Representations of female sexuality

I remember my grandparents’ close friends being fashion label manufacturers and owning retail outlets, people dressing me at a young age,  telling me how slim and tall I am, and I remember the discomfort I felt when everyone in my preschool class was shorter than I was.  My grandmother and all of these people told me I should go into modelling or air hosting. She worked in the retail industry. I remember at the age of 9, holding my baby Louis Vuitton over my wrist and knowing they came from Istanbul, walking my jewel stiletto’s and knowing that it came from Euroart, having diminutive cleavage, and my underwear coming from Lasenza and a crop off shoulder cleavage mess and lace top and beached skinny jeans from LTD and YDE. I straightened my frizzy hair, and this entailed 45 minutes of pulling with a roundbrush and hairdrier or using chemicals. My biggest desire was to be a lingerie model, even though I also loved writing, sketching and painting. I feel embarrassed as my hair has a label, if I don’t have perfectly sculpted Wembley clinic eyebrows, I feel like a caveman, with my premiere gym contract and my fruity shower gel and shampoo. I am a product of consumerism; my beauty is a product of consumerism. My ability to buy my hair after cutting it short is an ability to attain the unattainable. I’m proud to say that at a young age I became a product of social engineering, buying into a particular construction of femininity, more importantly a particular form of desirability and attractiveness being sex appeal. This was constructed by models, really thin women with boobs that formed a v shape and never sagged, their arms and legs muscular, their bodies waxy and hairless expect for their head filled luscious locks that flowed. This consumerism I saw and bought into became a part of my socialisation.

My early reading of sexual narratives was in my art class, I later on went on to reading Cosmopolitan.  I attempted to focus on the sex advice section and found myself overcome with insecurities, that I ended up reading all the advice columns regarding work, beauty, health, relationships and sex. It came to my attention that even though the media was read by people who revered consumerism and prised in it, the people represented were alpha of their kind because they were well rounded individuals. I remember getting an issue each month, along with my new pair of jewelled stiletto’s, thigh length boots, and lacy lingerie. My grandmother’s cheque book never bounced and her credit card was never declined. Later I used this way of thinking, lifestyle and marketing to incorporate it into my writing attempting to create a body of literate that is sexy, desirable, and descriptive. I have experience in retail and print journalism. When I worked in retail I remember dressing people, people wanting what I had on my body as if I was a mannequin and this reminded me of my grandmother and my early experiences of just being a consumer. When you are in the fashion industry be it retail if in store, manufacturing, designing or consumer you learn the art of perfection. You find things that help to change people’s lives and your own. Products can eliminate your insecurities and exhibit your bodily and material assets.

These magazines, like Cosmopolitan emphasizes that sexuality and consumerism are drivers of a mass culture industry. Femininity and consumerism are strongly linked achieves the empowerment of women. Although a monolithic paradigm of what it means to be a women and what female sexuality is, and portrayed as.  I used this to market what type of women was looking for, to conduct my interviews. They needed to be thin, having flowing locks, have cleavage and long legs. Their dress code being shorts or miniskirts with low cut tops. Moreover, the advertisement emphasises confidence and sassiness which is what I think Cosmopolitan embodies.  Each woman will be given 10 interviews to distribute; questions will be indirect and specific. However, interviewees will be eased into interviews and thanked by incentives such as sweets or samples of edible body products. Our main interest is helping you as the consumer or spectator to eliminate any of your insecurities through sharing and consumerism. As they say retail therapy is the best therapy. Below is a picture of Gabriella David at Cape Town Fashion Week, the same picture was used for my advertisement, seeking female interviewers. I have an expectation for them to look like or resemble her.

The research regards the exploration of representations of women sexuality in the media. How women are represented in Cosmopolitan, Men’s Health and Cleo? How they are represented in sexual narratives such as sex tips in the sex section of these magazines? Sexual narratives are peoples lived and meditated experiences of sex, sexuality and sex appeal. I shall be bringing together different arguments from the following authors:  Laguitan, Wood, Patrizia Gentile and Kite on how female sexuality is represented in gender stereotypes. Additionally I will go onto explain how most media imagery regarding female sexuality, the way it is associated with thinness. The way thinness is seen as empowering and an ideal that is influenced by socialisation factors that cause young women to be obsessed with weight.

Five magazine articles about sex and sexual activities will be used to explore how women’s sexualities are represented within the media. I have collected these articles about sex and sexual activities. The magazines I have selected are Cosmopolitan, Cleo and Men’s Health. The concept of representation will be linked to identity which is linked to taste and preferences. Furthermore representations of female sexuality and constructions of femininity found in these magazines will be expanded on. The research will be focusing on what it means to be gendered as women and how these are represented in a mediated paradigm but how this contrasts with lived experiences/realities/appearance of women. In this way how the public becomes the private. Shifting focus to how much autonomy and control women have over their sexualities. How do these women exercise this power and what it means to them? Brings us back to how their female sexualities are portrayed and represented in the media. In order to do this one would first have to look at appearance because it is the focal point of any sexual activity. Discourses of appearance are strongly linked to sexualized discourses/narratives. Exhibitionism and consumerism are key terms when referring to sexuality that is embedded in a niche market. Exhibitionism is when people are displayed; they are moulded into what is desirable and are seen as commodities.  In Men’s Health Stoddard re-labels sexual objects, niche market of sex as exhibitionism. (Stoddard, 2006:143)

The woman wearing sexy lingerie for her man and striping for him regardless who bought it still has motives of preserving and representing a patriarchal gaze where women are there to serve men. In this way women are depicted as sexual objects.  Bell Hooks in representations of black women dancing is seen as a sensual but pejorative act. It focuses on particular body parts of women such as their bums and breasts. Additionally, women are the performers, and are the ones who enjoy performing. October 2012 Cosmopolitan cover girl Miranda Kerr, Men’s Health dream girl and Cleo cover girl appeared in Kanye West feating Pharell Williams, Number One, she wore a swimsuit and lingerie while they sang this hip-hop/ r’ n b song while the camera slowly scanned over her body. This uses her body as a platform of what perfection or the number one girl is, "Number 1, Smash hit, off the charts, classic, soon as I done, home to hold your heart. And smash it.” Basically stating that this is the yardstick for what men desire and what is desirable.  The emphasis is placed on the naked body as desired, lusted, and exotic. In Cosmopolitan and Cleo they enjoy participating in striptease and lap dancing; it arouses “her” man and helps you as a woman to get in touch with your sexuality. In Cosmo women are going to “striptease lessons,” giving their “man lap dances.”  (Van den Berg, 2009:102) The focus is on pleasing men, being attractive to, desired by men, what arouses men. This is described in Cosmo’s Robb’s Penis GPS: Master his member giving a breakdown of instructions on how to give your man good penis foreplay these include blow jobs and hand jobs. (Robb, 2012:88) for a women’s magazine that constantly claims to prove that they want women to empower themselves by taking control of their sexualities and careers, their main focus is how to please men, therefore offering a male gaze into what is desirable, attractive or needed. However as Hook points out that dancing is originally associated with representations of black female sexuality which is often associated with Satanism, dirtiness and seduction. In these articles white women are participating in these acts. Striptease and lap dances are normally something a man pays for from a prostitute. Prostitutes are women who are paid to perform sexual activities.

