From Adoration to Impregnation: The Representation of Women and Men in Vogue Magazine Christie Suyanto
11236833
University of Amsterdam
MA Thesis Manon van der Laaken
29 June 2017 Word Count: 19644
Abstract
The present study is a Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) of eight interviews with male and female social actors from the British edition of Vogue Magazine. It examines the role allocation (cf. Van Leeuwen, 1996) used in the context of these social actors in the interviews, the processes (cf. Halliday, 1994) in which they are involved and the frames (cf. Van Gorp, 2005; Entman, 1993; Pan & Kosicki, 1993) that are used, with an emphasis on how they contribute to the ways that male and female social actors are represented. It also aims to find out whether the representations adhere to traditional and possibly sexist gender ideals, which has been shown in previous research on women’s magazines. For instance, previous studies have shown that the discourse of women’s magazines promotes the importance of commodities such as clothes, cosmetics and other products (Machin & Thornborrow, 2006; Eggins & Iedema, 1997; Fung, 2000), relationships with men (Temmerman & and Van der Voorde, 2015), and emotion-related traits such as compassion and sensitivity (DeFransisco & Palczewski). The findings show several significant points and ideological implications. Firstly, women and men are portrayed in different contexts, particularly when it comes to the material and relational processes. Processes describing female social actors focus more on the appraisal of their physical appearances and their relationships while the processes describing men tend to focus on personal expressions as well as practicality. Secondly, the use of the different frames also reflect gender differences. The Talented Parent Frame, which is focused on the theme of motherhood and relationships, is only used in interviews with female interviewees whereas The Career-Oriented Genius Frame, which is focused on ambition and career, is only used in interviews with male interviewees. Therefore, the present data seems to show that the ways that female and male social actors are represented in the magazine reflects some of the previously-mentioned traditional gender ideals.
Table of Contents
Abstract ……… 2
Table of Contents ………. 3
1. Introduction ……….. 4
2. Theoretical Framework………. 5
2.1. Activation and Passivation………... 5
2.2. Participants and Processes………...…. 6
2.3. Framing in Media Discourse and Its Relation to Gender………...………….. 7
2.4. Previous Studies ………..……… 9
2.5. Critical Discourse Analysis………..………….. 13
3. Methodology………... 13
3.1. Data………..……….. 13
3.2 Method………..……….. 14
4. Results………. 16
4.1. Agent and Patient………..………. 16
4.2. Processes………...……….. 17
4.3. Four Different Frames………. 18
5. Discussion ………...19
5.1. Agency……… 19
5.2. Frames, Framing Techniques and Gender Ideals……… 32
1. Introduction
Gender, particularly within the context of the discourse of magazines, has been investigated by numerous studies (cf. Eggins & Iedema, 1997; Fung, 2000; Lazar, 2000; Machin & van Leeuwen, 2003; Machin & Thornborrow, 2006, Ticknell et al., 2003; Temmerman & Van der Vorde, 2013, Weaver & Ussher, 1997), which show the prevalence of hegemonic ideologies through representations which adhere to traditional gender ideals. While features for men are typically concerned with topics such as sex, health, interests and their roles in the outside world (Ticknell et al., 2003), features for women tend to focus on commodities such as clothes and beauty products, emotion-related topics, and relationships (Eggins & Iedema, 1997; Temmerman & Van der Voorde, 2013; Fung, 2000). Few studies, however, have explicitly compared the ways that men and women are represented within the same magazine. The present study attempts to fill this gap and conducts a Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) of samples from the British edition of Vogue Magazine, a mainstream lifestyle and fashion magazine for women by the Conde Nast group. The samples used in the analysis are interviews which focus on male and female interviewees. The research focuses on the representations of these social actors in the magazine, comparing the ways male and female social actors are represented, as well as the ideological implications.
The notions of role allocation (cf. Van Leeuwen, 1996), processes (cf. Halliday, 1994) and framing (cf. Van Gorp, 2005; Entman, 1993; Pan & Kosicki, 1993) are particularly relevant to the study. By using these notions, the present research investigates the following research question: How are women and men represented in Vogue Magazine? The question is further divided into the following subquestions:
➢ Does the role allocation of women differ from that of men in the magazine, and if so, how? ➢ Do the processes in which women are involved differ from that of men in the magazine, and if so,
how?
➢ Are the articles that are focused on men on the one hand and women on the other hand framed in different ways? And if so, in what ways do such differences regarding framing contribute to the representation of men and women?
➢ Finally, what are the ideological implications of the differences between the ways men and women are represented?
2. Theoretical Framework 2.1. Activation and Passivation
The current paper draws upon the idea of the representation of social actors within a given text (van Leeuwen, 1996). The concept concerns the different ways in which one uses linguistic means to refer to other people, discursively constructing how those people are represented.
Part of this representation is the idea of agency as a sociological notion (van Leeuwen, 1996), which concerns the role allocation of social actors in a text (p. 42). Such a process encompasses the activation and passivization of the actors. When they are activated, they are “represented as the active, dynamic forces in an activity” (p. 43). When they are passivized, they are “represented as ‘undergoing’ the activity, or as being ‘at the receiving end of it’” (p. 44). In other words, the former process depicts a social actor as the performer of an action, whereas the latter depicts them as the undergoer or passive participant.
Activation and passivation, however, are not synonymous with power or its absence. Firstly, the meaning of the activation of a social actor also depends on the nature and context of the activity which the actor performs, particularly when gender is concerned. For instance, the portrayal of a female social actor as a person who “dresses her age” on the one hand, and someone who “manages a team of 10 designers” on the other hand, both Activate the actor, yet they have different ideological implications. While the portrayal of a woman within the context of an action related to the importance of commodities such as clothes might reinforce traditional values regarding gender and sexism, the portrayal of the woman as a leader, manager or creator constructs a more progressive representation.
Secondly, a similar principle applies to the process of passivization, since it can be divided into the subprocesses of subjection and beneficialization, which may have different implications in relation to the representation of the actors. One the one hand, a subjected social actor acts as an object within the Agent’s action, as shown in the sentence “Her father sent her to a boarding school in Stockholm.” On the other
hand, a beneficialized social actor acts as a third party who benefits from the action performed by the Agent, as shown in the sentence “Her father gave her his support.”
However, the ideological implications of beneficialization might also vary depending on the context. “She received the Nobel prize for science,” for instance, can have different ideological implications from “She received an Oscar for her performance. The former arguably represents the female actor in a more progressive way due to different societal factors, such as the lack of exposure of women in science. The ideological implications of a description of an actor can only be investigated by considering its context. Therefore, in order to examine the actions happening in different contexts, this research takes into account the concept of processes (Halliday, 1994) in its discussion of social actors and their representation.
