A critical discourse analysis of South Asian women's magazines: undercover beauty

270 Pages·2017·9.893 MB·English

by  McLoughlin, Linda

Palgrave Studies in Language,
Gender and Sexuality
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Linda McLoughlin
A Critical Discourse
Analysis of South
’
Asian Women s
Magazines
Undercover Beauty
LindaMcLoughlin
DepartmentofEnglish
LiverpoolHopeUniversity
Liverpool,UnitedKingdom
PalgraveStudiesinLanguage,GenderandSexuality
ISBN978-1-137-39877-2 ISBN978-1-137-39878-9(eBook)
DOI10.1057/978-1-137-39878-9
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Acknowledgements
First, I would like to thank all the women who participated in the focus
group research. Without their very generous contributions, this book
wouldnothavebeenpossible.Thankyouforgivingmetheopportunity
tolearnmoreaboutyourculture,forthelaughterandfriendship.Ihope
ff ‘ ’
my e orts to capture the essence of your voices meets with approval. I
would like to thank Aimee Wilson of the Love & Etiquette Foundation
’
for putting me in touch with the womens organisations and to the key
workers in each location, Naz, Yasmin, Mariam and Mevish who liaised
with the women and kindly provided refreshments. I would like to
thank the students in Bangalore for generously giving up their time
and for engaging in discussion with such enthusiasm. I would like to
thank the University for allowing the discussions to take place and Biju
Chacko for setting up the groups.
I would like to thank my colleagues in the English Department,
Manel Herat, Salman Al-Azami, Lisa Nahajec and Ruth Kircher for
their invaluable support. Special thanks to my head of department,
Cindy Hamilton, who allowed me to accompany her on a visit to
Bangalore on university business, which enabled the Indian focus
group discussions to take place. I would like to thank Fazila Bhimji
and Sariya Contractor whose work with Muslim women in Britain gave
me inspiration.
v
vi Acknowledgements
IwouldliketoacknowledgethesupportgivenbytheBritishAcademy
who awarded a Leverhulme small grant to support some of the initial
fi
eldworkandenablethedisseminationworkshoptotakeplace.Iwould
liketothanktheheadteacherofBlackburnHighSchool,MrsAtkinson,
for allowing the school to be used as a venue for the dissemination
workshop and deputy head Shazia Hussain for her kindness in helping
to ensure that events ran smoothly on the day. I would like to thank all
the workshop delegates whose attendance and participation began the
processofintercommunitydialogue.Itismyhopethatthedialoguewill
continue and that it will lead to better understanding of the needs of
South Asian women living in the UK.
I would also like to thank Chloe Fitzsimmons of Palgrave Macmillan
for supporting this book project and seeing it through to fruition. I
would like to thank the series editors, Helen Sauntson and Allyson Jule
for careful reading of the manuscript.
I would like to thank Ms. J. Wimal of Jayson Emerald Media
Corporation Ltd copyright holder of the Front Cover Asian Woman,
Winter 2011, issue 49.
John, my husband and my children Sarah and Nick, thank you for
your constant encouragement and unwavering support.
Contents
1 Introduction 1
–
2 Orienting the Reader The Legacy of Colonialism
and Cultural Imperialism 33
– fi
3 The Aesthetics of Beauty Commodi cation 55
– fi
4 For the Woman Who Wants the World Commodi ed
Feminism 87
–
5 East Meets West Cultural Hybridity 121
’ ’
6 Mens Voices in Womens Magazines 151
’
7 Readers Responses: Multi-vocal Expressions of Identity 179
8 Conclusion 247
Appendix 255
Further Readings 257
Index 259
vii
List of Figures
Fig. 1.1 ‘Mancrafted’ Phive Rivers advertisement 11
Fig. 2.1 Kent Ro Water Purifiers advertisement 47
Fig. 3.1 Lightenex Pharmaclinix advertisement 58
Fig. 5.1 ‘Front cover’ Asian Woman 128
ix
1
Introduction
‘
Chapkis (1986) claims that female beauty is becoming an increas-
ingly standardized quality throughout the world. A standard so
strikingly white, Western and wealthy it is tempting to conclude
’
there must be a conscious conspiracy afoot (36). Female beauty is
fi ’
a signi cant aspect of all women s lifestyle magazines, no doubt due
to the revenue generated by advertisements for products which
promise to aid in the achievement of this globalized beauty aes-
’
thetic. Without question, women s magazines perpetuate a widely
’ fi
held cultural belief that a woman s worth is de ned in terms of her
appearance. However, this is particularly salient in Asia, since
according to Glenn (2008):
regardless of the origins of color consciousness in India, the preference
for light skin seems almost universal today, and in terms of sheer
numbers, India and Indian diasporic communities around the world
constitute the largest market for skin lighteners. The major consumers
of these products in South Asian communities are women between the
ages of 16 and 35. (289)
© The Author(s) 2017 1
L. McLoughlin, A Critical Discourse Analysis of South Asian
Women’s Magazines, Palgrave Studies in Language, Gender
and Sexuality, DOI 10.1057/978-1-137-39878-9_1