 These female readers are willing to “put on a show” for their partners who are predominantly men in exchange for underwear and the need to be desired and found attractive. “One key to a great relationship is a healthy sex life. My boyfriend loves to buy me sexy lingerie, and when he’s lucky I give him a little show. Maybe it would be hot if I bought him a policeman’s uniform.” (Van den Berg, 2009: 102) Getting in touch with one’s sexuality was an important part of grand sexual experiences and narratives. These include statements about edible grooming products and masturbation, Angelina Jolie shares “I love to put on lotion. Sometimes I’ll watch TV and go into a lotion trance for an hour. I try to find brands that don’t taste bad in case anyone wants me.” Regarding masturbation, Kim Cattrall, “The earlier you learn to masturbate the better your sex life will be. It took me years of self-discovery to get there- even read books by sex therapists and stood naked in front of the mirror to try to learn how to get in touch with my body.” Secondly Woody Allen says that “don’t knock masturbation- it is sex with someone you love.” (Van den Berg, 2009: 102) Confidence and trust in conjunction with communication is seen as key to achieving this but is secondary to investing in sex toys and masturbation. Lastly the lack of representation of ethnic groups and sexual minorities, as the main focus in these magazines is heterosexual sex.

In Cleo, a female magazine, “6 sex tips by women who know;” (Baker, 2009:94) is fragments of sexual experiences/narratives to create a grand narrative of sex and sexuality of women. Traditionally women did not openly voice their views about sex as it was and still is a very private and intimate thing. Predominantly heterosexual sexual relations and representations are presented, using words like “my boyfriend”, “my man” or “my husband.” Additionally that sex is exclusive to relationships. (Baker, 2009:98) Furthermore the purpose of the article is to tackle any insecurity and commonalities regarding sex, it does so by sharing the sexual experiences of readers, Cleo’s response is to the experience and what experts say. In this way they present a “realistic” account of sexual narratives. The focal point is the heteronormative ideal that sex is all about appearance, it labours the point that sex appeal is associated with being “sexy” but also that “looking sensational” and “dressing to impress” is important to have great passionate sex. (Baker, 2009:99) The imagery used with the article supports its argument, with pictures of sexy lingerie, textures of leather, satin, lace and silk serve as enticing and titillating. Touching these lingerie is associated with sexiness, sense of touch is important during sex particularly for women who mainly get orgasms by clitoral stimulation. As these fabrics are used for evening wear, they create a glamorous this is based on the idea that sex is mainly had at night and that sex should be in the done in the bedroom. Even though those ideas are only implied implicitly, the article contradicts itself by stating in one of the six steps that one needs to step out of one’s comfort zone, “3. Get out Of the Bedroom,” the sense of touch is very important because in this context sex is seen as a sensual and intimate thing. (Baker, 2009:97) Furthermore this explicitly implies that traditional ideas about sexual activities and its location have shifted from the private to the public. However, even though the sex has moved out of the bedroom it is still had in the house, “be adventurous, curious and keep mixing things up-don’t restrict sex to the bedroom.” (Baker, 2009:97)  It fails to prove its main point in this section as the sexual narratives of these female readers is not progressive as it is still done in the household, “try on the kitchen bench, on couch, or on the dining-room table.” (Baker, 2009:97)

The imagery represents a particular type of femininity, this is that there is a certain way that women need to be and should behave. They are associated and must be seized by consumerism. Tons of lingerie is photographed. This conveys the message that in order to be sexy and have great sex means to wear sexy, expensive and high fashion underwear. This lingerie is mainly used to arouse, entice, seduce and entertain men. In this way women become the objects of men’s desire and sexual play things, “I took a few naughty pictures of myself in sexy lingerie.”  (Baker, 2009:98) This again labour’s the point that appearance is central in magazines particularly women’s magazines and this is associated with looking great and being in a relationship. This is targeted towards the heterosexual working woman. What is seen as healthy sex is focused on appearances and perfection such as exercising for the perfectly sculpted body, grooming particularly being hairless and moisturised. However even though the women sharing their experiences centre their narratives on bettering their relationships by bettering their sex lives focusing on their male partners and what gets him aroused, Cleo offers objective perspective on these narratives based on commonalities such as “grooming’s the first thing that slips once you’re comfortable.” (Baker, 2009:98) We people were asked where they think sex should be had, the participants from UCT stated that it is best performed in the bedroom but having it outside of this intimate arena makes it more adventurous.  In an interview UCT radio DJ and BA student, Carissa Cupido shares her views and experiences:

“I am open to the idea of sex being done in most places. I see the appeal in doing it in placed where the thrill of being caught is what drives you but I am a bit or a romantic at heart. I like sex in the bedroom. I think because it is private and intimate and comfortable.”

She acknowledged that she has an open mindedness when it comes to sex and where it should be performed. The stereotype of women being romantics, this is associated with intimacy and privacy. They believe sex should be had in the bedroom because it is an intimate place, the most intimate and private space of a person. Although having sex outside the bedroom is adventurous being in the bedroom is much more comforting as it is more “comfortable, intimate and private.” This gets rid of all the anxieties she has.  This brings us back to Cosmopolitan’s slogan of the “fearless fun female”, in every phrase and sentence she and her environment are described as sexy. Being sexy is associated with being fun and fearless this is equivalent to being thrilling. UCT radio DJ Carissa Cupido tells the story about the amount of emphasis that is placed on sexiness in the media industry:

“A lot of emphasis is placed on sexiness. There is a high demand for content of a sexual nature as sex sells. Many fashion advertisements or articles with accompanying products, using soft porn to seduce to seduce the reader to buy it. An example of this would be lingerie advertisements where women are in raunchy positions with sexually suggestive facial expression. In South Africa we are a diverse nation but this does not allow us to live in a vacuum away from the rest of Africa. We are Africans and are seen as being exotic, this view affects our view of what sexy is.”

In this way the reason the nature of the content is hyper sexualised is due to the demands of the readership. The media conveys its messages in a fashionable way, sex has become a product, and sexuality has become a market when reading the sex section advice column I realised that every article is accompanied with products for every need and sexually explicit or implicit imagery to arouse the reader and seduce the reader to buy it to cause release and comfort. This could explain the selective focus on the raunchy positions and gestures by lingerie and swimsuit models that grace the cover of Cosmopolitan and dominants the sheets of Men’s Health and Cleo particularly in the sex advice section. Additionally she acknowledges that this is a result of the stereotypes that Africans are seen as exotic. The media plays on and uses this marketing strategy to sell its products and convey its messages; these things are disguised as fashion trends to appeal to a market. The assumption is that if it is a trend, people will follow it and results will be produced. Although as South Africans we live in a diverse country, however the magazines like Cosmo plays on a singular voice that gives the illusion of a universal image. However, almost all of women are white lingerie or swimsuit models. This offers a monolithic view of what an alpha or desirable woman is, as my survey participants puts it, “it makes Cosmopolitan exclusive to white women.” The ordinary woman is not represented, and anyone who is not white, middle-class to rich, thin lingerie or swimsuit models are stigmatised. The hegemonic image is the white or Caucasian woman. When going through South Africa’s Cosmopolitan’s cover page archives I discovered that it only ever had one black person on the cover. However three things, she wore hair extensions, extremely skinny and blue eye contacts.

Women need to be seductive, adventurous, mysterious, autonomous, creative and about appearance.my view of  Cosmopolitan is that women in it are put on exhibition, the main image represented in this magazine accompanying articles are images of white women with long hair, perfectly sculpted bodies, perfectly painted faces half naked either barely covered by sheets, in lingerie or naked. Most of them are positioned in the “ride the pony” position which is wear the woman is positioned with her legs spread onto of the man, her breasts are bare and accessible for him to touch, suck or nibble. Regardless, they always oozed sex appeal, their facial expressions are pouting and alluring and their breast are exposed, their bodies are distorted but it appears painless. There is a lack of representations of ethnicity and sexual minorities. (Tara.K, 2009:1) The heterosexual couple is mainly represented and portrayed. The male gaze is used to depict these women as sexual objects and play things. They are seen as the object of every man’s desire. (Wood, 1994:36) The women in the Cosmopolitan article are celebrities but in Cleo ordinary women share their sexual experiences.

