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Problematizing the Problem: A Cross-Cultural Study of Problems in Women's Advice Articles

Year 2022, Volume: 16 Issue: 2, 197 - 214, 06.12.2022
https://doi.org/10.47777/cankujhss.1084879

Abstract

In this study, the sex and relationship advice articles in locally-produced English
language women’s magazines from three different contexts, which are, Malaysia, the
US, and two Middle Eastern countries, Egypt and the UAE, were examined to explore
the kinds of problems that appear in each context. According to Machin and Van
Leeuwen (2003), the problem-solution discourse schema used by several international
editions of Cosmopolitan is essentially a global one. We aim to investigate if this schema
can be applied to home-grown women’s magazines as well. Sex and relationship advice
articles from six home-grown English language women’s magazines (two magazines
from each context) were analysed. The findings reveal variations in the definitions and
contextualisation of each problem category in the three contexts. However, the overall
aim of these articles is rather similar. That is, the problems that appear in these
magazines are chosen to help women find answers to achieve certain life goals such as
independence and confidence in all three contexts.

References

  • Al-Kawthari, Muhammad. Islamic Guide to Sexual Relations. Tooting. Huma Press, 2008.
  • Berns, Nancy. “My Problem and How I Solved it”: Domestic Violence in Women's Magazines. The Midwest Sociological Society, Vol. 40, No. 1, 1999, pp. 85-108.
  • Brown, Ann and Tess Knight. “Shifts in Media Images of Women’s Appearance and Social Status from 1960 to 2010: A Content Analysis of Beauty Advertisements in Two Australian Magazines.” Journal of Aging Studies, Vol. 35, 2015, pp. 74–83.
  • Caldas-Coulthard, Carmen Rosa. 'Women Who Pay for Sex. And Enjoy it': Transgression Versus Morality in Women's Magazines. In Caldas-Coulthard, Carmen Rosa and Malcolm Coulthard (Eds.), Text and Practice: Reading in Critical Discourse Analysis. Routledge, 1996.
  • Ceulemans, Mieke and Guido Fauconnier. Mass Media: The Image, Role, and Social Conditions of Women. A Collection and Analysis of Research Materials. Catholic University of Leuven, the Department of Communication Science. Paris: UNESCO, 1979.
  • Conlin, Lindsey and Kim Bissell. “Beauty Ideals in the Checkout Aisle: Health-related Messages in Women’s Fashion and Fitness Magazines.” Journal of Magazine and New Media Research, Vol. 15, No. 2, 2014, pp. 1-19.
  • Conradie, Marthinus. “Constructing Femininity: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Cosmo.” Southern African Linguistics and Applied Language Studies, Vol. 29, No. 4, 2011, pp. 401-417.
  • Crusmac, Oana. “Post-feminism and Specialized Media: A Content Analysis of Cosmopolitan Headlines.” Journal of Gender and Feminist Studies, Vol. 1, No. 15, 2013.
  • Erjavec, Karmen. “How to Have Good Sex? The Cosmopolitan’s Construction of Common Sense and Consensual View of Sexuality.” Medijska istraživanja, Vol. 12, No. 2, 2006, pp. 41-62.
  • Equivocal. Malaysia: “Electronic Gadgets and Social Media Partly Responsible for Divorce among Couples.” [ONLINE] Available at: https://thecoverage.my/ technology/malaysia-electronic-gadgets-social-media-partly-responsible-for-divorce-among-couples/. 2016, [Accessed 8 April 2022].
  • Farvid, Panteá and Virginia Braun. “‘Most of us Guys are Raring to Go Anytime, Anyplace, Anywhere’: Male and Female Sexuality in Cleo and Cosmo.” Sex Roles, Vol. 55, 2006, pp. 295-310.
