feminist” rhetoric and roles,

lll

perhaps an analysis of the culture reflective of- and publications targeted toward- women
of color is needed. Their history and oppression is not the same as the dominant culture.
Although the feelings of oppression do not change from the teen-ager to the spouse, the
manifestations of the discrimination are different — journeys are different.

Feminist, activist, author and educator, Angela Davis might Chortle at the
emphasis placed on the “internal conflict” some women may experience while pursuing a
career and raising a family. In Women, Raga an_d Cara; Davis explores the history of the
black woman’s role. “During slavery, women toiled alongside their men in the cotton and
tobacco fields, and when industry moved into the South, they could be seen in tobacco
factories, sugar refineries and even lumber mills and on crews pounding steel for the
railroads as a direct consequence of their outside work — as ‘free’ women no less than
as slaves —— housework has never been the central focus of Black women’s lives.”7 Davis
explains that the “housewife” was “rooted in the social conditions of the bourgeoisie and
the middle classes,” and “nineteenth-century ideology established the housewife and the
mother as universal models of womanhood.”8

Although not interested in “housework,” women of color, and particularly black
women have none-the-less been tied to home —— just not necessarily their own. “In 1910,
when over half of all Black females were working outside their homes, one-third of them
were employed as paid domestic workers. By 1920 over one-half were domestic servants,
and in 1930 the proportion had risen to three out of five.”9 The irony is painful. As white
women received acceptance and most likely positive reinforcement for accepting the
position of perceived “universal motherhood,” the black woman found her role as a

“housekeeper”lo distorted and exploited by mainstream America, e. g. Aunt Jemima. No

112

wonder Essence appears ahead of her predominantly white pseudo-counterpart and
leagues beyond the content in Seventeen. Perhaps all women would do well to peruse an
issue of Essence for her celebration of “self-development” is unequaled in this study.

There are many limitations to this analysis. The following briefly addresses a few
of them. This analysis only concentrates on editorial content; advertisements were not
included. A more complete analysis of one or all of these publications would include an
analysis of their advertisements. For example, Seventeen’s editorial content refrains from
overtly endorsing teen-age sex, but the magazine displays provocative advertisement.n

In addition, magazine publications must court their advertisers. “An aggrieved
advertiser can withdraw from virtually any magazine and put ads elsewhere without
risking the loss of a significant number of customers.”12 With all the competition between
the “fashion/beauty/lifestyle” magazines, appeasing advertisers is a real concern. In
women’s magazines the boundaries between editorial and advertising copy are often
blurred. Many advertisers routinely insist on “complementary” copy to accompany their
ads. And some businesses, according to Gloria Steinem, founding editor of M___s_._
magazine, refirse to advertise unless “compatible” editorial materials are placed next to
their ads. ’3

Ma took an unusual step in 1990, banning advertising and raising her cover and
subscription prices. Functioning on circulation-based revenue alone Ma only remained
profitable for five years and was sold in 1998 to Liberty Media for Women. A “new”
issue is expected in Spring 1999.”

Although m will resurface, the dependency on advertisements is real and editors

may find themselves altering content to mollify their advertisers. “Glamour and Allure

113

magazines are placing free samples from companies such as Estee Lauder and Revlon on
their editorial pages?” Magazines are in a vulnerable position due to these relationships,
as editors are faced with difficult decisions regarding content and censorship.

Limitations in terms of audience diversity are also an issue. Seventeen is geared
toward white upper to middle class girls. The magazine fails to address the concerns of
the general population, including girls of different races, ethnicities, and social classes
and sexual orientation.

Essence and Redbook are just as specified: Essence targets women of color and
Wk, white married women.

Future research needs to be more inclusive, by age, race, status, education, special
interest and especially, sexual orientation as all this material is heterosexist. Designing a
similar study with the same areas of analysis plus “female/female relations” and
“male/male relations” might lend insight into the content that’s projected into the
Lesbian, Bi-sexual, Gay and Transgendered community where issues of
“feminist/progressive” and “traditional” rhetoric are also a concern.

Future studies need to explore the mediums — from oral histories to electronic
chat rooms —— utilized to disseminate information for women, too. For example, the

home-based magazine, Blue Jeans, created by feminist Sherry Handel, focuses on

 

community service and environmental issues and boasts “14 teen editorial board
members” and “six teen correspondents.” These teenagers produce over 90% of this
30,000 reader worldwide magazine and without advertisements or fashion tips. ’6 In

addition, Hues, a magazine dedicated to “promoting self-esteem and sisterhood among

 

women of all sizes, ethnic backgrounds and lifestyles,” was created from frustration with

114

mainstream women’s magazines. ’7 Opheira Edut and Dyann Logwood started the
magazine, because they seldom saw ethnic women in magazines.18 These magazines are
not mainstream and therefore, problematic when trying to establish comparisons with
publications that report larger circulation numbers. None-the-less, they are areas worth
exploring in future research.

