ABSTRACT
This research
examines how the ideal white beauty is portrayed in the cosmetic advertisements in a popular women’s magazine
named Women’s Health, which is mainly based on the topics of health,
diet, fitness and fashion, and how this contemporary women’s magazine uses the
stereotypical representations of women in the cosmetic advertisements. With
this aim, this paper bases its argument on the cultivation theory, which points
out that the media indeed constructs the world that others should live in, and
it presents the gender stereotypes that they
should embrace (Bögenhold & Naz, 2018: p. 60). Thus, it is the media, which shapes how people
understand the gender representations in real life. In this research, the
researcher has used social semiotics as a method in order to reveal that. It is
seen that the magazine basically uses five different stereotypical
representations of women, which are the sex kitten, the classic and feminine
model, the cute model or lolita, the trendy model, and the casual model. The magazine creates a perception that wearing
make-up is essential for good-looking and attracting the opposite sex
and by using most of the models as a decorative object, the magazine uses
benevolent sexism. Overall, the magazine
shows to the average women how gender roles should be perceived through stereotypical representations so that they
can apply them in real life. Nevertheless, the usage of an elderly woman
creates a contrast in the stereotypical
representation therefore it is seen as progressive. Thus, the magazine, which takes a broad-minded step,
breaks the conventional representation of women in the cosmetic
advertisements.