2.2 Participants and Processes
The above discussion has mentioned the significance of the different actions in which social actors, or what Halliday (1994) considers participants, are involved in the understanding of the meaning of their activation and passivization. This points to Halliday’s (1994) concept of processes, which refers to “what is going on” when participants engage with each other. Processes are divided into six types, realized through the use of different kinds of verbs:
Table 1. Different types of processes
Type Definition Example Agent and Patient
Material processes Doing “do”, “cook”, “manage”,
“compose”
Actor - Goal
Mental processes Sensing, thinking “Believe”, “Feel”,
“Enjoy”, “See” Senser -Phenomenon Behavioral processes Showing certain
behaviors
“Stare”, “Smile”, “Sit”,
“Stand” Behaver
Verbal processes Saying, stating “Explain”, “Say” Sayer -Target; Identifier -Identified, Token - value
Existential processes Existing, happening “Is” Existent
Relational processes Being, attributing or identifying
“Is wise”
“Is Dr Sherman’s wife” “Has brown hair”
The processes and their uses within the context of women’s magazines are relevant to gender representation, since different processes are associated with distinctive ideological implications when it comes to gender roles. An example of this is that women are commonly represented within relational processes instead of material processes, thereby emphasizing their roles in society instead of their actions (cf. Eggins & Iedema, 1997). Therefore, the present study makes use of a holistic approach to the representation of social actors not only by investigating multiple aspects of it such as role allocation and processes, but also by interpreting the ideological implications. Part of this is investigating the frames used in the interviews.
2.3. Framing in Media Discourse and Its Relation to Gender
Frame or framing is a term that originated in the fields of cognitive psychology and cultural anthrophology (Van Gorp, 2005). Since its initial use, however, discussions regarding what constitutes a frame or the process of framing have been prevalent in other fields, prompting different definitions. However, as Pan & Kosicki (1993) suggest, there are overlaps between these understandings, one of which is the idea that that frames “function as both ‘internal structures of the mind’ and ‘devices embedded in political discourse’” (Kinder & Sanders cited in Pan & Kosicki, 1993, p. 57). Frame analysis tends to focus on the second function, specifically how different frames are used in discourses within texts.
Entman (1993) suggests that two components, selection and salience, are most significant in media stories. He states that “to frame is to select some aspects of a perceived reality and make them more salient in a communicating text, in such a way as to promote a particular problem definition, causal interpretation, moral evaluation and/or treatment recommendation” (p.52). In other words, framing a text entails the selection of particular details to promote a certain perspective regarding what is going on, including how it should be interpreted by the receiver of the message. The process of framing a text is therefore inherently subjective.
In the context of news discourse, Pan & Kosicki (1993) identifies a frame “as a system of organized signifying elements that both indicate the advocacy of certain ideas and provide devices to encourage certain kinds of audience processings of the texts” (pp. 55-56), a definition which echoes Entman’s (1993)
emphasis on selection and salience. In other words, a frame consists of devices which perpetuate particular notions and ways of reading.
To identify a frame, Pan & Kosicki (1993) suggest that one needs to examine four structural elements of a text. The first, syntactical structures, refer to “the stable patterns of the arrangement of words or phrases into sentences” (p. 59) and to the overall structure of texts, such as the inverted pyramid structure of most news stories. The second, script structures, are “established and stable sequence[s] of activities and components of an event that have been internalized as a structured mental representation of the event” (p. 60). Therefore, there are certain components, such as a beginning, a climax and an end, that are expected in news stories (p. 60), meaning that news and similar types of content in media are scripturally constrained. The third, thematic structures, refer to the themes of (different parts of) a text. Finally, the fourth component or the rhetorical structures refer to the stylistic choices, such as metaphors, catchphrases, quantification, or word choices, that are used within a text.
One question, however, remains. How can the identification of frames contribute to the unveiling of ideological issues and values within texts? The process of framing is inherently related to the dissemination of ideologies. The very purpose of the process as articulated by Entman (1993), which is “to promote a particular problem definition, causal interpretation, moral evaluation and/or treatment recommendation” (p.52). This implies the raising of a particular point of view and therefore ideologies into the surface so as to influence the parties who receive the message, such as the readers of a magazine.
Although Pan & Kosicki (1993) performed their framing analysis within the tradition of discourse analysis instead of CDA, their framework can also uncover ideological values and ideals. For instance, Pan & Kosicki mentions the use of the conflict-and-confrontation frame, in the context of a story about abortion. The frame portrays abortion as an issue that is inseparable from the conflict between those who are against and for the right to access abortion (Pan & Kosicki, 1993). Therefore, it points to particular political and ideological implications. Firstly, as Pan & Kosicki (1993) state, the conflict-and-confrontation frame points to “how public discourse about public policy issues is constructed and negotiated” (p. 70) in society, including how the American justice system requires their citizens’ use of “symbolic devices” (p. 70) such
as the rally in order to play a role in public policies. Secondly, if one considers the issue of gender, the use of the conflict-and-confrontation frame to discuss female reproductive rights implies that women’s access to abortion is something that must inevitably be negotiated through both symbolic and physical struggles or even the use of violence. Therefore, the female body is constrained by politics and public opinions surrounding it.
In the context of the present research, investigating the use of the structures (Pan & Kosicki, 1993) of a text helps to uncover ideological implications related to gender and gender roles by revealing how different structures are used to construct different frames. Recurring uses of similar structures (Pan & Kosicki, 1993), including but not limited to similar themes, metaphors or word choices that are used to represent men and women, are particularly relevant, since they indicate certain ways of representing social actors within the texts, which have ideological implications.
2.4. Previous Studies
2.4.1. Gender Division and Media Studies on media, including women’s magazines, have shown that they are involved in the construction of gender identities (cf. Ticknell et al., 2003; Fung, 2000; Machin & Thornborrow, 2006). A way through which magazines perform this is by creating distinctions between what defines a woman on the one hand and a man on the other hand. Through such a process, they dictate who they should be in the contemporary society (cf. Ticknell et al., 2003; Fung, 2000; Machin & Thornborrow, 2006). Ticknell et al.’s (2003) investigation on gender in teenage magazines, for instance, shows how these magazines construct “gendered attitudes towards sexuality and power” (p.48), including the naturalization of differences between women and men. Women’s magazines in particular tend to focus on femininity.
DeFransisco & Palczewski (2014) define both masculinity and femininity as stereotypes which prescribe how men and women should behave (pp. 11-12). Similarly, in the contexts of these magazines, femininity seems to be identified as ideals to which women are expected to aspire since they relate to the characteristics that society dictates that women should possess by the virtue of their gender. DeFransisco & Palczewski (2014) mention that some feminine attributes include “be[ing] emotional, a caretaker,
sensitive, compassionate [and] revealingly dressed.” Femininity in these magazines seems to match such descriptions, as women tend to be expected perform certain actions such as taking care of their bodies through consuming cosmetics and clothes (Eggins & Iedema, 1997), flaunting their sexuality (Machin & Thornborrow, 2006), desiring relationships (Temmerman & Van der Voorde, 2015) and caring for and considering others, particularly when they assume the roles of mothers (Lazar, 2000).