A final recommendation includes a continued analysis of Redbook. In November
1998 Lesley Jane Seymour took over the magazine as editor in chief and her goal was to
“jazz up the magazine, make it more energetic and a little younger.”l9 Both design and
content changes in Redbook may be assessed in the future.

Content that possibly influences self-concept and shapes self-identity should not
be limited to communications. This relationship between information, education and
identity development harnesses the potential to ignite interest through inferential research
in psychology, sociology, cultural anthropology, women’s studies and American studies.
— for these three publications are only part of our multi-media society and only a part of
the socialization process for some teen-age girls, some women of color and some married
women. More studies in this area and others, like, television, on-line magazines, and

movies will provide further insight into mass media’s influence.

115

 

‘ “60 Seconds with Susan Taylor, Senior VP/Editor in Chief, Essence and Recipient of a
1999 Henry Johnson Fisher award,” Mediaweek, (Online) Available
Lexis-Nexis, January 25, 1999.

2 Peirce, 499.

3 Jennifer Schlenker, Sandra L. Caron, and William A. Halteman, “A Feminist Analysis
of Seventeen Magazine: Content Analysis from 1945 to 1995,” Sex Roles, Vol. 38,
(1998)]43.

4 Christman, F1.

5 Author questions whether this relationship is truly bi-directional.

6 Obviously, this is the author’s bias.

7 Angela Y. Davis, Women Race and Class, Random House, New York, New York,
1981 p.230.

 

8 Davis, 229.
9 Davis, 237.

10 Read “mammy,” author’s note.

“ Sarah Means, “Teen Magazines Challenge Sex Obsession; New Publications Echo
Right and Left,” The Washington Times, (Sept. 11, 1997) p. A2.

’2 David Shaw, “Magazines Feel Increased Pressure from Advertisers; Publishing: As
More Firms Threaten to Cancel Ads If They Dislike Story Content, Fear of Self-
Censorship by Editors Grows,” Los Angeles Times, (Online) Available, Lexis-Nexis,
May 10, 1999.

'3 Ibid.
’4 Skip Wollenberg, “Ms. Magazine Sold to Group Including Gloria Steinem,” (Online)

Available,
http://www.seattletimes.corn/newsjlifestyles/html98/mizz 120398.html, May 10, 1999.

1“ ¢-.nocamcouo-oummuowoowmommuo coo-.0...

” Tara Parker-Pope, “Publishing: Smudging the Line Between Ads, Editorial,” Wall
Street Journal, (Online) Available, Lexis-Nexis, May 10, 1999.

‘5 Ibid.

116‘

 

1’ Ibid.
‘8 Ibid.

’9 Lisa Granatstein, “A New Redbook Juggler,” Mediaweek, (Online) Available, Lexis-
Nexis, February 1, 1999.

117

APPENDICES

118

 

 

611

mmmzomoommgm

 

’\ JROWTH

SIMPLE DUALISM

POSITION 1
BASIC DUALITY

    
     
 
   

soluble by A In

0 ,conlormlly Io Ihe Ighl
Nwhal The a I WI"
power so 1,

song

where AthorlIy gets rlghlness
Iised.

Form 2;

Authority

"9'“ wrong
*‘ olherr

Here Authority seen as

dermng righIness Irom
bsolures

 

 

APPENDIX A

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here Authorin and Absolules
undilleren IiIa I.ed Duesr IrIIo noI

 

COMMITMENT IN RELATIVISA - -
—
RELAlrvlSM r -
) — - P
COMPLEX DUALISM s D -
} POSITION s Posnlou 9
POSITION 2 POSITION POSITION 4 POSITION 5 POSITION 7 posl‘noN a

M TIPLICITY
PRE-LEGITIMATE

Mulrlpliclry perceived, bur onl
as allen or un real As lIlen II
assimilales "my to error W'and
olheme

0W
and con! used (Ml. " aAssimilared

 

sees Au only no as wrong bur
simply as falling In its mediallonal
role

In either case M is perceived bul
nor a a slgnal ol legirtmale,

s
epistemological uncertainty.