  • Gattuso, Suzy, Fullagar, Simone, and Ilena Young. “Speaking of Women’s ‘Nameless Misery’: The Everyday Construction of Depression in Australian Women’s Magazines.” Social Science and Medicine, Vol. 61, No. 8, 2005, pp. 1640-1648.
  • Gauntlett, David. Media, Gender and Identity: An Introduction. Routledge, 2008.
  • Gill, Rosalind. “Mediated Intimacy and Post Feminism: A Discourse Analytic Examination of Sex and Relationships.” Discourse and Communication, Vol. 3, 2010, pp. 345-369.
  • Hochel, Sandra. “To Veil or Not to Veil: Voices of Malaysian Muslim Women.” Intercultural Communication Studies, Vol. XXII, No. 2, 2013, pp. 40-57.
  • Ibrahim, Ismail. Women's Magazines in the Arab World. International Pub. & Dist. House, 1996.
  • Keddie, Nikki. Women in the Middle East: Past and Present. Princeton University Press, 2007.
  • Lorenset, Caroline. Visual and Lexicogrammatical Analysis of Websites of Women's Magazines. The International Gender and Language Association, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina – UFSC, 2012.
  • Lulu, Reem and Sharifah Alkaff. ““Put on That Red Lipstick”: Cross-Cultural Analysis of Solutions in Advice Articles of Women’s Magazines.” Çankaya University Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, Vol. 13, No.2, 2019, pp. 187-204.
  • Machin, David and Joanna Thornborrow. “Branding and Discourse: The Case of Cosmopolitan.” Discourse and Society, Vol. 14, No. 4, 2003, pp. 453-471.
  • Machin, David and Joanna Thornborrow. “Lifestyle and the Depoliticisation of Agency: Sex as Power in Women's Magazines.” Social Semiotics, Vol. 16, No. 1, 2006, pp. 173-188.
  • Machin, David and Theo Van Leeuwen. “Global Schemas and Local Discourses in Cosmopolitan.” Journal of Sociolinguistics, Vol. 7, No. 4, 2003, pp. 493-512.
  • Mahadeen, Ebtihal. “Reflecting on Media Texts as Platforms for Sexuality Research in Arab Countries.” Graduate Journal of Social Science, 9.3, 2012, pp. 47-53.
  • McGee, Micki. Make-over Culture in American Life. Oxford University Press, 2005.
  • Morris, Penelope. “A Window on the Private Sphere: Advice Columns, Marriage, and the Evolving Family in 1950s Italy.” The Italianist, Vol. 27, 2007, pp. 304-332.
  • Nydell, Margaret. Understanding Arabs: A Contemporary Guide to Arab Society. Nicholas Brealey Publishing, 2012.
  • Sabbagh, Amal. The Arab States: Enhancing Women’s Political Participation. In J. Ballington, and A. Karam (Eds.), Women in Parliament: Beyond Numbers (pp. 52-71). International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, 2005.
  • Tinsley, Howard E. and David Weiss. Interrater Reliability and Agreement. In H. E. A. Tinsley and S. D. Brown, Eds., Handbook of Applied Multivariate Statistics and Mathematical Modelling, pp. 95-124. Academic Press, 2000.
  • Wang, Lay K. “Ways of Seeing Malaysian Women: Sketches of Women in Magazines in the Global Age.” Malaysian Journal of Communication, 22, 2006, pp. 117-133.
  • Zhao, Miao and Yimin Zhu. “A Content Analysis of Advertisements in Women's Fashion Magazines in China.” Proceedings of the 17th International Academic Conference, (pp. 632-632). Vienna, 2015.

Kadın Dergilerinde Tavsiye Yazıları

Year 2022, Volume: 16 Issue: 2, 197 - 214, 06.12.2022
https://doi.org/10.47777/cankujhss.1084879

Abstract

Kadın Dergilerinde Tavsiye Yazıları: Bu çalışmanın amacı, Malezya, Amerika ve Orta Doğu (Mısır ve Birleşik Arap Emirlikleri) olmak üzere 3 farklı bağlamda İngilizce dilinde basılan kadın magazinlerinde cinsellik ve ilişki tavsiyeleri konularında kaleme alınmış yazıları incelemektir.     