The Hollywood actresses in character in films they have been in. the advice that celebrity women gave were mostly about having self-knowledge of one’s body, trusting one’s self and one’s partner and being in touch with one’s self and sexuality. Comparing this to what the ordinary everyday women stated that sexy lingerie, getting out of the bedroom and sex toys are needed. The main focus was the exhibition of women’s bodies be it in sexual positions, masturbating, lingerie their partner’s bought.  Representations of sexuality and female bodies are described in western terms, this homogenises all women as a single group and stigmatises anyone who does not fit western criteria of whiteness. The female body is there to be moulded by constant work outs, desired and lusted by men and displayed with sexy lingerie. Women and men are represented in stereotypical roles, the focus is appearance and every aspect of a woman’s life can and should be used and adjusted to increase her sex appeal and better please the men in her life. (Kite, 2011:6) In Cosmopolitan, Men’s Health and Cleo claims to want to empower women however empowering for women, but as something men desire- a “turn-on” for someone else, rather than a source of personal power and self-esteem.

The impression that is given of women is that they enjoy being kinky and having sex as much as women do. Women enjoy performing in bed and being displayed/exhibited. The accompanying image is of a skinny white woman. Her body is perfectly sculpted tanned, long blonde locks in sexy matching lingerie and stiletto boots blindfolded untying herself from the ropes, the other image she is tied in chains. She is a sexual object, play thing there for male desire. (Gentile, 2007:1) This is a soft porn image of her lying on her stomach, polished and oiled. Her getting out of the chains and cuffs is symbolic of an emerging female sexuality that is assertive and dominates. (O’Shaughnessy and Stadler, 2010:138) This article is had two titles Do You Dare and Kinky with 4 sub titles, such as exhibitionism is women in sexy lingerie, women on display, sex toys, role playing, camera and action taking sexy pictures or videos with your partner, BDSM that is an abbreviation for bondage this entails tying up one’s partner. This article lends its statistics from Cosmopolitan, stating what women want in bed and if they want kinky sex. You might ask why would Men’s Health use Cosmopolitan this is because Cosmopolitan represents the alpha woman and Men’s Health represents the alpha man they strive for perfection, constantly wanting to better every aspect of their life and that is what the content of these magazines offer their readers. The alpha species are dominated, the leaders, succeeds, skilled at hunting and the most attractive. They have a preoccupation with appearance.

 

Julia T. Wood stated in Gendered Media: The Influence of Media on Views of Gender argues that the mediated representation of gendered power dynamics is that women are subject to men’s desires. The irony of this representation is that the qualities of beauty, sexiness, passivity and powerlessness that they are encouraged to develop in order to meet cultural ideals of femininity contribute to their victimisation. (Wood, 1994:36) Women are their beauty regardless of their achievements or their abilities. They receive the most attention when it revolves around their physical appearance. This allows them to be sexual objects that are exhibited for the desires of men, this victimisation is being disgusted as standards or means for empowerment. In Cosmopolitan femininity is strongly linked to appearance and consumerism. Her sexuality is something that can be bought and is disgusted as empowering is something that has restricted female sexuality to only one type of orgasm, only one dimension of sexual experience and discriminates people of sexual minorities.

Masturbation articles have dildo’s are displayed and marketed as a solution. The more realistic these dildos are in appearance or closer resemblance to a phallic the better.  In Cosmopolitan’s Masturbation article written by Twiggs is about female readers speaking about “a lifelike vibrator with veins on the shaft of the penis, and it has balls and settings.  In this way the vibrator can keep up with the woman’s pace. In this way she has control over her orgasms, the way she has orgasms and finding her gspot. They go on to give a male description of the dildo, talking about the “balls”, its size “12-inches.” (Twiggs, 2012: 72) Contrary to this the dildo is feminised, in this way feminising male sexuality; they become “pink dildos” that resemble a rabbit made of silicone. (Twiggs, 2012: 72) The appearance of silicone, rabbit shape and pink colour are symbols of femininity purely being about appearance and consumerism. Therefore this is an explicit way of describing how women have control over their own bodies by exploring their bodies. This is restricted to male genitals. This part of the article describe sex toys, titled Top of the toys a pun for the fashion dialect “top of the range” which again associates sexuality with fashion and consumerism. (Twiggs, 2012: 72) The readers who have knowledge about dildos share what types there are and what works best.

Additionally Laguitan states that magazines are created to generate consumers and through this gender stereotypes are reinforced. The women’s magazine industry distributes magazines that contain messages and signs about the nature of femininity. This form of popular culture tells us how to act and what our role in society should be. (Laguitan, 2009:1) Men’s magazines speak to the reader as a friend by offering hints, pointing out downfalls, and giving helpful advice. Compared to a women’s magazine the authors claim to be experts and provide their readers with factual information. Men are stereotypically believed to be masculine this means that being a man is centred on your physical strength and ability and not your emotions. Men can only be interested in consumerism and style if they were heterosexually promiscuous and violent enough.  (Kite, 2011:7) Men’s Health represents the muscularly fit, well groomed, wealthy and prominent man. Furthermore the main image used for the Do You Dare, is of a white, blonde naked women, loosely wrapped in ropes holding handcuffs and wipe. This image is associated with men and their association with violence and preying on or regulating women. Although the loosely wrapped ropes and her holding these weapons that are used as sex toys is symbolic of universalism and an emerging female sexuality, one that seeks adventure, is assertive and in touch with her body. The second image is a zoom in on her lower back, bum and thighs. She wears black lace panties with suspenders and fishnet stockings, her hands are handcuffed, even though she has the policeman gloves on. This could represent the victimisation and exploitation of women being bonded and in bondage while “she has sex.”(Stoddard, 2006:140) Without the use of her hands how does she get away if she no longer wants to have sex. How is this different to coercion crimes such as rape? This is accompanied by what one of the readers stated about their experiences of kinky sex that, “I like being powerless to stop him.” (Stoddard, 2006:141) The last image is a high angel shot that looks over the blond model lying on white fur rug in chains, black bikini, and pointy stiletto boots with buckles. She is viewed from a male point of view as Men’s Health is a men’s magazine, she is the prey or bait for men and male desire. She is the epitome of what it means to be sexy or have sex appeal. It’s total trust, and that’s sexy.” (Stoddard, 2006:141) Cosmopolitan limits its acknowledgement of any social group to white and heterosexual people. Anyone not pertaining to this description does not fit.

 

According to Tara.K it also emphasise the importance of looking sexy, acting sexy and attracting sexy men. It is important to note that the magazine has set standards and fails to acknowledge anyone who does not meet these standards; one could refer to the content as symbolic of the Aryan race of Hitler’s Nazi Germany, Genocide, or Apartheid. Furthermore all the articles give the impression that all women are heterosexual, this is that they are attracted to and want to attract men, this is stereotypical. Additionally this illustrates that heteronormativity which is associated with heterosexuality is central to Cosmopolitan and not sexual minorities. There is an absence of representation of sexual minorities, this is LGBTI. All the articles I collected from Cosmopolitan only have images of white and thin women, they are positioned in positions that resemble heterosexual sex, giving a male gaze over the female body as something to be lusted upon, desired, and displayed. (Kite, 2011:7)

Becoming gendered is a result of socialisation, as gender is a social construct this is linked to sexuality. One can refer to these as constructions of femininity and masculinity, sexuality being what it means to be a woman and what it means to be a man. (Connell, 1987:1) Feminism is a set of movements or agencies that advocate liberty, freedom and gender equality. I will be taking the stance of liberal feminists who believe in the right to sexual preference. Furthermore that everyone is entitled to make their own evaluations regarding sexual content when it comes to what fits their needs, preferences, and what is appropriate to them. Intersectionality is the interlocking aspect that makes up one’s identity. (Collins, date unknown: 7) The reasons these discourses of gender and sexuality studies interests me is due to my background, heritage of fashion. And what it means to follow trends and where they are rooted. How sexuality has always been a fashion trend, used to sell products and concepts. As constructions of femininity and masculinity are associated with what is desirable. Fashion advertisements, articles and generally magazines use soft porn images to market what they are selling. (O’Shaughnessy and Stadler, 2010:139) I am obsessed with my weight; hence I exercise like a machine. Therefore bodies that are toned, muscular and skinny are attractive to me.