II n
In Adherence

 

 

Absolures ‘
Aulhorlly
righI wrong
M
orhers

 

 

In Oppo ' 'on
AbM
Aurhorily [
I
’f‘ .
mow rrglhl
I
olhers we
Unrul
Absolures
Aurhoriry
right wrong

I M \I\-
we /|\ others

Hon Authority knows real
answer behind M

 

 

o_
‘l
5

MULTIPLICITY SUBORDINATE

M'Iulllpllcily uperce‘rvedw

IIh some
ns Aulhonly may

anIes). Ad may feel
judged on glibness, announce, or
polL

  
  
 
 

ODDOfl'IlOn here: "Th hey judge all
Se ldI del m We usgsinsl
sl imilal slruclural

In Adherence

 

 

Absolules
O! I

Aulhoriry
.1. .1 “7:9
we I! " \ when

’51

M, as n Posirion 2; M, nor

presently reduclble by Authorin
swer does exist

In Opposilion

 

   
   
   

 

Absolules
Aulhorlry I |
rlghr
rong I
we

when

M explo iled
cowairdly conservative con
Iorm

 

EAT

Acllve Denlal pl Polenrial OI Leqlhmbcy
in Orherness

[lot varianls, see box]

119

MULTlPLICITY CORRELATE
RELATIVISM SUBORDINATE

DulIIIy reslmcrured In complex
r on w s M b

o .
knowl edged as relevanl ro sell

being coniusma Irb<llllng
inrnguinqe

Relativism percewed n M

I M o rnlble
rel-Iron mons Io each
theI (coherence)

Icon 9mm) However IhIs is

slill ”how Ihey want us In Ihmlt
ra Iher Ihan nacon Selquenceofl Ihe
narure 01 all know

Mulllplicny Correlale:

Absolules
or—)(
ArirhoriI‘y
right wrelmg M
we Ihey we

In 0 Ilmcluru the ellorr is to
e pend M. nwfirch The ey
have no 11¢“ to make us (eel
quillv.

 

\

 

Reluwism Subordinued:

 

bred or Inacoes

0,9,: ‘Ible in a ram)
Authority
right wrong
belle: (— R -—) worse

 

we orhers

 

 

  
 
    
  

A sellllng lor Peslrlons 4 5

RELATIVISM CORRELATE,
COMPETING, OR DIFFUSE
RelaIrv-sm perceived as way 0
Dclclrvlng, analyzlng and zvllu
Ibec-use' ‘T hwey wanr

E
CompeI-n Rperee erveda sap:

Dlqu Io whole world lwIIh
blnaly ans an e w I I
Ihls world view allernales wllh a
I In I e
most fully developéd at e

:92 I: n »
ally bul wirhoul Implications
lor Co mrm Inme

Relalivnm Correlale

 

Absolules [no absolulesl

Aulhortly R
l I
right wrong [aulhorlryl

I I l
we orhers all OI us
|
values in
de ecs

and frames

 

Relalrvism Compellng'

     
  
    

[no sbsolulesl
R

IlulhOlIIYI

Prev-ous
Srruerure

 
 
   
 

291:“
and Item“

  

Relalesm Ollluse.

 

(no absolulesl
R

Iaulhorilyl
all OI us

values in degrees and frames

 

 

 

and 0 become

ESCAPE

Durant-iris Iorg

(lor van-nu, see boa)

COMMITMENT FORESE EN

R accepled lor all secular ur Flrs lCommumenIIsI or alIIrmaIronIsl.
poses Includmg binary judgment Acceptance a! then nrtqrnsln nsell s Some implicarlons oI Commirrnenl re
and act Corn I menl ay upmmce some mmna- shred: lens» sbelween lee hangs of

sin lo non in an R world and narrowing, Ireedpm nr,
end/or "Iell' as ed lwllh or ocriona ndrellecrlon Prospey 61 (or
wirhoul explicir IIaIemenI 01 a 1"""’C°""m"m"‘”g3 even expenehce on mem ship wiIh
log ss y reallra R world out I y in are I e il

boomers.
slurdiness, Iurmorl,
oepunce

CommIImenI Foreseen.

   
 
 
 

 
 

(C) added when: 'Cpmmllmenr
sed as he:

/

Nole

by denylng orr lecllng Ihelr

R world
(athonly)

Ill 01 us

 
   
 

values in 1&9”an es

INITIAL COMMITMENT

DEVELOPING CDMMI‘IMENTISI

ORIENTATION IN IMPLICATIONS
E

 
  
 
   
   
 
 
 
 
 
  

I-ons pl lmplleallons Itnulivenessm and IlnaIin, expansion
and cons

    
      
  
     

ho it I mm mm
I (values, addressyrolhers occupant)
etc.

  

 

I I’DCIIO S
i ' (MIhoIin) 10 won Islev/ medm bolh content
Ilmple at I ” nd
“I at m caress Io Commllmenx R world

values to degrees and Ium

  

Impliulions Expe'ienc aulhoriry and all of us

  
   
 

 

ZO—-‘>N~F‘>C"n>

R world

 

values In degrees and Irames
I

 
  

CI. 2, J. .. -

Developing balance 01 style

 

 

No eon religron: ln Co ommtlmenr

Involvlng) religious lailh m an no

squIe_ Ihe same dlsllhcrlortr re
Iheo '

 

    
 

 