In this study, the sex and relationship advice articles in locally-produced English language women’s magazines from three different contexts, which are, Malaysia, the US, and two Middle Eastern countries, Egypt and the UAE, were examined to explore the kinds of problems that appear in each context. According to Machin and Van Leeuwen (2003), the problem-solution discourse schema used by several international editions of Cosmopolitan is essentially a global one. We aim to investigate if this schema can be applied to home-grown women’s magazines as well. Sex and relationship advice articles from six home-grown English language women’s magazines (two magazines from each context) were analysed. The findings reveal variations in the definitions and contextualisation of each problem category in the three contexts. However, the overall aim of these articles is rather similar. That is, the problems that appear in these magazines are chosen to help women find answers to achieve certain life goals such as independence and confidence in all three contexts.

References

  • Al-Kawthari, Muhammad. Islamic Guide to Sexual Relations. Tooting. Huma Press, 2008.
  • Berns, Nancy. “My Problem and How I Solved it”: Domestic Violence in Women's Magazines. The Midwest Sociological Society, Vol. 40, No. 1, 1999, pp. 85-108.
  • Brown, Ann and Tess Knight. “Shifts in Media Images of Women’s Appearance and Social Status from 1960 to 2010: A Content Analysis of Beauty Advertisements in Two Australian Magazines.” Journal of Aging Studies, Vol. 35, 2015, pp. 74–83.
  • Caldas-Coulthard, Carmen Rosa. 'Women Who Pay for Sex. And Enjoy it': Transgression Versus Morality in Women's Magazines. In Caldas-Coulthard, Carmen Rosa and Malcolm Coulthard (Eds.), Text and Practice: Reading in Critical Discourse Analysis. Routledge, 1996.
  • Ceulemans, Mieke and Guido Fauconnier. Mass Media: The Image, Role, and Social Conditions of Women. A Collection and Analysis of Research Materials. Catholic University of Leuven, the Department of Communication Science. Paris: UNESCO, 1979.
  • Conlin, Lindsey and Kim Bissell. “Beauty Ideals in the Checkout Aisle: Health-related Messages in Women’s Fashion and Fitness Magazines.” Journal of Magazine and New Media Research, Vol. 15, No. 2, 2014, pp. 1-19.
  • Conradie, Marthinus. “Constructing Femininity: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Cosmo.” Southern African Linguistics and Applied Language Studies, Vol. 29, No. 4, 2011, pp. 401-417.
  • Crusmac, Oana. “Post-feminism and Specialized Media: A Content Analysis of Cosmopolitan Headlines.” Journal of Gender and Feminist Studies, Vol. 1, No. 15, 2013.
  • Erjavec, Karmen. “How to Have Good Sex? The Cosmopolitan’s Construction of Common Sense and Consensual View of Sexuality.” Medijska istraživanja, Vol. 12, No. 2, 2006, pp. 41-62.
  • Equivocal. Malaysia: “Electronic Gadgets and Social Media Partly Responsible for Divorce among Couples.” [ONLINE] Available at: https://thecoverage.my/ technology/malaysia-electronic-gadgets-social-media-partly-responsible-for-divorce-among-couples/. 2016, [Accessed 8 April 2022].
  • Farvid, Panteá and Virginia Braun. “‘Most of us Guys are Raring to Go Anytime, Anyplace, Anywhere’: Male and Female Sexuality in Cleo and Cosmo.” Sex Roles, Vol. 55, 2006, pp. 295-310.
  • Gattuso, Suzy, Fullagar, Simone, and Ilena Young. “Speaking of Women’s ‘Nameless Misery’: The Everyday Construction of Depression in Australian Women’s Magazines.” Social Science and Medicine, Vol. 61, No. 8, 2005, pp. 1640-1648.