In Cosmopolitan fitness and health are associated with sexiness, the thin girls with sex appeal wear lingerie, they are the models, and they advertise the clothes, shoes and lingerie. The products look better with them next to or on them. I believe in sex appeal and this is enhanced by cleavage, and showing your legs, the longer the better. For women sex appeal and perfect appearances are equated with great social and economic status. Beauty comes after money, what the magazines argue is that after money comes perfection and that in perfection there is power and desirability. Men’s Health has women with perfectly sculpted bodies, half naked in raunchy positions. My early experiences as a girl seeing these cover girls on Mtv and Ftv made me very conscious of my weight, constant reminder from my grandmother that fat girls don’t get married. She always warned me; “Nailah, please don’t get fat. No one wants to marry a fat and ugly girl.” That always stood out for me because I get abnormal amounts of male attention by too many men in my opinion. This was important to me as a Muslim women, artist, and writer and academic. This is because I come from a traditional family that revers religion. Mohanty argues that tradition is non-progressive; it neglects to see shifts with the progression of time and does not want to acknowledge differences. I acknowledge that this has always driven me to work hard on my body, because beauty equals pain. And I expected nothing less of any of the guys I was with as I saw them work out at gym, running on the pavement or beach. As stated by one of the Cleo readers that working out is to improve your appearance.

Furthermore that if you are in shape it improves your sex life as you find each other sexier. This is something that has always been important to me that if you don’t find yourself sexy, then you cannot sell that impression to anyone else. It starts with the self and getting in touch with your own sexuality. Also that buying into products that are sexually appealing requires you to be skinny, sassy, sexy and open to sexuality as evolving, dynamic and something that needs to be experimented with. The exercise, as the lingerie is there to improve your appearance, if you look good, you feel good and that improves your performance in all aspects of life. However it was interesting that weight loss and being thin is more important to women that relationships. I agree that your body is something you need to look after but something you need to explore and that should not be restricted. She states, “Started working out to improve our appearance. Not only did we lose lots of weight, but we also found each other sexier as we went along. I also started a lingerie collection, which definitely helped!” This being used as a solution to her relationship problems, is another indication of women as sexual objects, which is directly linked to exhibitionism. I remember as soon as I started working in retail, my plan was to buy as much lingerie as possible because I wanted it in abundance because I worked hard to get the perfect body.

My desire became a dying need that every man in Cape Town would want me, this need turned to every man in Africa and later every man on the globe. I am still longing for that. And every woman wanting me or considering wanting me. I am bisexual. I think this desire for women has only been a consideration due to fear of being stigmatised, as I am a Muslim, coloured woman in South Africa. Equality protects sexual minorities in South Africa’s Constitution; however sexual minorities are not well received. There is a lack of bisexual representations in the media, but also academically. Furthermore in Islam sex is post marital act that is for procreation purposes only. Women are supposed to be humble and subservient. They are supposed to be covered head to toe. I’ve always had a sexy sense of dress, revealing, fitted, wrapped. My grandmother always in Salaah tops (Muslim female traditional dress), always wearing a scarf.

I remember in my first year of gender studies I conducted research regarding women’s sense of dress and lack thereof determining the amount of respect they receive. This was largely based on my socialisation as a Muslim woman, my consumption of the media and the attention I received from people particularly men. I conducted research on Facebook posting status updates and pictures of various outfits some bikini pictures and others Salaah tops, the responses I received I used to elaborate my argument that men were still seeing women as sexual objects that need to be invaded, conquered, seized and penetrated. They treated women like land and this happen as early as colonial times. What was scary about this research that men saw women’s sense of dress as a reason for rape, and one Muslim man stated that Islam as a religion prevents this if women are humble and dress covertly. What was more shocking was the fact that only 1% the women I had on Facebook responded by either speaking around the point or just commenting superficially “nice pic” or just liking it. This was very disappointing to me as the only defence and assistance I got was form any female was one saying; “Okay, guys chill” after one Muslim guy said, that is what sets princesses apart from skanks, and this is why men rape women. I was infuriated I vigorously responded I could feel how my anger scorched the keyboard as I glared at the post on the computer screen. How, why, what possessed people to have such a non-progressive way of thinking.

Mohanty argues that this paradigm is the third difference or sexual difference where the socialisation and narrative of the other is seen as backward in comparison to western discourses. What is perceived as appealing differs through geographical and temporal space.  In this way it is important to contextualise the representations of female sexuality in the media. On the cover of South Africa’s Cosmopolitan the women represented are celebrities and models, most American. It is seldomly that a South African girl graces the covers, but when she does she comes in the form of a swimsuit or lingerie model. This is linked to what is seen as aesthetically appealing in South Africa that is described as Africa. That Africa is a dark and unfamiliar exotic continent with half naked women. By using this stereotype in their marketing strategy Cosmopolitan is targeting and appealing to wider audience as it is an international magazine. These women are in sexually suggestive positions wearing revealing outfits such as swimsuits, lingerie or short dresses. The internalisation of these ideals makes them appealing even when they do not apply or appeal to audiences anymore, but are upheld due to their stereotypical nature.

 

 

Methodology

Keeping in mind the information and the way I have interpreted it and what it has meant to me over the past few years, I have used the key points that I have seen in all the magazines regarding sex, sex appeal and the way women’s sexuality is represented. Exhibitionism of women, their bodies and sexualities and how this is linked to consumerism. I have decided to hire four female students to conduct my interviews. My first attempt to conduct this interview purely from other articles and in actively failed because it had no trends and lacked focus. Then I decided that in order to successed in sexualised research I would have to explore my own sexuality, dipping into my own preferences and indulging in as much of this sexualised content. Observing the imagery on Cosmopolitan, Cleo and Men’s Health and used it to create an advertisement. This imagery assisted me to select to decide on the image I wanted to use for my advertisement but also the person I wanted. I chose a model; her name is Gabriella David’s, she best known for being in Sports Illustrated 2007 and Fashion Week Cape Town 2010. My obsession with fitness and exercise has been rooted in and driven by this need to have perfectly sculpted body, and harvested by a fetish for bikini’s, lingerie, boots, grooming products that are edible scented, reading volumes of sexual literature. I could say this is Mtv, on which most of the women in these music videos were half naked, dressed in skimpy outfits but oozed sex appeal. They were sexy and apparently that was what sex appeal was, reading and glancing over every catalogue and spread of lingerie and swimwear models.  I played on the stereotype that Africa is exotic place filled with half naked women wearing nothing or skimpy outfits that replaces the “lion clothes” that we are seem to be walking in.