° ' mm’ ’99” m “’9“ IdenIIIy In Commilmenls and
cal dlsllncllorl between b IIeI VI! 0 ”an“ [lo M
lollhl he slruclural solurlons (or
IEIIIIng an absolure d relarrvlsm
are varied and nor ourlined here Note: (01 me y be added Io an y lo: rms
In all 01 [hem the crucral aye 100 17.8.1!” concrmblv even 91 II whil!
l , , an Ing In mosl ups-cu 01 his IlIe Ihe

 
   
 

wrlh plher ab 9"” "“0
my II) have tnvalidaled hrsw cenIuI

 

 

 

VARIANTS OF ESCAPE

MuIIIpIICIIv Relarivism

Encapsularion 01 M lldenllry llmued): Encapsulation 0! Fl (ldenmy Ilmiredl:

VARIANTS 0F RETREAT Loose "tolerance" of M Ior Olbers Relamism in M exploiIed To! A
so long as A purposes or pu loose suIb never I turned onA
"RH“ 0"" Hlsh mmly. colealnl doesn’t Upset own A slmclureL slmc Iu
Ieserrlmenlv
IDe pend enIl - IdenIlIy In carrylng our assignmenls ol exlernal so
Ihorlty byo

"Drdtcal ednoReacIIo Iy" 71le
here at Otherness no overt anxlely
M

IOul" direcred) - eldenrily In carrying our usignmenu 01 external
hori
rm all to IO: N _
mer I (Inner directed) - ldenIrIy in autocr:Cv Moral problems III seIIItd.
”Neg. Iv Passrve reslslance vs M ”I'M Idenlrly m perlormance
Authorlly, bulno' [a use' 'olone‘s Loo sesMI ode In at Ralione Iirl Ilic cynicism:
all valuen sI-Iemenrr lexcepl aIIIrm- delul all value sI-Iemenn It)? xcepI
aIlo oIseIIas nIIhIis I). IIII seIII nihiis.ll)
"009mm: Rebel". IdenIlIyIn’ca . . . . . . ,
mmml mmmgem Judgmem “Cau Dimer-non In R lldenr-Iy dissolved).
deletmlned by whatever Authorlly Use sIM wash oulse II no men“. User RI Iwo wouuh re." The intel-
5 I0 be spa ml Iual exerclse In process. yr In: mg leclual came, Commltrnenlavo avoided
goes

Dissoclarion In M IIdenIlIy dlssolved):

   

 

 

 

 

 

out ewden‘ e 01 enIrenchmenI through sIrurIures OI Escape

Chell Is lbblrvlaled Irom lhe form used In Judges‘ expenmenls
III mlln ourlmes wIIl prov-dc In
scheme III (Selim dlscursed
readlly approached vla the 1:111 01 Chaplet 5

CHART OF DEVELOPMENT

Allad urelnlm liq iuourdolozloqgo 11qu

V XICINEIJJV

 

APPENDIX B
Content Analysis Coding Protocol

Universe

The publications chosen for this content analysis were Seventeen, Essence and
Redbook. The coding of these three magazines covered the years 1985-1998. The
fourteen year analysis was divided into two five-year spans, (1985-1989, 1990-1994) and
one four-year span, (1995-1998).

All content, except advertising, horoscopes, recipes, reviews and reader response
letters, including editorials, poetry and prose, was potential material for analysis. This
material was coded into four main categories: “appearance,” “female/male relations,”
“self-development” and “political/social issues.” There was a category of “other” for the
coder who does not know how to categorize material in a way that would reflect the
proceeding operational definitions and/or found material the author had not considered.

After the material was identified as reflecting one of the aforementioned
categories, the coder marked the magazine’s date and month and counted the total
number of items listed in the magazine’s table of content. This analysis was designed to
assess the amount of content that would reflect the preceding definitions. The purpose
was to document the type of material that structures Seventeen, Essence and Redbook

and to evaluate any changes that may occur in that content over time.

120

Content Analysis Coding Protocol continued

Coding Procedures

All items, except advertising, horoscopes, recipes, reviews and reader response
letters, will be coded regardless of the item’s length. Code answers according to the
questions by marking the response form. Refer to the operational definitions provided as
often as is necessary for clarity. Read the entire question and answer set before marking
the response form. Ifmultiple answers seem applicable, please choose the best one. This
study is concerned with overall content, coding all items specifically into four categories:

9,

“appearance, “female/male relations,” “self-development” and “political/social issues.”
To determine whether an item reflects one of these categories, carefiilly study the

definitions provided.

121

APPENDIX B

Coding Questions

1: This item is primarily, but perhaps not exclusively about:
O= appearance

1= female/male relations

2= self-development

3= political/social issues

4= other

2: This item is from the following magazine:
0= W

l= Essence

2= Redbook

3: Record the magazine’s date and month of publication.

4: Record the total number of items listed in the magazine’s table of contents.

122

APPENDIX B

Operational Definitions

Advertising: copy and illustrations selling a product or service from an outside
vendor/company or in house advertising or promotional material. Advertising is not
included in the coding procedures.