These standards are significantly distinct from those of masculinity, which entails the qualities of being “rational, independent, tough, aggressive, comfortably dressed…” (p. 11). It is therefore unsurprising that whereas magazine discourses for women focus on the realization of beauty, sensitivity, relationships and sexuality, magazine discourses targeted at men tend to “combine soft-porn pin-ups with features on sex, health, and leisure activities, including a strong emphasis on outwardly directed, risk-focused ‘extreme sports’ which necessitate the domination of public space” (Temmerman & Van der Voorde, 2015, p. 49).
Therefore, instead of being involved in the public sphere like men, in mainstream media, women are portrayed with a sense of preoccupation with perpetuating femininity as ideals to which women are supposed to adhere. In fact, according to Ticknell et al. (2003), magazines for both teenage girls and mature women represent the idea of femininity as something that “require[es] constant attention, renewal, and concern” (p. 49). However, such magazines do not only emphasize the importance of femininity. They also tend to dictate how it is and should be realized by their female readers.
2.4.2. Women in Women’s Magazines Much research has been done on magazines’ discourse (cf. Stamou & Paraskevospoulos, 2006; Raja, 2014; Small, Harris & Wilson, 2008), including its relation to gender representation (cf. Fung, 2000; Lazar, 2000; Machin & van Leeuwen, 2003; Machin & Thornborrow, 2006, Ticknell et al., 2003; Temmerman & Van der Vorde, 2013, Weaver & Ussher, 1997). Many of these studies, however, show that the representation of women in women’s magazines is inseparable from two things in particular: commodities and sexuality (cf. Eggins & Iedema, 1997; Fung, 2000; Machin & Thornborrow, 2006).
Fung’s (2002) study on women’s magazines in Taiwan shows an inextricable connection between femininit, and consumption. He states that readers of women’s magazines form “imagined communities” which are typically related to norms followed by the members, including the consumption of particular commodities. In order to belong, the reader ultimately has to believe in what Fung (2002) calls “the transforming power of commodities” (p. 330), which the reader obtains in two steps: consuming the magazine itself and consuming the commodities promoted in the magazine, such as clothes and beauty products. The consumption of these products gives the readers the legitimacy and symbolic power that allow them to become part of the community as well as the women they are supposed to be according to traditional ideals. More importantly, femininity is marketed as something achievable through the consumption of material goods.
This connection between commodity and feminity is similarly applicable to the notion of agency in women’s magazines. Machin & Thornborrow (2006) in their investigation of Cosmopolitan and Glamour, for instance, found that the magazines produce women’s agency through sex/seduction/sexuality, which in turn are realized through consumption. The women featured in the magazines act as Agents. However, their agency is not directly associated with sociopolitical power, but rather beauty and sexuality. For instance, in the magazines, women are instructed to “flaunt that gorgeous body” (p. 179) and “[march] in your Manolos” (p. 182) as symbols of their agency and power. Such statements, however, are inseparable from the mentions of commodities and the conformation to traditional femininity. As the authors state, the magazines’ idea of agency is placed within “staged scenarios” (p. 187) in which their agency can only be realized by using “signification through codes of dress and lifestyle that are drawn from consumer culture” (p. 187). In the magazines, sex and the consumption of commodities are presented as ways to achieve agency and freedom, which, the authors argue, is not realistic outside the fictional world of the magazine.
This is also evident when one considers the processes in which the women are engaged within the magazines: as Machin & Thornborrow (2006) state, the women, though acting as active Agents within material processes, are often involved in “performances”, such as “do[ing] a striptease” (p. 183). They are also represented through mental processes, which are expressed through sentiments such as feeling
“intrigued” (p. 183), “bizarrely free” (p. 183) and “fantastic” (p. 183). However, such performances, like material goods, are not transposable to the real world. As the authors argue, neither sex nor the act of consumption can provide women with actual equality and political power.
Such a problematic association between women and commodities perpetuates certain ideologies regarding who they are and how they are supposed to behave. Firstly, due to the fact that magazines tend to present women’s agency only in the context of sex and always in connection with commodities, they normalize the idea that women need material in order to achieve agency and power. In other words, such a representation constructs the idea that the connection between commodities and agency is inherent, and that agency cannot exist without commodities and perhaps capitalism. It disregards actual sociopolitical issues that revolve around women’s agency and power (cf. Machin & Thornborrow, 2006). Secondly, it perpetuates the stereotypical idea of femininity which involves preoccupation with material such as cosmetics and clothes (cf. Eggins & Iedema, 1997) and contributes to the naturalization of gender divisions despite them being part of the socially-constructed stereotypes of masculinity and femininity (DeFrancisco & Palczewski, 2014).
2.4.3. Men in Women’s Magazines Although the ways that men are represented in women’s magazines differ considerably from women’s, they are also involved in the construction of women’s femininity. According to Ticknell (2003), for instance, men’s presence in the discourse of a magazine intended for female audience is “central to the discursive production of normalized femininity: primarily as potential romantic and sexual partners, but also as owners of social capital and social agency” (p. 59). In a sense, men, just like material goods, are required in the construction of women’s identities, since they also contribute to femininity.
However, this is not to say that men are subordinated within the discourse of magazines. Rather, they are needed as part of the construction of who a woman should be. Temmerman & Van der Vorde (2013)’s investigation on the way men are represented in Flemish women’s magazines, for instance, shows that even in a magazine from 2008, although men are portrayed in different roles, from family members or
friends to partners, they seem to hold an important function as those who are able to “complete” women’s lives and persist as a constant central theme in their narratives.
More importantly, Temmerman & Van der Vorde (2013) also mention that women are depicted as wanting a relationship as their main goal. Media naturalize the message that women are required to maintain relationships with men, perpetuating the idea that women are heterosexuals and that they constantly seek relationships with men, especially in the form of a romantic and sexual relationships. It presents the need for a man to complete a woman’s identity as something that is natural, therefore removing women’s agency when it comes to their own independence and sociopolitical relevance (Temmerman & Van der Vorde, 2013).
Studies that explicitly compare the representation of women and men in women’s magazines, however, have been scarce. Existing research has rarely delved into how the ideas of agency, role allocation, or processes operate in conjunction to how different articles are framed. Therefore, the present research aims to contribute to the existing body of research by comparing the representation of men and women in a mainstream women’s magazine. By looking at the differences in the ways in which they are represented, the present research hopes contribute to the discussion regarding the role of media in the production or challenging of dominant ideologies.
2.5 Critical Discourse Analysis
The present research is a Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), which is a theoretical perspective which is concerned with “the ways discourse enact, confirm, legitimate, reproduce, or challenge relations of power and dominance in everyday interaction” (van Dijk, 1993). As such, discourse is seen as inseparable from the complex ideologies that both affect and are affected by the way members of society behave (van Dijk, 1993). One aspect of such ideologies is gender.