  • Gauntlett, David. Media, Gender and Identity: An Introduction. Routledge, 2008.
  • Gill, Rosalind. “Mediated Intimacy and Post Feminism: A Discourse Analytic Examination of Sex and Relationships.” Discourse and Communication, Vol. 3, 2010, pp. 345-369.
  • Hochel, Sandra. “To Veil or Not to Veil: Voices of Malaysian Muslim Women.” Intercultural Communication Studies, Vol. XXII, No. 2, 2013, pp. 40-57.
  • Ibrahim, Ismail. Women's Magazines in the Arab World. International Pub. & Dist. House, 1996.
  • Keddie, Nikki. Women in the Middle East: Past and Present. Princeton University Press, 2007.
  • Lorenset, Caroline. Visual and Lexicogrammatical Analysis of Websites of Women's Magazines. The International Gender and Language Association, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina – UFSC, 2012.
  • Lulu, Reem and Sharifah Alkaff. ““Put on That Red Lipstick”: Cross-Cultural Analysis of Solutions in Advice Articles of Women’s Magazines.” Çankaya University Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, Vol. 13, No.2, 2019, pp. 187-204.
  • Machin, David and Joanna Thornborrow. “Branding and Discourse: The Case of Cosmopolitan.” Discourse and Society, Vol. 14, No. 4, 2003, pp. 453-471.
  • Machin, David and Joanna Thornborrow. “Lifestyle and the Depoliticisation of Agency: Sex as Power in Women's Magazines.” Social Semiotics, Vol. 16, No. 1, 2006, pp. 173-188.
  • Machin, David and Theo Van Leeuwen. “Global Schemas and Local Discourses in Cosmopolitan.” Journal of Sociolinguistics, Vol. 7, No. 4, 2003, pp. 493-512.
  • Mahadeen, Ebtihal. “Reflecting on Media Texts as Platforms for Sexuality Research in Arab Countries.” Graduate Journal of Social Science, 9.3, 2012, pp. 47-53.
  • McGee, Micki. Make-over Culture in American Life. Oxford University Press, 2005.
  • Morris, Penelope. “A Window on the Private Sphere: Advice Columns, Marriage, and the Evolving Family in 1950s Italy.” The Italianist, Vol. 27, 2007, pp. 304-332.
  • Nydell, Margaret. Understanding Arabs: A Contemporary Guide to Arab Society. Nicholas Brealey Publishing, 2012.
  • Sabbagh, Amal. The Arab States: Enhancing Women’s Political Participation. In J. Ballington, and A. Karam (Eds.), Women in Parliament: Beyond Numbers (pp. 52-71). International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, 2005.
  • Tinsley, Howard E. and David Weiss. Interrater Reliability and Agreement. In H. E. A. Tinsley and S. D. Brown, Eds., Handbook of Applied Multivariate Statistics and Mathematical Modelling, pp. 95-124. Academic Press, 2000.
  • Wang, Lay K. “Ways of Seeing Malaysian Women: Sketches of Women in Magazines in the Global Age.” Malaysian Journal of Communication, 22, 2006, pp. 117-133.
  • Zhao, Miao and Yimin Zhu. “A Content Analysis of Advertisements in Women's Fashion Magazines in China.” Proceedings of the 17th International Academic Conference, (pp. 632-632). Vienna, 2015.
There are 30 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language English
Subjects Creative Arts and Writing
Journal Section Articles
Authors

Reem Lulu 0000-0002-7737-2465

Sharifah Nurul Huda Alkaff This is me

Early Pub Date December 1, 2022
Publication Date December 6, 2022
Published in Issue Year 2022 Volume: 16 Issue: 2

Cite

APA Lulu, R., & Alkaff, S. N. H. (2022). Problematizing the Problem: A Cross-Cultural Study of Problems in Women’s Advice Articles. Cankaya University Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 16(2), 197-214. https://doi.org/10.47777/cankujhss.1084879

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