The cultural construction of femininity : women’s magazines and Maltese women

Abstract

Women's magazines are an interesting example of texts which promote adult education. As in any other texts, however, there are multiple messages: those which are manifest, that is messages we are aware that we are taking in, such as for example the plot of a novel, and those which we are not aware of, what are called latent messages. Examples of latent messages might be the clothes worn by some characters in a soap opera, dressing habits which the viewers might take up so that they might identify with their hero and heroine in a programme. The latter kind of messages are the most pernicious because the readers do not realize that through reading or viewing they are being influenced by messages which will affect their behaviour and what they come to think of themselves. This paper will deal mainly with the latter topic, that is the subtle messages found in media texts which influence the reader's perception of gender identity. [excerpt]