CDA is significant in the context of gender in media since media outlets produce discourse that can both perpetuate and challenge the gender roles, inequality and power relations. The different ways that
gender is portrayed influence and are influenced by readers of such media outlets. In other words, the way society sees gender is contingent on, among other factors, media’s representation of it.
3. Methodology 3.1. Data
The data used consist of 8 articles from 4 issues of Vogue. British Vogue is chosen since it is widely available and is a household name when it comes to women’s magazines. The magazine has been in print since autumn 1916 and its monthly circulation has reached more than 190.000 copies1 (Conde Nast).
Moreover, it features interviews with both women and men, making it an ideal candidate for a comparison of the ways they are represented.
The issues chosen were published in October 2014, January 2015, February 2016 and March 2017. The decision to use the issues is made through qualitative sampling. Firstly, they are chosen because they contain interviews with both men and women. Secondly, only articles written in the format of a third-person interview which explores different aspects of the social actors, such as their roles in their fields, their careers and interests are included. The selected articles are also written in the third-person voice, the reason being that the present research focuses on the way that authors depict social actors within texts more than the ways that such actors depict themselves. Finally, articles that are less than 900 words in length are excluded from the sample to obtain sufficient data. Two articles are taken from each issue, one of them being an article focused on a woman and the other on a man. The articles chosen are as follows:
➢ Interview 1 with Nicolas Ghesquiere (Male), a fashion designer, from British Vogue October 2014 ➢ Interview 2 with Rosamund Pike (Female), an actress, from British Vogue October 2014
➢ Interview 3 with Oscar Isaac (M), an actor and musician, from British Vogue January 2015 ➢ Interview 4 with Rosetta Getty (F), a fashion designer, from British Vogue January 2015 ➢ Interview 5 with A$AP Rocky (M), a musician, from British Vogue February 2016
1 The number is based on both print and online versions. Data was recorded from January to June 2016 by Conde
➢ Interview 6 with Dakota Johnson (F), an actress, from British Vogue February 2016
➢ Interview 7 with Jonathan Anderson (M), a fashion designer, from British Vogue March 2017 ➢ Interview 8 with Elisa Lasowski (F), an actress, from British Vogue March 2017
3.2. Method
Women’s magazines are involved in the creation of different ideological perspectives on who women are and should be through discourse. On the one hand, women’s magazines can reproduce and reinforce the patriarchal, femininity-centric ideas regarding women, such as through the representation of women as dependent on commodities to enact their agency or as social actors who are capable of “being” instead of “doing” (cf. Eggins & Iedema, 1997; Machin & Thornborrow, 2006). On the other hand, they also have the power to challenge such traditional ideas through the discursive construction of women as active Agents who are not bound by patriarchy and gender-biased ideals.
Taking these points into consideration, the present research investigates the following aspects of the representation of women and men in Vogue:
➢ Their roles as Agents and Patients, including their Subjection and Beneficialization (van Leeuwen, 1996)
➢ The processes (Halliday, 1994) in which they are involved
➢ The frame devices and frames used to construct interviews which feature men and women as their interviewees
➢ The ideological implications of the representation
The analysis of the role allocation and processes is applied to both dependent and independent clauses that directly mention the interviewees Therefore, clauses that only mention objects or people associated with the social actors or their possessions are omitted from the investigation. The present research also conducts a frame analysis to investigate the frames used to represent male and female social actors in the articles, including their ideological implications. The method used follows Pan & Kosicki’s (1993), which entails analyzing a text’s syntactical structures, script structures, thematic structures and rhetorical structures. After identifying these structures, the author divides the texts into four different frames
by grouping the texts based on the similarities that they share in terms of the structures (Pan & Kosicki, 1993). Not just clauses which directly mention the interviewees but rather all components of the interviews are included in the frame analysis to arrive at a more comprehensive investigation of the interviews’ frames.
4. Results 4.1. Agent and Patient
In all the texts that were investigated, the interviewees are more commonly portrayed as Agents rather than Patients. In all eight texts, the majority of clauses Activate the featured interviewees. In fact, as shown in Table 2, the percentages of the clauses which depict the interviewees as Agents are quite similar in all the texts. There are no considerable differences between the texts with male and female interviewees in regard to their depiction as Agents or Patients.
Table 2. The texts and the different percentages of clauses which depict the interviewees as Agents and as Patients.
No. Text Agent Clauses Patient Clauses
1. Nicolas Ghesquière (Designer, M) 97% 3%
2. A$AP Rocky (Musician, M) 88% 12%
3. Oscar Isaac (Actor, M) 86% 14%
4. Jonathan Anderson (Designer, M) 92% 8%
5. Rosetta Getty (Designer, F) 93% 7%
6. Rosamund Pike (Actress, F) 86% 14%
7. Elisa Lasowski (Actress, F) 97% 3%
8. Dakota Johnson (Actress F) 98% 2%
In the case of the clauses in which the interviewees are passivized, they are very rarely beneficialized. In fact, only two of the texts, namely the ones featuring A$AP Rocky and Rosamund Pike as interviewees, contain instances of beneficialization, with the numbers being 2 and 1 instances respectively. Therefore, the occurrences of the beneficialization of social actors are highly uncommon in the context of the present data.
As Table 3 shows, the texts share relatively similar patterns of the occurrences of the different types of processes (Halliday, 1994) performed by the interviewees. Firstly, in the majority of the texts, material processes are the most common type of processes. The only exception is the article on Dakota Johnson, in which verbal and relational processes are more common than material ones. However, the texts with female interviewees tend to show relatively lower percentages of material processes compared to the texts featuring male interviewees. This is especially true in the case of the articles on Elisa Lasowski and Dakota Johnson, where material processes make up 28% and 21% of the processes respectively.
Table 3. The texts and the different percentages of clauses which depict the interviewees in the contexts of different types of processes.
No. Text Behavioral Existential Material Mental Relational Verbal 1. Nicolas Ghesquière (M) 5% 3% 37% 7% 19% 29% 2. ASAP Rocky (M) 8% 0% 45% 10% 19% 18% 3. Oscar Isaac (M) 0% 0% 45% 19% 24% 12% 4. Jonathan Anderson (M) 8% 1% 41% 6% 12% 31% 5. Rosetta Getty (F) 3% 3% 40% 20% 10% 23% 6. Rosamund Pike (F) 1% 1% 45% 12% 21% 19% 7. Elisa Lasowski (F) 3% 9% 28% 16% 19% 25% 8. Dakota Johnson (F) 17% 2% 21% 9% 25% 26%
Secondly, existential and behavioral processes are rarely used in the texts. Unsurprisingly, verbal processes are relatively common due to the fact that verbs such as “say” and “state” are commonly used in the texts to signify the interviewees’ opinions in the form of direct quotations.