 

The literature and imagery will be conveyed through a semiotic analysis; this includes analysis of the three articles I have chosen regarding sex tips in the sex section in Cosmopolitan, Men’s Health and Cleo. A semiotic analysis is a systematic way of communicating messages conveyed and represented within media texts and images.  It has denotative and connotative elements. Denotation is the description of imagery that is value free. (O’Shaughnessy and Stadler, 2010:133) Connotation is the implied narrative. It contains symbolism and has associative meanings that the viewer or audience perceives in an image and they work on two levels: individual and cultural. Symbols are culturally specific. For example, lingerie in Western Culture, particularly American popular culture as traditional African dress is lion clothes and traditional Muslim dress are Salaah tops. The articles are restricted to representation of westernised women and representation of a western sexuality. This is monolithic and others anyone who does not fit within this heteronormative discourse. Individual connotations will not be used in this research as they are not shared by other people. Cultural connotation is the way in which different objects carry associations and connotations that are shared collectively by many people in a culture. Furthermore being aware of these connotations makes us aware of the cultural connotations in images. (O’Shaughnessy and Stadler, 2010:139)

Secondly doing a linguistic analysis of the words used in the articles and interviews and how they are shaped by the socialisation institutions such as the media, looking for trends, commonalities and diverse meanings embedded in dialogues and bodies of researched texts to convey the way the sexuality of women are represented and portrayed. Lastly I will be designing interviews with very specific questions and images which are directed toward unveiling a grand sexual narrative constructed from fragments of sexual narratives and discourses from a variety of people. These interviews will be conducted by female interviewers which will be paid by Pink Butter Diaries which is funded by me. These posters will be placed on the varsity noticeboards. I seek students to conduct the research due to their academic background which will assist the interviewees they approach as I have the underlining assumption that they will easily understand the concepts, the target market and the terminology or catchy phrasing but furthermore that they will know how to market the concept, use their body language and etiquette to allure, intrigue and indulge audiences. The criteria for getting selected to be a “sexy” interviewer is purely based on appearance; this includes being daring as stated by Men’s Health, being sexy and confident as Cleo and Cosmo put it. Lastly knowing how to speak bedroom and sexy dialogue, this is saying what you want, when you want, bargain, persuade and plead but above all use your bodily assets to get ahead. Basically the impression I get from these media texts and images are that anyone can be beautiful that’s the foundation but you are not just born with sex appeal, it’s something you build getting to know your body what arouses you and that is not restricted to being only something that is sexual. Health, fitness and independence is sexy this is immanent in Cosmopolitan. I was later told that outsourcing is not allowed and that even though the idea was good the methodology did not serve the research I was conducting. I then decided to create a standardised interview that I would conduct with 4 people face to face, 2 via social networking and 3 I emailed. Additionally I copied 20 questionnaires that I distributed randomly to people at campus.

 

The challenges I had while conducting this research was time constraint and scheduling of interviews as most people were extremely busy. Rescheduling was difficult considering my workload and personal responsibilities. Additionally assistance people by elaborating and adding on to the questions to get much more comprehensive and full answers. Firstly when it was time to conduct interviews, I had a particular audience in mind and my main target were women between the ages of 17 and 25 years old who have finished their schooling career and were now at a tertiary institution, working or who has worked.  The people interviewed and the participants that answered the questionnaires were all women who attend the University of Cape Town. One of the most challenging’s things was transcribing my interviews, particularly because one of them was conducted online. Although the answers were approached in a comprehensive fashion and well thought out, it was hard to differentiate the interviewee’s openness from superficiality and that was disappointing. I think the most difficult part for me as an independent researcher was approaching people with this topic as the content was of a sexual nature and required general and intimate responses regarding the topic. Most people glared in offence, others laughed and refused to participate. Surprisingly many of these women, shared their responses, while answering were doing so will male friends. Men were quiet interested in the face to face interviews, reading the questions, some of them filled out parts of the female participants questionnaires. More so, the questionnaires got much more comprehensive and sincere responses than the face to face interviews. Out of the 9 people scheduled and pleaded for interviews, I still await the response of 3, the other 2 the interviewees answers were boring and far too brief not even touching the point of the questions but speaking about other things not pertaining to the questions set, this irritated me so much and I wish people would be more open and not afraid to share their experiences and narratives as we are all people. The last one did not happen as the participant had other responsibilities that interfered with her schedule. All the questionnaires were answered within one and half days, this was the most successful part of my research process.

Many people were confused by the terminology; they asked me what is meant by certain terms this happened in the face to face interviews and the questionnaires.  Most participants omitted question 3 and 4. They struggled with the meaning of heterosexuality, heteronormativity and what a male gaze is. I then explained to them that heterosexuality and heteronormativity go hand in hand. Heteronormativity was the hegemonic discourse this is the dominant societal norm. Furthermore that heterosexuality was the dominant paradigm for what a relationship constitutes of. Mainly that a man and woman are in a relationship anything else is seen as abnormal such as LBGTI. Additionally that monolithic meant bias or partial, this was indicated on the questionnaires but somehow they still did not understand these words. Later it was discussed that one way of looking at the world was through a man’s eyes, this is referred to as the male gaze or patriarchy. Additionally people were too busy consumed in the fast pace of their own lives that they did not feel like answering questionnaires in the lunch break or free time.  Mainly people sitting in the cafeteria, computer labs and Jameson plaza were stalked and hassled. Later it was discovered that people were too busy doing work in the computer labs, that is when I decided to approach them in a much relaxed environment.

I targeted particular people, that I was aware of their positionality in society and I used this to shape my argument and the grand narrative of what representations of female sexuality entailed. Time constraints, distance and schedules limited my ability to read people’s body language and tone simply because I could not get the one on one face to face interview I needed. Maintaining a distance is very important particularly where moral judgement is concern, particularly if you know the people you interview, even though it is important to maintain the human face in your qualitative research. My journalistic experience has taught me that this is important, because what you are attempting to convey is an objective, informative argument. Additionally one has to realise that you are dealing with people, and approaching people in the right way is important, you have to have access to the environment, be aware of the body gestures that will alert you to whether or not they are comfortable or not, whether they are sincere or not. It has come to my attention that the content in Men’s Health, Cosmopolitan and Cleo are similar they resemble the same discourses that of Betteriness, sexiness and thinness. The women represented in these magazines are lingerie models. They prove that beauty comes before financial independence and with financial independence you can attain perfection and social status. They also demonstrated that you needed to come from a middle class to wealthy background. These often motivate them to work harder because they were more aware of a lifestyle and heritage they needed to maintain. These models had a business science or Commerce degree that complimented their beauty and perfectly sculpted bodies. They proved that they were not just beauty but brains, entrepreneurs and models seen as the perfect role models for women across the world who unsurprisingly promoted environmental awareness. This plays on the stereotype that all females are innately linked with nature, that they love crowns, flowers and animals. This is ironic considering that being a model, beauty pageant contestant and in the media industry is a superficial industry. In a survey conducted, 2 people omitted the question related to beauty and sex appeal.  When asked what their definition of sex appeal, beauty and success is, the standard definition was that sex appeal and beauty is very attractive without putting in too much effort. They continued to explaining that even though this attractiveness was rooted within confidence, the way you perceive yourself was affected by the perception people had of them.

 

 Furthermore that being happy with yourself and what you do was what success is. It is important to mention that none of the participants in the survey thought that wealth and success was linked to money and economic hierarchies, they believed it was about being beautiful and happy with who you are and what you do. It could be a result of what it means to be a woman, you have to be emotionally intrinsically rounded person to find your beauty and that often comes from within. A few of the Cosmopolitan cover girls lives and ideals will be explored, their images will be unveiled. Firstly, Miranda Kerr is a Victoria Secret model from Australia but Miss South Africa 2011 winner Melinda Bam is our everyday girl she comes from a family that revers fashion growing up with an abundance of it, living in luxury and she graduated with a Bcom degree in marketing.

