The Use of Adjectives in Contemporary Fashion Magazines : A Gender Based Study

Abstract: This essay investigates how adjectives are used in fashion magazines in order to determine if the use differs regarding the targeted gender of the magazines, regarding the gender of the author of the article and regarding the gender of the person featured in the article. The aim is to determine if different types of adjectives are used, and if the frequency of the use of adjectives differs. A close reading of the articles was the method for identifying the adjectives, and the adjectives were classified as positive or negative in the context. In addition, all color terms and adjectives directly describing the person featured were identified separately. The results show that there are differences in terms of frequency. Women tend to use more adjectives than men. However, there are more adjectives included in magazines that target men and magazines featuring men. Men and women use different types of adjectives as well; positive adjectives are frequently used by women and negative by men. However, more negative adjectives are included in magazines targeting women whilst positive adjective are more frequently used in magazines targeting men. Regarding color adjectives, no clear differences are found. Adjectives describing the person featured differ regarding the gender of the author. Women are more frequent users. In addition, more adjectives are used to describe women than men. Women uses the types of adjectives describing the person featured more frequently. Adjectives describing personality are more common. Lastly, some differences between genders and adjectives that are viewed as restricted to women and men can been identified. It is possible to conclude that fashion magazines sustain gender roles in their representations.