Relational processes, which have been suggested as common processes in the context of female social actors, occur in similar numbers throughout the texts. These processes are present in texts featuring both male and female interviewees. Mental processes, as signified by verbs such as “believe” or “think,” are also used in similar frequencies in the texts.
4.3. Four Different Frames
The frame analysis using the framework created and used by Pan & Kosicki’s (1993) shows four different frames that are used to discuss the interviewees in the texts.
The first frame, the Talented Parent Frame, is characterized by the portrayal of the interviewees as successful public figures who are also parents and partners. However, their roles as parents and partners, including their experiences of parenthood, are emphasized in the discourse as significant facets of their personal identities. This frame is used in two texts, which feature Rosetta Getty and Rosamund Pike.
The second frame, the Career-Oriented Genius Frame, is characterized by the portrayal of the interviewees as dedicated and talented figures who are respected in their fields. It is also characterized by the portrayal of the interviewees as being somewhat controlling and preoccupied with their careers. This frame is used in two texts, which feature Nicolas Ghesquière and Jonathan Anderson as the interviewees.
The third frame, the Rebellious Artist Frame, is characterized by the portrayal of the interviewees as talented and successful figures, particularly artists, whose attitudes and career paths defy societal norms. It is also characterized by the juxtaposition between who the artists are expected to be and who they are as public figures and people. It is used in two texts, which feature A$AP Rocky and Dakota Johnson.
Finally, the fourth frame, the Rising Star Frame, is characterized by the portrayal of the interviewees as relatively new figures in their fields who are in the process of achieving more success and fame. As public figures, these interviewees are typically depicted as being talented and humble. This frame is used in two texts, which are the texts featuring Elisa Lasowski and Oscar Isaac as the interviewees.
These distinctive frames do not only present different ways in which social actors are represented. Rather, they often demonstrate the complex societal and ideological notions behind media discourse, including how they contribute to ideals regarding gender representation. Section 5.2 attempts to discuss these notions by using examples taken from the present data.
5. Discussion
Section 4 has shown the results of the analysis on role allocation and processes as well as on the interviews’ frames. Such results, however, provide little insight to the ideological implications of the ways men and women are represented in the interviews. The following sections aims to provide more thorough explanations of such representations, particularly in conjunction to existing literature and previous research on gender in media.
5.1. Agency
As the Results section of this paper shows, the majority of the clauses used within the interviews which directly mention the interviewees, both male and female, present them as Activated Agents rather than Passivized Patients. In fact, there does not seem to be any major difference between the male and female social actors featured in the interviews in terms of the frequencies of their activation and passivation. Despite the similarity shared by the texts in regard to the frequency of social actors’ activation, further examination of the clauses, including the processes used to describe the interviewees, shows some significant points regarding both the differences and similarities between the ways in which male and female interviewees are represented in the texts. The material and relational processes used are particularly significant in this regard.
5.1.1. Material Processes: Social Actors as Doers. Both male and female interviewees are predominantly portrayed as social actors who are capable of “doing” instead of merely “being,” since in the majority of the interviews, material processes dominate. However, in order to achieve a deeper understanding of material processes in the context of the interviews, it is necessary to discuss not just if but rather how these material processes are used.
Previous studies which focus on the discourse of women’s magazines (cf. Eggins & Iedema, 1997; Machin & Thornborrow, 2006) have shown some examples of the different implications of material and relational processes when it comes to gender representation in discourse. Material processes, which depict
social actors in the context of “doing,” typically portray them as Agents who are involved in or are capable of performing particular actions, whereas relational processes, which depict actors in the context of “being,” focus on their attributes or identifications. As such, material processes arguably present social actors in a more active role, which is important if a publication intends to portray women in a progressive manner, particularly in the context of the representation and self-representation of their careers (cf. Wagner & Wodak, 2006).
The presence of material processes, however, does not guarantee a progressive approach to gender and the representation of female figures. Consider Eggins & Iedema (1997)’s analysis of articles from two different magazines for women, New Woman and SHE, for instance. The authors found that mental and material processes were more commonly used in New Woman in comparison to SHE, in which relational processes in the form of “being verbs” are often used. Despite the difference, however, the authors still conclude that the discourse of both magazines tends to focus on traditionally feminine topics and values, with emphasis on topics such as physical appearance and adherence to traditional standards of beauty (Eggins & Iedema, 1997). Therefore, the difference between the frequencies of material processes in publications does not correlate to the progressiveness of the representations that they construct.
Other studies, such as Machin & Thornborrow’s (2006) and Fung’s (2002) have also shown that the representations of women in mainstream women’s magazines often revolve around commodities, such as beauty products and clothes, sex and sexualization, even when material processes are involved. Machin & Thornborrow (2006) mention processes which are used in women’s magazines like Cosmopolitan and Glamour, such as “flaunt that gorgeous body” (p. 179) and “[march] in your Manolos” (p. 182), both of which arguably portray women as sexualized actors whose agency and actions revolve around the importance of commodities and sex appeal. These instances also exemplify how the presence of material processes does not invariably equate to progressive representations.
In comparison to findings of previous research such as Eggins and Iedema (1997) and Machin & Thornborrow, the female social actors in Vogue’s interviews tend to be portrayed in a more complex manner. In the interviews, many of the material processes are related to the women’s careers and their
contributions to their fields. Consider the following instances from Getty and Lasowski’s interviews respectively:
(1) She makes clothes for women like her (Getty, Vogue January 2015)
(2) ...she has spent the past two years researching and inhabiting the queen’s world for the sumptuous, multimillion-pound BBC series Versailles (Lasowski, Vogue March 2017) In example 1, the interviewer emphasizes Getty’s role as a designer by using the verb “makes,” signifying that she is able to create products “for women like her.” Similarly, example 2 also puts an emphasis on Lasowski’s acting career. Moreover, her abilities as an actress are demonstrated not just through her ability to act, but also to “research” the character that she plays, going as far as “inhabiting [the character’s] world.” The presence of such processes, which are similar to the material processes used to describe the male interviewees’ careers, arguably contributes to representations of female social actors which prioritize their capabilities instead of merely physical appearances, femininity and other facets of a woman’s world which are often discussed in more conservative discourse (cf. Machin & Thornborrow, 2006; Fung, 2002, Ticknell et. al, 2003, Temmerman & Van der Vorde, 2013).
Despite the focus on the social actors’ careers, upon further investigation, it would seem that the common themes of physical appearance, commodities, sex and relationships as part of the realization of femininity, which are reflected in the findings of previous research, are not absent from the texts’ discourse. In fact, many of the interviews seem to put an emphasis on the relationships of the social actor. Previous research, such as Ticknell et al.’s (2003) Temmerman & Van der Vorde’s (2013) found that in the discourse of mainstream women’s magazines, men are often represented as a significant part of their reality, particularly as women’s partners. In other words, men are typically represented as social actors who complete women’s identities. Many instances from the articles analyzed in the present research certainly confirm such findings. Consider these passages from Pike’s, Johnson’s and Getty’s interviews, for instance: (3) She met Balthazar, the great-grandson of J Paul Getty (the oil magnate and industrialist who back then was one of the richest men in the world – the trust built the Getty Museum) at a mutual friend’s party (Getty, Vogue January 2015).