 

 

 

The amount of media coverage and budget that goes into these pageants are ridiculous, but what is more astounding is that at a young age little girls are told that being beautiful and thin is important because otherwise you won’t get married or that you look like a princess in that dress. The image of women as princesses or sluts is prevalent. But as these pageants point out the princess is not the one who wins the beauty competition but the jack of all trades. Your parents buy you doll houses in every material, tiaras and matching shoes. I remember in preschool graduation made a speech in my navy, collar pockdot gown, with my cap. I later did this at every school I attended just with uniform. I was then made aware that public speaking and presenting is my trademark, I was told I had the beauty, brains and charisma.  I spent all day dressing, changed my outfits at least thrice a day and that made me feel pretty and gave meaning to my life. My mother had a saying if you look good you feel good but if you look bad and feel bad why you did come out, no wonder you feel worse. I have always kept this in the back of my mind and reminded myself that if I do not make it big in Cape Town, where I will start.

Of course I am no Candice Bouncer, Kristina Storm or Gabriella Davids and I am not trying to imitate anyone, but I would like to leave my mark on the world be a stereotype, graduate, have my profession, entrepreneur and keep advocating the rights of women, sexual minorities and trade unions. I have always had a slender body, long legs they start before my waist, when I hold my stomach in as I was taught, it becomes flattened. However I feel like I am to fat, these models serve as a benchmark of what a desirable body is.  I used to be a triple extra small or extra small if I want space to move around, now I am a small and sometimes a medium. This is hard for me and one of the reasons  I sank into a depression, it’s just hard going to gym and seeing women and girls who are  extra small and do not have protruding arses and cleavage. My parents still buy me tiaras but they make me aware that I have become a bit obese and the worst part is I know it and it is so hard. Losing the weight is hard, people telling you, you are either too fat or too thin, looking in the mirror or knowing that your partner notices this too.

 

Weight has always been an issue of mine and as a Muslim I naturally have to fast the month of Ramadan but at a particular time I imposed fasting as a way to lose weight this was inspired by Mahatma Gandhi. It worked but made me feel fatigue, gave me bad breath and agrevatated my skin, constantly feel nauseas. I later realised that you need to start within and tell yourself every day I am beautiful, stick up a little note somewhere you will always see it, add a smiley, just for laughs. This is because beauty comes from within and if you do not think you are beautiful no one else will. True story:  as clichéd as that might sound.  The magazines dictate that it is all about exercise and eating properly but not everyone can afford personal trainers, not moreover not everyone feels comfortable working out with one, we all feel insecure about our bodies and working out amplifies that insecurity. You need to do research your problem areas, speak to people, watch videos, Google information regarding your problem areas, and eat things that work for you; get rid of the things that sicken you. Sicking to my eating plan is something I am still trying to get that right but I am addicted to sugar and fizzy drinks. In the interviews I conducted all of the people thought that confidence drove sex appeal. Hence to be sexy you had to be confident.

To BA student, promoter and events waitress, Adrinana that thinness in women are desirable for, by and of women. She describes this desire as exclusively appealing to women. She states men seek the opposite:

“In women it is very desirable to be thin. Men’s magazines portray various women who are comfortable with their body type. Women in these magazines are more curvaceous. Women find being thin desirable, but men want curvy women.”

For BA student, ex retail assistant and newspaper journalist, Erin thinks that sex appeal and beauty are linked to discourses of thinness in a way that makes beauty unattainable. She says that there are particular women who dominant the covers and that this is not applicable to representing the ordinary woman.

“Well, the discourses of thinness stems from the images we see of models particularly lingerie models that are always on the covers.”

BA student and UCT radio DJ, Carissa Cupido thinks that images of desirable bodies derive from the images that models and celebrities project onto the ordinary woman.

“The conventional connotation of femininity and beauty is associated with being thin. I think that this comes mainly from modelling and celebrity platforms. Women are praised when they have lost weight or when they look good and are judged when they put on some weight. The link between the two makes sense in this respect.”

For all the interviewees thinness is important, and central to being beautiful and desirable. Although this thinness is a particular thinness that can only be found in models and celebrities not the ordinary person. They then go on to arguing that Men’s magazines has a much more standard variation of representation of female bodies than women’s magazine’s do suggesting that this is a direct result of what women see as desirable. Women are judged for their thinness by other women and that this mind-set is exclusive to women. Women are “praised” when they are thin but “degraded” when they are fat. This is a direct result again, of the socialisation that they have been exposed to as the women in represented on the cover of these magazines are thin models their beauty is emphasised in their thinness that is seen as desirable.

When asked what influenced their mind-set their answers differed due to childhood experiences of weight and what they thought were aesthetically appealing this was driven by what they had consumed from and observed in the media. Furthermore desire for stardom and a love for the passion for the arts triggered their state of mind.

For Carissa Cupido her earliest thoughts of weight were when she was a child being bullied for her overweightness. She speaks about how she has battled with weight:

“I was always chubby as a child so the issue of weight was a concern for me from my earliest childhood memories. Growing up I would always wish to be thinner and set goals for myself to lose weight. I was made aware of it even more when kids would make fun of me or family would highlight it in conversation. When I grew up a little I started reading female magazines and watching Fashion tv which made me even more aware and want to do something to get skinny.”

For Adrinana it was her passion for ballet. What was seen as aesthetically appealing by Adrinana was her love for ballet, her mother’s experience of being overweight. This caused her to feel insecure about her weight.

“I reached puberty in grade 8 and as a result in high school I picked up a lot of weight. I did classical ballet. I also had really big boobs at that age for a ballet dancer. Yip, this did not fit in with what was aesthetically appealing. Also my mom was skinny but she got really overweight. She projected this image onto me.”

 

For Erin it was during her childhood she realised that only thin girls could wear designer clothes.

“I think I started thinking about weight when I was 5 years old, my granddad bought me an orange crop top and hot pants. I remember it was designed by famous brand, Bianca. The clothes were only worn and paraded by models like Kristina Storm. From then on out I knew my body would be my biggest asset.”

All of these interviewees acknowledged that their views on weight and thinness started when they were children. They admit that what was aesthetically appealing to them was and still is being thin. This was the hegemonic discourse in all fashion trends. Furthermore the people who wore these clothes were models. Models were the ones on the cover of magazines; they were the ones we desired to look like at all costs. For all some female figure played a role in their socialisation of what it meant to beautiful, thin and what was socially acceptable when it came to femininity. All of them admitted that this was thinness. Their utopian was being as thin as the modals on the covers of magazines such as Cosmopolitan. They went further to acknowledge that there were bodily parts they hated and parts they loved say things such as “I had really big boobs for my age” and “I knew my body would be my biggest asset.” In this way insecurities regarding their bodies is seen as universal to all women, weight is seen as a universal issue to all women.

Additionally it was discovered that there was a strong link between a desire to be thin and bad habits. Two out of the three interviewees explained that they were on some form of diet and that they used exercise to lose weight and maintain their weight. One stated:

“I developed an eating disorder in high school, had anorexia. I started being a vegan then a vegetarian then I stopped eating and mainly lived on water. I also became obsessed with weight and started working out 2 to 8 hours a day, 7 days a week.”

The second acknowledged that losing weight was on “top of her to-do list” she then went on to explain the tactics she employed to keep fat at bay:

“It was only recently that I shed off the weight. Losing weight was always on top of my to-do list but it never materialised. I gave up meat, have about 4 carb free days a week and exercise almost every day now to lose weight and keep the weight off.”

The last person related her overweightness with a phobia for eating, she linked it to being emotionally vulnerable and unstable and losing weight to anxiety and stress. In this way weight became a result of internalisations of insecurities which caused stress, anxiety and phobia. Gaining and losing weight is a rollercoaster she explained, “I developed a phobia for being overweight. I am an emotional eater. If stressed I do not eat, so I lose more weight.”

