Miss-represented
This paper reports on a quantitative content analysis of 2,699 images of women present in one year’s worth of the South African edition of Glamour magazine. Motivated by critical race theory, black feminist thought and critical consumption studies, the aim of the study was to determine how often bl...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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University of Johannesburg
2022-10-01
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| Series: | Communicare |
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| Online Access: | https://journals.uj.ac.za/index.php/jcsa/article/view/1606 |
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| author | Pontsho Pilane Mehita Iqani |
| author_facet | Pontsho Pilane Mehita Iqani |
| author_sort | Pontsho Pilane |
| collection | DOAJ |
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This paper reports on a quantitative content analysis of 2,699 images of women present in one
year’s worth of the South African edition of Glamour magazine. Motivated by critical race theory,
black feminist thought and critical consumption studies, the aim of the study was to determine how
often black women were represented in the sample and, further, to examine the particular body
types and hairstyles preferred in the aesthetic of black women featured. The findings showed that
even though Glamour magazine claims that 65% of its readership is comprised of black women,
they feature in only 30% of images, and when present, have hairstyles and body types most
commonly associated with white supremacist ideas of beauty. The (albeit unsurprising) failure
of Glamour magazine to adequately represent a diversity of black femininities is theorised as a
result of pervasive neo-liberal, racist and patriarchal structures of power in post-apartheid South
Africa. We argue that the case study illuminates a racially charged post-feminist moment, in which
black women are represented as valuable only in terms of their proximity to a white ideal, and
valued only in terms of their lucrative potential as an aspirant, compliant mass market.
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| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-7f19f76ec4df4927a4bd95f46259f43e |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 0259-0069 2957-7950 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2022-10-01 |
| publisher | University of Johannesburg |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Communicare |
| spelling | doaj-art-7f19f76ec4df4927a4bd95f46259f43e2025-01-20T08:55:07ZengUniversity of JohannesburgCommunicare0259-00692957-79502022-10-0135110.36615/jcsa.v35i1.1606Miss-representedPontsho Pilane0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2760-6016Mehita Iqani1https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9746-8766Mail & GuardianUniversity of the Witwatersrand This paper reports on a quantitative content analysis of 2,699 images of women present in one year’s worth of the South African edition of Glamour magazine. Motivated by critical race theory, black feminist thought and critical consumption studies, the aim of the study was to determine how often black women were represented in the sample and, further, to examine the particular body types and hairstyles preferred in the aesthetic of black women featured. The findings showed that even though Glamour magazine claims that 65% of its readership is comprised of black women, they feature in only 30% of images, and when present, have hairstyles and body types most commonly associated with white supremacist ideas of beauty. The (albeit unsurprising) failure of Glamour magazine to adequately represent a diversity of black femininities is theorised as a result of pervasive neo-liberal, racist and patriarchal structures of power in post-apartheid South Africa. We argue that the case study illuminates a racially charged post-feminist moment, in which black women are represented as valuable only in terms of their proximity to a white ideal, and valued only in terms of their lucrative potential as an aspirant, compliant mass market. https://journals.uj.ac.za/index.php/jcsa/article/view/1606South African Glamour magazinevisibility of black womencritical race theoryblack feminist thoughtcritical consumption studies |
| spellingShingle | Pontsho Pilane Mehita Iqani Miss-represented Communicare South African Glamour magazine visibility of black women critical race theory black feminist thought critical consumption studies |
| title | Miss-represented |
| title_full | Miss-represented |
| title_fullStr | Miss-represented |
| title_full_unstemmed | Miss-represented |
| title_short | Miss-represented |
| title_sort | miss represented |
| topic | South African Glamour magazine visibility of black women critical race theory black feminist thought critical consumption studies |
| url | https://journals.uj.ac.za/index.php/jcsa/article/view/1606 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT pontshopilane missrepresented AT mehitaiqani missrepresented |