(4) I first met Pike in the early Noughties, after she had split up with Woods and before she fell in love with Wright (Pike, Vogue October 2014).
Despite the fact that such instances make use of material processes such as “meet” and “split up,” the actions described through the processes are undeniably connected to the theme of relationships. In the case of Getty’s interview, as exemplified in (3), her spouse’s role is even emphasized through the mention of his status as the grandson of one of the richest man in the world despite the fact that it is arguably insignificant to the article, which profiles Getty and her career. Such instances recall Ticknell et al.’s (2003) statement that men are not just portrayed as women’s partners, but also as “owners of social capital and social agency” (p. 59). In other words, when female social actors are portrayed in the context of material processes, they are still constrained by traditional ways of representing their identities. Even without the explicit use of “being” verbs in such a context, women are still attributed and identified, particularly as spouses. In Getty’s case, at one point in the interview, she is even described as “the designer wife of the actor Balthazar Getty,” although without the explicit use of “being” verbs. Such a description emphasizes the importance of women’s roles as spouses in the portrayal of their identities.
Of course, this does not imply that the male interviewees are never discussed in the context of their relationships. These discussions, however, particularly in the case of Rocky’s interview, differ from the ways that the theme of relationship is discussed in regard to female interviewees2. As in the case of the
female interviewees, the use of material processes in describing relationships is of particular importance, such as in the following passages from his interview:
(5) Would he like to settle down? “I don’t know. The women I really give respect to have the balls to do how they feel, regardless of society, like Madonna.” (Rocky, Vogue February 2016). (6) In the past he has dated Iggy Azalea and Rita Ora, but he’s not looking for another entertainer.
“They don’t dress themselves, they don’t think for themselves, they didn’t find themselves –
that’s why they became an entertainer. From experience, I bob along better with normal women. I want children, I just didn’t impregnate anybody yet.” (Rocky, Vogue February 2016). In (5), the material process that is used to describe a relationship is “settle down,” which is relatively distanced from the emotional or romantic connotations that are more apparent in processes such as “fall in love,” as used in Pike’s interview. The discussion on relationship is focused on what Rocky himself desires, as shown in the use of the process “looking for” in (6), which is followed by Rocky’s judgments on women. In other words, it focuses on what he wants out of relationships rather than the feelings or commitment attached to them.
Despite the fact that the present research does not focus on the processes used in direct quotations, Rocky’s use of material processes in his direct quote is certainly important to note. Rocky states that the entertainers that he has dated “don’t dress themselves… don’t think for themselves… didn’t find themselves,” using material processes in order to represent the women’s behaviors through his narrative. He dictates the way that their behaviors are depicted through his point of view. Similarly, his choice of material process that he uses when describing his future partner, “impregnate,” is equally significant. Through the use of such a material process, Rocky portrays his future partner as a “vessel” to be “impregnate[d]” rather than a woman with a complete identity. It is also a process with no romantic connotation. In fact, it discursively constructs the gender dynamics of the hypothetical relationship, situating himself as the only party with agency and power3. That the quote itself is presented without any
comment also naturalizes what is considered to be the traditional view that men hold about relationships, which is merely physical and emotionally-distant as opposed to complex and emotionally-intimate.
5.1.2. Relational Processes, Material Processes and The Importance of Fashion. Another important point of discussion in the interviews is the use of relational processes. Although relational processes are used in various ways in the articles, the present discussion focuses on the most important use of such
processes, which is to describe the social actors in the interviews in the context of their physical appearances. In this regard, there are noticeable differences in the ways that male and female interviewees are described, not just by the interviewees themselves but also by the authors of the texts.
In the interviews taken from Vogue, the ways in which the female interviewees’ physical appearances are portrayed, both in context of how they look and what they wear, differ from those of male interviewees. Due to their function to attribute and signify, relational processes (Halliday, 1994) play a particularly important role in these descriptions. Consider the following passages focusing on the interviewees’ appearances:
(7) Her glossy raven hair is perfectly pulled back into a neat ponytail and she’s pristinely dressed in an all-white ensemble comprising a crisp cotton apron dress, cashmere T-shirt and clogs. She looks a million dollars. Thanks, in part perhaps, to the Million Dollar Lunch Box diet that she’s currently following (she swears by it). But there’s no doubt it has a lot to do with the clothes… Getty prizes ease and wearability above all else… (Getty, Vogue January 2015). (8) Tall, blonde and yes, unbelievably beautiful in a languid, faintly aristocratic way, Pike is
dressed today in a little black flouncy sheath (“from Maxfield’s in LA, that’s all I know, I swear”), black lace-up brogues and bare legs. In one ear she wears a gold safety pin and spread across her fingers is a fierce-looking knuckleduster by Elena Votsi – Mitford sister meets metalhead, if you like. Her big, red-leather-framed sunglasses from Armani add a nice geeky touch, as does the teeny camera case she wears cross-body, again provenance unknown (Pike, Vogue October 2014).
(9) Stripped of the bespoke jewel-toned corsets and vertiginous wig she wears for work, Lasowski cuts a low-key figure in the Soho restaurant where we’re having breakfast… Certainly she looks less regal than her on-screen persona, but no less lovely (Lasowski, Vogue March 2017). Firstly, the descriptions of attributes of the female social actors, particularly what they wear, tend to be elaborate, involving several adjectives which provide almost poetic descriptions of their physical appearances. Passage (7), for instance, describes Getty as having “glossy raven hair [that] is perfectly pulled
back into a neat ponytail” while being “pristinely dressed in an all-white ensemble comprising a crisp cotton apron dress, cashmere T-shirt and clogs.” Similarly, in (8) Pike is depicted as a woman who is “tall, blonde and yes, unbelievably beautiful in a languid, faintly aristocratic way.”
Such examples are not merely elaborate, but also show aspects of their physical appearance which are typically appraised and judged with regard to traditionally feminine values and standards of beauty. Hair and figures, which are typical parameters of beauty, for instance, are mentioned, with Getty described as having “glossy raven hair” and Pike described as “tall [and] blonde.” Clothes, which are also traditionally associated with attractiveness and femininity (cf. Eggins & Iedema, 1997; Machin and Thornborrow, 2013), are also described in detail, with Getty being “pristinely dressed in an all-white ensemble comprising a crisp cotton apron dress, cashmere T-shirt and clogs” and Pike wearing “a little black flouncy sheath,… black lace-up brogues and bare legs… a gold safety pin and… a fierce-looking knuckleduster by Elena Votsi.”