Appearance: makeup; hair, hair-cuts, hair-styles, nails; beauty products; accessories;
fashion, “Hollywood” fashion; fashion tips; newest trends in accessories, fashion,
decorating; shopping for clothes; how you look to others; dieting, exercising to lose
weight.

Female/Male relations: advice columns on female/male relations, finding a boyfiiend,
dating, sex; fiction stories about female/male relations, dating, sex, love; feature articles
about female/male relations, dating, sex, love; how to articles: how to please a boyfriend
- emotionally, sexually, through planning, developing and maintaining a relationship;
how to keep a boyfriend; how to shop for a boyfriend; entertaining a boyfriend; romance
woes, how to evaluate a female/male relations, development of female/male relations,
(not quizzes) tips on how to improve, change, fix female/male relations; feature article on
a male in the entertainment industry, “Hollywood” men, all men.

“Hollywood” Men: Items that primarily although perhaps not exclusively portray male
actors, models or musicians in a way that does not emphasize their respective crafts.

Individual Items: count the number of items that receive their own page number in the
table of contents

Other: e. g.: car tips, gift making ideas and gift guides; “Hollywood” gossip; in-house
contests, surveys and results.

Political/Social Issues: AIDS; environment; welfare; homophobia, heterosexism;

ageism; racism; relationship violence; international relations; war; political articles; news
items; articles on women abroad.

123

Operational Definitions continued

Self-development: mental, spiritual and physical health articles; personality quizzes; best
friend quizzes; familial and platonic relationship feature articles; familial and platonic
relationship fiction stories; entertaining family and friends;

mentors: leaders in a community or abroad, famous women;

education: getting good grades, studying, going to college;

career: choices, changing jobs, getting jobs;

money: investments, finances, management;

lifestyle: hobbies, cooking (not recipes), exercising (not to lose weight), reading, books to
read (not reviews); films to see (not reviews), travel, volunteerism, community service;
time/impression management.

Sex: behavior that includes but is not limited to one of the following: heterosexual and/or
homosexual kissing, petting, anal sex, oral sex, intercourse and/or mutual masturbation.

124

Coding Results
$9.92th
date Jan-86
toc total 30
0 7
1 2
2 9
3 l
4 . 2
Jul-87
33
0 11
l 6
2 5
3 O
4 5
Jan-92
*16
O 5
1 2
2 4
3 1
4 O
Jul-93
26
O 8
1 6
2 8
3 O
4 2

APPENDIX C

1985-1989

Feb-89
29

NHNQQ

Aug-87

32
7
ll
3
10

1990-1994

Feb-93
37

l
4
6
O
2

Aug-93
28

F‘OQOOOO

Mar-89 Apr-85 May-86

57

AHOGM

Mar-91
45

WNOON

60

NNOONN

Apr-93

24

93000004;

Oct-94

125

40

14

NOQW

47

Nov-85

NNOUIUI

May-93

Nov-91
38

UINMAO

Jun-85
52

Jun-94
25

ONONUIQ

547

210 38%
55 10%
97 18%
16 3%
43 8%

77%

371

99 27%
57 15%
92 25%
8 2%
24 6%
75%

Seven 11 1995-1998
date Jan-95 Feb-96 Mar-95
toc total 17 31 37
O 3 12 6
1 4 6 6
2 8 10 6
3 O O O
4 O 0 4
Jul-96 Aug-96 Sep-98
35 38 39
0 l 1 18 12
l 6 7 7
2 10 7 12
3 O l 2
4 l 3 l

Apr-96 May-97
35 34

12 9

6 3

12 6

0 l

5 2
Oct-98 Nov-96
41 36

1 5 12

6 6

14 8

2 2

2 4

Jun-96
3 l

ONQUIN

Dec-96
32

9310me

406

134 33%
70 17%
103 25%
12 3%
25 6%

84%

"‘ Denotes a potentially inaccurate count in the 1992 January edition of Seventeen
as only half of the ”table of contents" was present. Items were counted page by page

to assess the total number.

126

1 _

 

Coding Results continued

Essence

date
toc total

AWN—‘0 #WN—‘O #WN—‘O

#WN'HO

Jan-85
32

Jan-93
28

ONOOQ

Jul-90

1985-1989

Feb-87 Mar-86

36 32

6 7

4 4

10 14

o o

o o

Aug-88 Sep—89

28 29

9 8

2 1

12 13

1 2

o 0
1990-1994

Feb-92 Mar-92

26 24

5 5

7 1

6 10

o o

o o

Aug-93 Sep-94

26 28

5 6

2 1

10 12

o 1

o o

Apr-88
25

Apr-9O
30

127

May-89
33

moqoooo

May-90
35

Jun-89
24

HOW—'0

Jun-92
28

Dec-9 1
29

HMONO‘

361

76 21%
38 11%
134 37%
7 2%

5 1%

72%

323

67 21%
24 7%
130 40%
9 3%

5 2%

73%

Essence 1995-1998

date Jan-95 F eb-95 Mar-95 Apr-95 May-96 Jun-95
toc total 27 27 29 27 32 28
O 5 6 5 8 8 7
1 0 3 1 1 1 3
2 12 9 12 11 8 12
3 1 2 2 1 0
4 O 0 O 0 0 0

