Glossy mags and the sexes: a critical discourse analysis of FHM and Cosmo

[摘要] English: The following dissertation reports on a research study of the lifestyle magazines For HimMagazine and Cosmopolitan. Quantitative and qualitative methods were combined in aninvestigation of linguistic patterns which serve to construct a particular perspective onmasculinity and femininity. The quantitative analyses focused on identifying patterns inthe distribution and connotation of various words. The qualitative analyses focused onvarious grammatical and semantic features in specific articles of both magazines. Theresults suggest that both magazines tend to hone masculinity and femininity to certainsubjects and descriptions. Cosmopolitan, however, might be characterised by a slightlymore flexible discourse.In addition, this study also contains suggestions on how research of this nature may beincorporated into an academic course for students of Applied Linguistics.

[发布机构] University of the Free State