The two magazines that will be analyzed within the framework of the current paper are Cosmopolitan and Vogue. Cosmopolitan’s target audience includes females aged between 18 and 35. At the same time, the general target audience that Vogue reaches are females aged from 20 to 40. These two magazines were explored in terms of their attitude toward race and representation because they generally reflect the same values and intend to communicate with the same target audience. This particular pick makes it easier to compare magazines and see how they approach their social agenda.
There were no particular stereotypes found in Cosmopolitan, as the magazine evidently cares about social justice and a display of all races, cultures, and ethnicities. There were no examples of cultural racism found in this magazine, which also means that this mass media instrument solely serves the purpose of conveying certain fashion-related messages (“Race – The Power of an Illusion,” n.d.). In terms of an approximate percentage of people appearing on the pages of Cosmopolitan, there was no particular superiority given to any of the ethnicities. As for Vogue, its advertisements and images tended to be not as culturally appropriate as in Cosmopolitan, as the majority of models were White. It may be perceived as an example of nurturing a cultural stereotype, where people of color are allegedly not as successful as their White counterparts in terms of a career in the model business. In general, Vogue can be considered a magazine that was not printed to appeal to numerous different racial groups.
Concerning the topic of possible segregation in the fashion magazine industry, it may be safe to conclude that different ethnic and racial groups should not be divided anymore, as the age of progression and amicability dictates that a cultural equilibrium has to be reached and protected. This is totally in line with Kendall (2015) and Scott (2012), who dwelled on the importance of going beyond mere representations in an attempt to draw different social groups closer to each other. Overall, Cosmopolitan and Vogue can be deemed as reputable sources that yet have enough room for improvement: Cosmopolitan could reach out to a broader target audience while Vogue might be interested in hiring and representing more people of color.
References
Kendall, D. (2015). Sociology in our times (11th ed.). Wadsworth.
Race – The power of an illusion. (n.d.). Public Broadcasting Service. Web.
Scott, M. (2012). Think: Race and ethnicity. Pearson.