Jul-95 Aug-97 Sep-98 Oct-96 Nov-97 Dec-95

27 33 4O 35 34 32 371
O 6 11 1O 9 5 7 87 23%
l 4 3 3 l 8 O 28 8%
2 8 11 l7 l6 13 12 141 38%
3 0 O 2 O O 0 10 3%
4 0 l 0 1 1 0 3 1%

73%

128

Coding Results continued

Red 922k

date
toc total

kWN—‘O AWN-HO AWN—‘0

AWN—O

Jan-87

22

i_n—0mg);

Jul-86
26

HOV-AW)

Jan-91
26

t-‘OOONG

Jul-93

1985-1989

Feb-87
23

1990-1994

F eb-9O
28

-‘O\)A\O

Aug-90

Mar-85
34

Sep-89
29

015900.500

Mar-92

Apr-85
30

12

Oct-87
29

129

May-89
27

Nov-86
30

Nd

O

May-91
26

OOOOUJW

Nov-90
27

NNVOHO

Jun-88
26

Jun-9O
25

Oi-‘ONQ

Dec-91

334

76 23%
65 19%
127 38%
5 1%
13 4%
85%

346

87 25%
57 16%
143 41%
11 3%
12 3%

88%

Rggbggk

date
toe total

AWN—‘0

bWN—‘O

1995-1998

Jan-98 Feb-98 Mar-98
32 3O 39
8 9 9

6 5
12 10 11
O 2 1
1 0 3
Jul-98 Aug-97 Sep—98
36 28 35
8 9 9
5 5
l l 1 1 13
0 0
1 O O

Apr-95 May-97
30 33

5 10

4 3

15 15

2 1

O l
Oct-96 Nov-97
3O 39

8 1 1

4 6

12 17

0 2

2 O

130

Jun-97
35

10

12

Dec-97
30

397

104 26%
60 15%
152 38%
14 4%
l2 3%

86%

APPENDIX D

Total Coded Content in Percentages and Standard Error
from Seventeen, Essence and Redbook

During 1985-1989

 

 

 

1985-1989
9 Seventeen 1; Essence n Redbook
Traditional
Appearance (210) 38%ac (76) 21%a (76) 23%c
(16.76) (i1 1.24) (21:1 1.24)
Female/Male Relations (55) 10% (38) 11% (65) 19%
(3:13.21) ($15.9) ($12.61)
Total Traditional 48%g 32%gi 42%i
n= (265) (114) (141)
Standard Error ($6.02) ($9.18) ($8.25)
Feminist
Self-Development (97) 18%jl (134) 37%j (127) 38%]
($9.95) (i847) (3:8.7)
Political/Social Issues (16) 3% (7) 2% (5) 1%
($24.5) ($37.04) (4:43.85)
Total Feminist 21 %pr 39%p 39%r
n= (113) (141) (132)
Standard Error (i922) ($8.25) ($8.53)
Other (43) 8% (5) 1% (13) 4%
p<.05

Notes: Percentages do not total 100% because only items perceived to be editorial
material were considered for this analysis.

Values with the same subscript are significantly different fi'om each other when

read horizontally.

131

APPENDIX D

Total Coded Content in Percentages and Standard Error

from Seventeen, Essence and Redbook

 

During 1990-1994

 

 

1990-1994
11 Seventeen 9 Essence n Redbook
Traditional
Appearance (99) 27 % (67) 21% (87) 25%
($9.85) ($11.97) ($10.51)
Female/Male Relations (57) 15% (24) 7% (S7) 16%
($12.98) ($20) ($12.98)
Total Traditional 42% 27% 41%
n= (156) (91) (144)
Standard Error ($7.85) ($10.27) ($8.17)
Feminist
Self-Development (92) 25%jl (130) 40%] (143) 41 %1
($10.22) ($8.6) ($8.2)
Political/Social Issues (8) 2% (9) 3% (11) 3%
($34.65) ($32.67) ($29.55)
Total Feminist 27 %pr 43%p 44%r
n= (100) (139) (154)
Standard Error ($98) ($8.31) ($7.9)
Other (24) 6% (5) 2% (12) 3%
p<.05

Notes: Percentages do not total 100% because only items perceived to be editorial
material were considered for this analysis.

Values with the same subscript are significantly different from each other when
read horizontally.