Furthermore it was discovered that there was a strong correlation between discourses of thinness how it represents perfect bodies, these are the bodies that are represented in the media.

“I think the skinner you are the more attractive you are seen to be and the more desirable you are but this is more aesthetically appealing to women. These are the traits that women find in themselves and other women as desirable. The best way to look at this is to look at the content in magazines like Cosmopolitan where swimsuit and lingerie models dominate the covers. Their beauty is attainable but as Cosmopolitan puts it; it is a way of life. It is the days you feel worse for not eating, it’s the days you feel horrific for being on a fluid diet.”

The interviews admitted that the beauty appeared to be attainable if one bought into the lifestyle that Cosmopolitan had created around these images of perfection. Although in the questionnaires the participants acknowledged that the content displayed in Cosmopolitan was a representation of the people that worked at the magazine. When asked that responded that by having a black editor the content in the magazine would be more diverse and that various perspectives of all race groups would be presented to the readership. They still maintained the view that the heteronormative paradigm was the image of white women or Caucasian women, and that this made the messages, images conveyed in the magazine but also the magazine itself exclusive to white women. They stated that the Cosmopolitan and Men’s Health was targeted towards a certain category of people, that were successful and wealthy. They associated success with wealth but did not see there was any direct link between the two components.

Cosmopolitan and Men’s Health are famous for their portrayal of the best of the breed. The Alpha being the best of its species, outlasting the rest, described as survival of the fittest. An alpha woman is wealthy, successful and independent both smart and sexy. Due to the content particularly the imagery in magazines like Cosmopolitan, Cleo and Men’s Health I was seduced to having a narrow minded view of what it meant to be an alpha woman, I believed because the woman on the covers on Cosmo and Cleo were models and celebrities that this description was exclusive to models and celebrities. The research proved me wrong as a couple participants pointed out that “no it is not only exclusive to them.”  50% of the people did not know what an alpha woman was and 60% description proved to be incorrect. This led me to believe that people no longer had a preoccupation with perfection and survival of the fittest; they just wanted to be desired, socially accepted and exist. This is contradictory to the content that is in these magazines, they are hyperised; they are exaggerated, perfect images, content that focuses on survival and how to strive for perfection.

In addition every discourse in these magazines, in the media was a standard that an ordinary woman desired to be, attempted to be and strived to be and by doing this they had attained success. One of my participants pointed out so beautifully that the link consumerism had with feminism was that it sets a standard against which women measure their femininity and then strive to achieve by buying the products being advertised, looking or behaving in a certain way. Women strived to have perfect skin, bodies, teeth, feet, legs but what they strived towards was thinness, hairlessness, desirability and sexiness. Half of my participants stated that to be sexy you had to be desirable and this was only attained after attaining thinness. One participant’s definition of sex appeal, beauty and success was that it was defined by the cover girl. She set the standards that the reader desired to be, strived to be and longed but failed to be, obsession with consumerism left these women shovelling out of debt and eating disorders compensated their desire to be desired and sexy. For BA student, waitress, promoter and ballet dancer, Adrianna femininity and consumerism is linked in a distinct way that strives for perfection through wealth or obtaining perfection through wealth. She explains:

“A lot of the products are linked to femininity makes a lot of money. Well this is important because if you look good, you feel good. Make-up and cosmetics are a big industry and competitive market. There are lingerie boutiques but they are exclusively for women. We link these commodities to our appearance, and need to have a gym contract to maintain our bodies, going to parlours for nails and brows. Wealth and perfection overrides health. You can buy perfection with wealth. The more money you have, the more you can improve or mould yourself. If you feel good in your own skin, you look good; you have a better opportunity to obtain better job opportunities and more success.”

The most significant information I extracted from this was the fact that we internalise mediated imagery. We naturally want to and are led to believe that models naturally are born thin, have flawless skin and perfect shiny sleek luscious locks but as Adrianna pointed out, beauty is created and purchased. Consequently these bodies are processed, constantly under construction, they are photoshoppped. These models go to gym, they are on diets, or develop eating disorders, wear make-up and the perfect concealing outfits. All of these aspects work on and conceal their flaws leading the reader to believe that they are the unattainable beauty.

 

Conclusion and outcomes

For women discourses of sex, sexiness and desirability is linked to and associated with thinness. This is accurately represented in the magazines and media in general by models and celebrities particularly lingerie models who these women aspire to be like. Furthermore that weight is a universal issue for women this is heightened by their socialisation such as the images they consume in the media. Media images are used and recycled; sometimes the same image appears on different magazines or in different media sources such as music videos. This is due to the hegemonic and popular way people see things in society and their familiarity with the images, this is employed when composing a magazine as magazines is there to allow readers to identify with and state their insecurities. The main purpose of magazines is to generate sells, the main reason for the link between femininity and consumerism is the fact that sex sells, women are the objects/subjects of this lust and is preyed upon by men and scrutinised and judged by women. In the report we discovered that the monolithic view of women in the media and representation of female sexuality is that of the white women or middle class women.

Secondly the reason magazines like Cosmopolitan choose their cover girls is based on their slogan of the “Fearless Fun Female” that is sexy above everything else. The reason magazine like Men’s Health uses images that are in Cosmo, their articles are based by literature support by Cosmo, this is because Cosmo represents the alpha man and Men’s Health represents the alpha man. They are seen as the best of the breed. The imagery and literature although thrilling and open-minded portrays a monolithic and stereotype view of what the alpha woman should be. The cover girls who represent the readers who are ordinary women are models. The impression that is given is that these bodies are god given but their bodies do not naturally look like this. Their photographs are processed and photoshoppped. In this way sexuality has become the trend and sex an act to sell the female body. None of the women mentioned reproduction and contraception when asked about the link the health, beauty and wealth had with one another. They noted that healthy bodies are ones that are in “good shape”, sculpted by exercise but above all of thin.

Additionally consumerism focused on discourses of thinness, thinness sold the product or promoted the service, and that being thin and maintain a slim weight is what is desirable. The media industry profited on using desires of thinness to convey their ideologies of the desirable. Being in shape and thin is perceived to be sexy above anything else. The hegemonic discourse in magazines is thinness, female sexuality focuses on the exotic, desirable and sexy but all of this is equated with thinness. As the participants in the survey stated it is the cover girl that decides what is desirable and sexy. These cover girls are lingerie and a swimsuit model; their jobs are exotic and require them to be half naked in one to two pieces of fabric that is fitted, made in lace, satin or silk. This is used to play on the stereotype of the exotic and unknown being dangerous, desirable and sexy. Female sexuality is represented as autonomous when it comes to wealth but everything else in a women’s life is centred on alluring, seducing, getting or being with me. This is the dominant stereotype in all magazines. Cleo, Cosmopolitan are international magazines, therefore they use marketing strategies that are familiar to everyone. South African edition of Cosmopolitan uses the stereotype that Africa is an exotic place by using half naked women posing in skimpy outfits they emphasis what is seen as aesthetically appealing in that country by focusing on authenticity that people have internalised.

The challenges I had while conducting this research was time constraint and scheduling of interviews as most people were extremely busy. Rescheduling was difficult considering my workload and personal responsibilities. Additionally assistance people by elaborating and adding on to the questions to get much more comprehensive and full answers. Firstly when it was time to conduct interviews, I had a particular audience in mind and my main target were women between the ages of 17 and 25 years old who have finished their schooling career and were now at a tertiary institution, working or who has worked.  The people interviewed and the participants that answered the questionnaires were all women who attend the University of Cape Town. One of the most challenging’s things was transcribing my interviews, particularly because one of them was conducted online.