Secondly and perhaps more importantly, the female social actors are not merely described, but rather appraised or judged in regard to a specific point: their beauty. The use of relational processes in these passages is particularly significant. They are used in order to show either the attribution or the identification of a social actor (Halliday, 1994). As such, when used in the context of one’s physical appearance, relational processes can often become tools for appraisal and judgment, especially when situated in conjunction to adjectives or nouns which emphasize attractiveness and aesthetic values. This certainly is the case for the passages from the female interviewees’ interviews. The interviewer appraises Getty by saying that “looks a million dollars” due to her diet and clothes. Similarly, in (9), Lasowski’s interviewer mentions that she “cuts a low-key figure” and “looks less regal than her on-screen persona, but no less lovely.” In such cases, relational processes are used as a means to appraise social actors’ beauty and, in conjunction to that, her sexuality. Simply put, they do not only describe how they look, but also how good they look.
However, the appraisal of the female social actor does not signify that they are only described in terms of their fashion sense without being given the chance to discuss or express their views on it. The opportunities to voice their own views are present in a few instances, particularly in passages involving other types of processes, such as mental processes. Getty’s interview, for instance, mentions that she values
“ease and wearability” and discusses her design in length, whereas in (10) Johnson exclaims that the clothes in which she was dressed are clothes she “would actually wear.”
(10) …Arriving finally at the restaurant, Dakota takes off her wool Gucci overcoat. A green-and-red bird in flight, iridescent with silvered thread, is intricately embroidered on the back… For the final shot she posed on the pavement on the edge of West Chelsea resplendent in an Alexander Wang slip dress and oversized trench (“Clothes I would actually wear,” she grins amiably)… (Johnson, Vogue February 2016).
The ways that male social actors are depicted, particularly through relational processes, are considerably different from those of female ones. Although the appearances of the male interviewees are often described, the descriptions tend to have several particular characteristics which set them apart from those of the female interviewees. Firstly, they tend to be relatively brief, focusing on the interviewees’ behaviors and thoughts rather than the minute details of their appearances. Consider these instances:
(11) … Rocky talks about the jigginess of “Italian shit”, specifically a silk Valentino shirt, and the “magnetism” he sometimes experiences out shopping… He has a few beloved designers, but is generally agnostic about labels… He wore a Topman tailcoat to the Met Ball. “And my Alexander Wang boots that I wear every day. I like to put my own twist on things. I don’t buy clothes, I buy pieces, each rare in its jigginess…” (Rocky, Vogue February 2016).
(12) Despite his easy uniform – Nike trainers, blue sweater and pale denim – he looks itchy and restless in his own skin, his face flushed from a hacking cough… (Anderson, Vogue March 2017).
(13) He likes clothes which are grey or blue and functional… (Isaac, Vogue January 2015). In (11), the relational process “wear” is used to describe Rocky’s clothes. The items themselves, however are described with minimal adjectives and descriptive phrases, focusing solely on the item’s brands, such as “a Topman tailcoat” and “[Rocky’s] Alexander Wang boots.” Adjectives that explicitly express both the aesthetic values of the items and Rocky himself are rarely used in the passage. Similarly, in (12), Anderson’s attire is simply described as “Nike trainers, blue sweater and pale denim,” with no
adjective which explicitly judges the aesthetic value of said items apart from “easy uniform.” Instead, the relational process “looks” in this sentence is used to describe Anderson’s behavior of being “itchy and restless,” adjectives which support the depiction of his persona as an anxious, eccentric artist who is preoccupied with his work.
Secondly, the use of relational processes in the case of the male interviewees tends to focus on personal expression and practicality. “Has” and “is” for instance, are used in the sentence “he has a few beloved designers, but is generally agnostic about labels” to describe Rocky’s opinions on designer labels, including the emphasis on uniqueness and his agnostic attitude towards brands, both of which are aspects that are inseparable from the clothes he wears. This exemplifies how the descriptions of the male interviewees’ clothes are often placed within the context of the discussions of their personal style and their preferences in regard to fashion instead of the role that they play in contributing to the social actor’s attractiveness. The passage which discusses Anderson’s clothes is focused on the practicality and functionality. Anderson’s clothes are described as an “easy uniform,” emphasizing ease instead of beauty. Similarly, example (13) exemplifies the previously mentioned emphasis on practicality and functionality in regard to fashion. It also discursively construct aspects of Isaac’s public personality, such as practicality and humbleness4.
Processes, particularly relational processes, in the case of the interviews with male social actors, therefore, are used to describe their physical appearances, but with an underlying focus on their personal expressions, attitudes and behaviors. These processes are rarely used to appraise or to pass judgment on the interviewees’ attractiveness or beauty, which seems to be common in the case of the female interviewees.
Although the male interviewees are sometimes appraised in terms of their beauty as well, as in examples (14), (15) and (16), the appraisals are not as detailed nor direct as those of the female interviewees. In (14), the interviewer describes Isaac as having physical features which adhere to traditional standards of beauty, such as “sculpted cheekbones” but his attractiveness is implied instead of explicitly stated. Also, in
cases in which a male social actor’s attractiveness is directly mentioned, it is usually rather brief and not followed nor preceded by the detailed description of their figures. In (15) and (16), for example, Anderson is simply described with the adjective “handsome” and Rocky “the prettiest.” In Rocky’s case, the appraisal on his appearance comes as an addition to the mention of his visionary status. This is different from the use of the metaphorical expression “looks a million dollars,” for instance, which is used to describe Getty’s appearance and is followed by a mention of her diet.
(14) Of the red carpets and photo shoots to which his wide-set eyes and sculpted cheekbones lend themselves so well… (Isaac, Vogue January 2015).
(15) ….the slight, handsome 32-year-old Northern Irish designer. (Anderson, Vogue March 2017).
(16) Rocky is the most visionary member of the Harlem rap collective known as the A$AP Mob – and the prettiest (Rocky, Vogue February 2016).
As mentioned, previous research on mainstream women’s magazines has found an emphasis on commodities, such as clothes, in their discourses. Machin & Thornborrow (2006) mention that women’s agency tends to be represented through beauty, sexuality, consumption and commodity. Similarly, Fung (2002) mentions that in women’s magazines, commodities, including clothes, are “endowed with symbolic values of femininity” (p. 330). The emphasis on such factors is certainly echoed in the articles with female interviewees in the present data, in which the physical is considered significant. The depictions of the female interviewees are fleshed out through the detailed descriptions of what they look like and, more importantly, what they wear, which could potentially persuade the magazine’s readers to consume the same commodities.
This is not to say that the depictions of the female social actors in the present data, particularly in relation to their clothes and fashion, are completely one-dimensional, with no regard to their personal styles. The depictions of what the female actors wear are also inseparable from their public identities. Lasowski’s bare face and her preference to dress as a “low-key figure” in (9) for instance, although undoubtedly related
to femininity, also supports the portrayal of the actress as a modest rising star5. However, the data show
that the attribute of being conventionally attractive seems to be given more importance in the interviews with female social actors in comparison to their male counterparts. In other words, clothes are a significant part of the discourse of both the male and female social actors’ interviews because they contribute to the construction of their agency and their public personas. However, the female interviewees are more often discursively appraised and judged in regard to what they look like and what they wear in comparison to male interviewees.