132

APPENDIX D

Total Coded Content in Percentages and Standard Error
from Seventeen, Essence and Redbook

 

 

During 1995-1998
1995-1998
1; Seventeen '9 Essence g Redbook
Traditional
Appearance (134) 33% (87) 23% (104) 26%
($8.47) ($10.51) ($9.61)
Female/Male Relations (70) 17% (28) 8% (60) 15%
($11.71) ($18.52) ($12.65)
Total Traditional 50% 31% 51%
n= (204) (115) (164)
Standard Error ($6.86) ($9.14) ($7.65)
Feminist
Self-Development (103) 25%gi (141) 38%g (152) 38%1'
($9.66) ($8.25) ($7.95)
Political/Social Issues (12) 3% (10) 3% (14) 4%
($28.29) ($30.99) ($26. 19)
Total Feminist 28%pr 41 %p 42%r
n= (115) (151) (166)
Standard Error ($9.14) ($7.98) ($7.61)
Other (25) 6% (3) 1% (12) 3%
p<.05

Notes: Percentages do not total 100% because only items perceived to be editorial
material were considered for this analysis.

Values with the same subscript are significantly different from each other when

read horizontally.

133

BIBLIOGRAPHY

 

134

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Affirmative Action Myths vs. Facts. (Online) Available
http://bbcc.ctc.edu/~webb/cabb.htm, March 24, 1999.

Becker, Gary 8., “How the Market Acted Affirmatively for Women,” Business Week,
(May 13, 1985) p.16.

“Backlash: The Uadeclared War Against American Women.” Kirkus Reviews. (Online)
Available, Lexis-Nexis, April 13, 1999.

 

“Black Women on TV Still Stereotyped,” USA Today (Magazine), (July 1993) p.7.

Bordo, Susan, Unbearable Weight: Feminism, Western Culture, and The Body,
University of California Press, Berkeley, California, 1993.

Bowden, Sue, “Understanding the Gender Gap: An Economic Histclv of American
Women.” Business Histm. Vol. 33 (1991) 122.

Brown, Jane, Walsh, Kim and Waszak, Cynthia, “Television and Adolescent Sexuality,”
Journal of Adolescent Health Cag, Vol. 62, (1990) 62-70.

Burke, Delta, a speech.

Campbell, Donald J ., Campbell, Kathleen M. and Kennard, Daniel, “The Effects of
Family Responsibilities on the Work Commitment and Job Performance of Non-
Professional Women,” Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology,
Vol. 67 (1994) 283.

Christman, Jennifer, “Teen Zines Some Magazines Aimed at Today’s Youth Are a Little
Different From What You Grew Up With,” The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, 25
February 1998, p. F1.

Cooke, Thomas J ., and Bailey, Adrian J., “Family Migration and the Employment of
Married Women and Men,” Economic Geography, Vol. 72 (1996) 38.

Cose, Ellis, “Black Men and Black Women,” Newsweek, (June 5, 1995) p.66.

Davis, Angela Y. Women Race and Class, Random House, New York, New York,
1981.

 

“Draft Declarations Against Violence Approved by Commission; United Nations
Commission on the Status of Women; Includes Related Article on the Rights of
Married Women,” UN Chronicle. (Online) Available, Lexis-Nexis, April 15,
1999.

135

Feinberg, Leslie, in a speech.

Ferber, Marianne A., “In Defense of Affirmative Action,” Industrial and Labor Relations
Review, Vol. 50 (1997) 516.

Friedman, Susan Stanford, Mappings, Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey,
1998.

Galston, William, In The LeFrak Forum and Symposium on Science, Reason, and
Modern Democracy, Michigan State University, Morality and Public Life: Is
America in Moral Decline? in the conference session: Love and Marriage.

Elena A. Gerstmann and Deirdre A. Kramer, “Feminist Identity Development:
Psychometric Analyses of Two Feminist Identity Scales,” Sex Roles, Vol. 36
(1997) 327-348.

Granatstein, Lisa “A New Rebook Juggler,” Mediaweek, (Online) Available, Lexis-
Nexis, February 1, 1999.

Harvard Eating Disorders Center. (Online) Available
http://www.hedc.org/, April 20, 1999.

Jackson, Linda A., Fleury, Ruth E. and Lewandowski, Donna A.,“Feminism: Definitions,
Support, and Correlates of Support Among Female and Male College Students,”
Sex Roles, Vol. 34, (1996) 687-693.

Kent-Foxworth, Marilyn, “Plantation Kitchen to American Icon: Aunt Jemima; Publicity
and American Culture,” Public Relations Review, (Online) Available, Lexis-
Nexis, April 13, 1999.

Kidd, Virginia “Happily Ever After and Other Relationship Styles: Advice on
Interpersonal Relations in Popular Magazines, 1951-1973,” Quarterly Journal of
Speech, Vol. 61, (1975) 31-39.