Although the answers were approached in a comprehensive fashion and well thought out, it was hard to differentiate the interviewee’s openness from superficiality and that was disappointing. I think the most difficult part for me as an independent researcher was approaching people with this topic as the content was of a sexual nature and required general and intimate responses regarding the topic. Most people glared in offence, others laughed and refused to participate. Surprisingly many of these women, shared their responses, while answering were doing so will male friends. Men were quiet interested in the face to face interviews, reading the questions, some of them filled out parts of the female participants questionnaires. More so, the questionnaires got much more comprehensive and sincere responses than the face to face interviews. Out of the 9 people scheduled and pleaded for interviews, I still await the response of 3, the other 2 the interviewees answers were boring and far too brief not even touching the point of the questions but speaking about other things not pertaining to the questions set, this irritated me so much and I wish people would be more open and not afraid to share their experiences and narratives as we are all people. The last one did not happen as the participant had other responsibilities that interfered with her schedule. All the questionnaires were answered within one and half days, this was the most successful part of my research process.

Many people were confused by the terminology; they asked me what is meant by certain terms this happened in the face to face interviews and the questionnaires.  Most participants omitted question 3 and 4. They struggled with the meaning of heterosexuality, heteronormativity and what a male gaze is. I then explained to them that heterosexuality and heteronormativity go hand in hand. Heteronormativity was the hegemonic discourse this is the dominant societal norm. Furthermore that heterosexuality was the dominant paradigm for what a relationship constitutes of. Mainly that a man and woman are in a relationship anything else is seen as abnormal such as LBGTI. Additionally that monolithic meant bias or partial, this was indicated on the questionnaires but somehow they still did not understand these words. Later it was discussed that one way of looking at the world was through a man’s eyes, this is referred to as the male gaze or patriarchy. Additionally people were too busy consumed in the fast pace of their own lives that they did not feel like answering questionnaires in the lunch break or free time.  Mainly people sitting in the cafeteria, computer labs and Jameson plaza were stalked and hassled. Later it was discovered that people were too busy doing work in the computer labs, that is when I decided to approach them in a much relaxed environment.

I targeted particular people, that I was aware of their positionality in society and I used this to shape my argument and the grand narrative of what representations of female sexuality entailed. Time constraints, distance and schedules limited my ability to read people’s body language and tone simply because I could not get the one on one face to face interview I needed. Maintaining a distance is very important particularly where moral judgement is concern, particularly if you know the people you interview, even though it is important to maintain the human face in your qualitative research. My journalistic experience has taught me that this is important, because what you are attempting to convey is an objective, informative argument. Additionally one has to realise that you are dealing with people, and approaching people in the right way is important, you have to have access to the environment, be aware of the body gestures that will alert you to whether or not they are comfortable or not, whether they are sincere or not.   

Due to time constraints, illness, confusion and constantly having to refocus my topic, I did not present a presentation of the representation of female sexuality in the media, but made arrangement with the course conveyor and lecturer to receive the same mark for my research report and presentation, as she will use the report to give marks to both. The main point is that magazines like Cosmopolitan focus on sexiness and desirability, these ideals are conveyed through discourses of thinness. The focus is that a woman’s appearance overrules everything else about her or in her life; it controls her socio-economic movement up the hierarchies of life. Why not Cosmopolitan or Cleo Campus edition, simply because I wanted to achieve a impartial view of what female sexuality means.

Timetable of research activities: setting up and conducting interviews

03/09 Restart research.	14/09 Search magazines, catalogues and internet for a cover girl for my research and campaign	25-30/09 Dealing with phone calls and appointments to discuss what I expect of these women regarding how they approach people and Dresscode. Design two sets of interviews, firstly for interviewees but also for the girls who conducted the interview.	15/10 Add visuals to my Report, these include graphies, charts, photographs and advertisements.		24/10 extension date but was ill have doctor’s note
04/09 Collect sexualised and sex tips magazine articles from Men’s Health.	15/09 Create an advertisement with my cover girl Gabriella Davids famous swimwear and lingerie model, to hire four sexually appealing women to conduct my interviews	01/10 Is the closing date for anyone who would like to be one of my interviewers	16/10 Read and add onto Report.		30/10 hand in research assignment
05/09 Collect sexualised / sex tips magazine articles from Cosmopolitan.	17-20/09 Works on my advertisement. Analsize my own advertisements. And retype my proposal. The proposal is redirected and focuses on female sexuality and how it is represented within the media such as magazines.	01-03/10 Prepare for the interview marathon presented by my pseudonym pinkbutterflow’s Pink Butter Diaries. Presentation to be discussed and arranged with Jane Bennett.	17/10 Proofread and edit work on presentation.
06/09 Collect sex tips articles from Cleo and search for academic sources regarding female sexuality, and its representation within the media.	24/09 Print out and stick on noticeboards the advertisement, seeking female students.	04/10 The girls gather together, distribute and conduct their interview on Jammie steps and in the cafeteria. I interview girls afterwards.	18/10 Proofread
10/09  Gather all articles together		08-10/10 Changed my methodologies emailed, bbmed, smsed, phoned people for interviews and handed out questionnaires in leisure academic spaces such as before lectures, in cafeteria and on Jammie steps. Read and sift through interviews and find a trend. Include information in my Report. Transcribe interviews, and pick out the information that best suits the research done.	20/10 Hand in Research Report.
11/09- 13/09 Read the articles and finds a prevailing trend and theme throughout the media articles. Search for articles on representations of black female sexuality. The composition of Cosmopolitan and Men’s Health and what these magazines embody.		12-14/10 Not doing presentation, as ran out of time with research but will be given the same mark for research report as presentation. Reread interviews and review thesis statement and research and finds loopholes and discrepancies and perfect or add on.	22/10 date of research report was moved. Due date today.

References:

Academic sources

Connell, R.W.1987. Introduction: Some Facts in the Case. Gender and Power. Polity Press, Cambridge.

Collins, P.H. date known. Intersecting Oppression.

Gentile, P.  2007. Popular Culture and Female Sexuality: Consuming the “Representation.” Media action Media. Carleton University, Pauline Jewett Institute of Women’s Studies.

Laguitan, J. 2009. Using Magazines and Zines to Explore Stereotypical Gender Roles. Mhtml:file://C:/Documents and Settings/sshadmin/My Documents/Using Magazine…  accessed on 19/09/2012.

K, Tara. 2009. Cosmopolitan Magazine and Gender Stereotypes: How Cosmo influences Its Readers’ Self Image. http://voices.yahoo.com/cosmopolitan-magazine-gender-stereotypes-4065713.html accessed on 19/09/2012.

Kite, L. 2011. Cosmo Magazine: The Best-Seller That Sells Women Short. Beauty Redefined Blog. http://www.beautyredefined.net/cosmo-magazine/ accessed on 20/09/2012.

‘O Shaughnessy, M and Stadler, J. 2010. Media and Society, 4^th edition. Oxford.

Wood, J.T. 1994. Gendered Media: The Influence of Media on Views of Gender. Article 9 pp. 31-36. The Department of Communication, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Magazine articles

Baker, J. 2009. 6 Sex tips by Women who Know. Cleo, March 2009.

Robb, A.2012. Penis GPS: Master his member. Sex, Cosmopolitan, June 2012.

Stoddard, G. 2006. Do You Dare? Girls Gone Wild, Men’s Health, March 2006.

Twiggs, L. 2012. Going Solo: How Real Girls Get Themselves Off. Sex, July 2012.

Van den Berg. 2009. Cosmo’s 82 Celebrity Sex Tips. Sex, September 2009.