Perhaps the most important issue in regard to the discussions of the interviewees’ physical appearance is that in the case of the female interviewees, the physical is always mentionable, whether it adheres to or deviates from traditional feminine values. From Getty’s traditionally feminine style to Lasowski’s “makeup-free” face, every aspect of the female interviewees’ physical appearances seems to be detailed, which is not the case for male interviewees. Furthermore, fashion in the context of the female interviewees is portrayed as something that is inseparable from beauty, which is also not the case for male interviewees. Such a depiction of social actors supports the division of the ways that women and men are represented. Specifically, it strengthens the notion that the values of women are dependent on their beauty. These findings regarding how male and female social actors are described in the contexts of material and relational processes in Vogue’s interviews also reflect the findings of previous research, specifically the idea that in magazines, material for men is concerned with interests, the outside world and the public space (Temmerman & Van der Voorde, 2015), whereas material for women is concerned with the maintenance of their femininity through relationships, sexuality and commodities such as cosmetics or clothes (Eggins & Iedema, 2997, Machin and Thornborrow, 2006). For instance, when it comes to their physical appearances, particularly their attires, the male social actors’ descriptions tend to focus on personal expression and practicality, both of which reflect the social actors interests, careers and the projection of their public identities to the outside world. T he female social actors’ descriptions revolve around how
clothes and other commodities contribute to their beauty as well as sexuality, which are part of the realization of their femininity.
5.1.3. Other Processes. The interviews featuring male and female interviewees tend to share similar mental processes, most of which express ideas regarding the interviewees’ experiences or preferences. Some of the processes that are commonly used are “like” and “know,” as shown in the following instances:
(17) …Lasowski likes to keep her wardrobe neutral… (Lasowski, Vogue March 2017) (18) Not that he would know much about bad shows (Anderson, Vogue March 2017).
However, despite the fact that there is no major difference in number between the interviews, there are instances in which mental processes appear in ways which might signify differences in regard to gender and gender roles. Consider, for instance, the following sentence:
(19) She adores being pregnant (Pike, Vogue October 2014).
The process “adore” is exceptional since it does not appear is in the interviews save for Pike’s. More importantly, unlike “like,” which is commonly used in many of the interviews, it is a verb that is laden with emotional connotations. In Pike’s interview, it is used to describe her role as a mother. The use of the process in such a context would seem to support the naturalized notion that women are expected to think highly of motherhood. It is challenging, however, to provide any conclusive statement regarding this due to the limitation of the data and the frequency of the process’ occurrence.
Existential processes are very rarely used in the texts, being entirely absent in two of them. Therefore, it is impossible to determine whether they contribute to differences in the ways in which female and male social actors are represented. The existential processes that are typically used are “live” and “grow up,” as shown in the following instances:
(20) …so she lived here throughout her twenties (Pike, Vogue October 2014).
(21) He grew up in the small town of Magherafelt in Northern Ireland... (Anderson, Vogue March 2017).
Similarly, behavioral processes are relatively rarely used in most of the interviews and absent in Isaac’s. When they are used, however, they typically serve the purpose of describing the interviewee’s body language and actions when the interviews take place, with verbs such as “laugh” and “sigh.” However, they also seem to serve the purpose of emphasizing the interviewees’ characters, particularly their points of view on certain topics. In (22), for instance, the use of “laughs” emphasizes Johnson’s rebellious approach to responding to hypothetical situations with media representatives. In (23), the use of “sighs” helps to illustrate Rocky’s attitude towards relationships with women. Similarly, in (24), “shrugs” seems to emphasize Pike’s casual, nonchalant attitude towards the topic that she is discussing with the interviewer.
(22) And if a question comes up she doesn’t like? She laughs and responds: “I’ll just be, ‘I’m not going to answer that, motherfucker!’” (Johnson, Vogue February 2016)
(23) OK: girlfriends. He sighs. “It’s been a long time since I spoke to a woman who can introduce me to some shit about fashion,” he says wistfully. (Rocky, Vogue February 2016). (24) “I’ve always been an outsider,” she shrugs (Pike, Vogue October 2014).
In regard to the use of behavioral processes, there does not seem to be any considerable difference between the male and female interviewees whose interviews were investigated. It should be noted, however, that as in the case of existential processes, the infrequent use of behavioral processes also prevents conclusive statements regarding gender differences in the interview’s discourse.
Verbal processes, which are typically present in interviews, signify the opportunity for social actors to express their views, particularly through direct quotations. In the data, verbal processes are used in very similar average percentages in both articles with male and female interviewees, which indicates that the degrees of the social actors’ opportunity to voice their views tend to be similar, gender notwithstanding. The processes are shown through the use of a small array of verbs in the texts, such as “admit” and “tell.” “Admit” is typically used to describe (semi-) controversial statements from the interviewers, such as in Anderson’s description of how it is to work in the fashion industry in (25) and Pike’s description of fans recognizing and staring at her on public transport in passage (26):
(25) Jonathan admits that it is isolating at the top [of the fashion industry] (Anderson, Vogue March 2017).
(26) It is, she admits, becoming increasingly tricky to travel by Tube (Pike, Vogue October 2014).
Unsurprisingly, the most common verb used to describe a verbal process is “say,” as shown in the following passages:
(27) “I worked at the local store and did odd jobs like wash horses and babysit,” she says (Getty, Vogue January 2015).
(28) “I discovered the shit those guys were talking about in the Sixties,” he says (Rocky, Vogue February 2016).
Despite the fact that the verbal processes that are used in the texts do not seem to vary between interviews, the interviewees certainly differ in terms of the topics that they discuss. In order to achieve a deeper understanding of these topics and other facets of the interviews, the present paper also takes into consideration the results of the frame analysis. The following analysis of the four frames used to represent the interviewees aims to provide a distinctive and perhaps more fine-grained, detailed and comprehensive approach to discovering how male and female social actors are represented in the interviews.
5.2. Frames, Framing Techniques and Gender Ideals
5.2.1. The Talented Parent Frame. An integral point regarding the Talented Parent Frame in the present data, is that it is used in interviews with female interviewees. Therefore, it suggests the tendency of portraying women, especially older women, as mothers, in women’s magazines. More importantly, it involves particular ways of discursively constructing this representation.
One important facet of the frame is the discursive construction of the experience of motherhood, particularly how it is related to the idea of love. Weaver & Ussher (1997) in their discourse analysis of interviews with mothers name a few underlying themes mentioned by the interviewees when discussing their experiences with motherhood, one of them being the theme of “overwhelming love” (pp. 60-62). The