Koretz, Gene, “Why Married Women Work,” Business Week, (Sept. 22, 1997) p.26

Lacy, Stephen, Riffe Daniel, and Randle Quint, “Sample Size in Multi-year Content
Analysis of Monthly Consumer Magazines,” Journalism and Mass

Communication Quarterly, Vol. 75 (1998) 408-417.

Linthwaite, Linda, ed., Ain’t I A Wow: A Book of Women’s Poetry from Around the
World, Wings Books, New York, 1993.

Lytle, Jean L., Bakken, Linda and Romig, Charles, “Adolescent Female Identity
Development,” Sex Roles, Vol. 37 (1997) 175-185.

136

Mansfield, Harvey, In The Lefrak Forum and Symposium on Science, Reason, and
Modern Democracy, Michigan State University, Morality and Public Life: Is
America in Moral Decline? in a conference paper, “The Decline of Manliness and
F emininity.”

Means, Sarah “Teen Magazines Challenge Sex Obsession; New Publications Echo Right
and Lefi,” The Washington Times, (Sept. 11, 1997) p. A2.

Mental Health Net. (Online) Available
http://www.mhnet.org/, April 20, 1999.

Michigan State University Department of Residence Life Training Manual for Lesbian,
Bi-sexual, Gay and Transgendered Concerns, 1998-99.

Michigan State University Safe Place, The Dating and Domestic Violence Program.

National Organization for Women. (Online) Available
http://www.now.org/, February 1, 1999.

Newkirk, Carol “Female Roles in Non-Fiction of Three Women’s Magazines,”
Journalism Quarterly, Vol. 54, (1977) 779-782.

Novack, Lesley Lazin and Novack, David R., “Being Female in the Eighties and
Nineties: Conflict Between New Opportunities and Traditional Expectations
Among White, Middle Class, Heterosexual College Women,” Sex Roles, Vol. 35,
(1996) 57-77.

Parker-Pope, Tara, “Publishing: Smudging the Line Between Ads, Editorial,” Wall Street
Journal, (Online) Available, Lexis-Nexis, May 10, 1999.

Peck, Scott, M. M.D., The Rgd Less Traveled. Simon and Schuster, New York, New
York, 1979.

Peirce, Kate “A Feminist Theoretical Perspective on the Socialization of Teenage Girls
Through Seventeen Magazine,” Sex Roles, Vol. 23, (1990) 491-500.

Perry, William Graves, Farms of Intellectual and Ethical Development in the College
Years: A Scheme, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, New York, New York, 1970.

Pipher, Mary, Ph.D., Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls, Ballantine
Books, New York, 1995.

Redbook. (Online) Available
http://www.redbookmag.com, February 1, 1999.

137

Riffe Daniel, Lacy Stephen, and Fico, Frederick, _A_n_alyzingMe_dia Messages Using
Qaantitative Content Analysis in Research, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers,
New Jersey, (1998) 104-134.

Schlenker, Jennifer, Caron, Sandra L., and Halteman, William A., “A Feminist Analysis
of Seventeen Magazine: Content Analysis from 1945 to 1995,” Sex Roles, Vol.
38, (1998) 140.

Sciammacco, Christina, “Feminists Call for Closing of Wage Gap: Equal Pay Day
Shows Women Still Behind.” (Online) Available
http://www.now.org/nnt/05-98/wagegap.html, April 15, 1999.

Seligman, Daniel, “The Day Care Follies,” Fortune, (Feb. 15, 1988) p.123

 

Shaw, David, “Breaching the Wall. A Revolution in American Newspapers: Magazines
Feel Increased Pressure From Advertisers; Publishing: As More Firms Threaten to
Cancel Ads If They Dislike Story Content, Fear of Self-censorship by Editors
Grows,” Los Angeles Times, (Online) Available Lexis-Nexis, May 10, 1999.

“60 Seconds with Susan Taylor, Senior VP/Editor in Chief, Essence and Recipient of a

1999 Henry Johnson Fisher award,” Mediaweek, (Online) Available
Lexis-Nexis, January 25, 1999.

“A Study Reports Black Women Like Their Bodies and White Women Are Unhappy,”
,J_e_t, (July 31, 1995) 12.

Titunik, Vera, “Exposing Discrimination Against Married Women,” The American
Lager, (July 1994/Aug. 1994) p. 33.

“TV’s ‘Living Single Gives Positive Image of Black Women,” Jat, (Oct. 4, 1993) 57.

Widgery, Robin, Angur, Madhuker G. and Nataraajan, Rajan, “The Impact of
Employment Status on Married Women’s Perceptions of Advertising Message
Appeals,” Journal of Advertising Research, Vol. 37, (1997) 54.

Young, Cathy, “The Lipstick Proviso: Women. Sex a_n_d Power in the Real World.”
Reason. Vol. 29, (1997) 52.

138

MICHIGQN sran UNIV. LIBRQRIES
11WI11111111111H1|”Illlll1111111111111
31293017716352