INSTYLE MAGAZINE

                          INSTYLE
`
Instyle magazine is a magazine that is more recommended for women aged 30's to 40's, it mostly revolves around giving women advice about fashion, makeup, skincare and other stuff. Even though the magazine Instyle are trying to sell to women much older then teenagers, they still catch teenagers attention because teenagers also like to know and hear advice on fashion and hair tips etc. Instyle is very classy and high-class and are selling their clothes and stuff at a way higher price then normal stores would. For our media assignment we had to look at the magazine and determine what was in it that would catch teenagers eyes, and how Instyle magazine have used their magazine to stereotype teenage girls and represent them in the media.

In my team we did the Instyle magazine with Anne Hathaway as the cover picture, this photo of Anne Hathaway caught our eye because Anne Hathaway is a famous actress and as teenagers we have watched her movies and know about her. In the cover photo of Anne Hathaway she has a short brown bob, expensive earrings and a expensive dress which is bright purple which reminded me of a princess dress. it immediately made me think that she looked feminine, was rich, had a designer dress on and looked trendy. The media has obviously stereotyped teenage girls using this picture of Anne Hathaway because they think that if the person on the cover photo looks pretty and trendy, girls are more likely to pick up the magazine and read it, unlike if for example she was not photo shopped and had just jeans and a t-shirt on. It represents teenage girls as shallow and vain because it makes us look like we only care about our looks it could also affect society's view of teenage girls if the media are trying to show that, looks and the latest fashion are all that teenage girls care about.

On the front cover of Instyle magazine they use stories/advertisements that appeal to teenage girls to get them reading the magazine, “best with buys and 83 sites you need to know” which is online shopping, “how to make winter layers work and still stay slim.” Which is fashion advice, and  “New hair new you! Cuts and colours to transform your look.” Which is new hair styles. I thought these advertisements were very degrading to teenage girls because its using words in these advertisements like “still stay slim” and “new hair new you” and “transform your look.” Its telling girls that they have to be skinny and change themselves in order to be pretty, and in society these days all media talk about is that girls have to be skinny and have ‘thigh gaps’ and ‘collar bones’ in order for boys to notice them and think their ‘hot’ or ‘sexy.’ The effect of this representation on teenage girls having to be really skinny and seeing models who look like their perfect is having a negative representation on teenage girls, and can cause depression, bulimia and even suicide because of the pressure of looking like how the media thinks they should look like.

Inside the magazine I calculated how many advertisements there were and what they were trying to represent in teenage girls. There were a lot of advertisements to try get teenage girls to buy these products to make them "pretty and popular."

Makeup- 13
Skin care- 9
Hair- 5
Clothing- 34

As I was looking through these advertisements I saw that they all said something like 'buy this dress, you have to have it!' and 'lipstick that will make you 100x sexier' I felt like looking through this would have a negative effect in teenage girls, because of Instyle their products are a lot more expensive then some magazines like 'Girlfriend' and 'Cleo' so its more likely that teenage girls wouldn't be able to buy all this stuff, which wouldn't make them confident in themselves, for example they couldn't have the lipstick that makes them '100x sexier.' It also had a stereotype in teenage girls because of the models they were all skinny and looked they had perfect facials and perfect skin, when in reality they are all just photo shopped and don't look like that every day, but I think society forgets that and thinks that teenage girls should look like that and look 'youthful' and 'beautiful.'

The celebrity that is offered as a role model in Instyle Magazine is Anne Hathaway who is on the front cover. There are a lot of articles about her in this magazine because she is very successful and worked hard at being where she is now. When Anne Hathaway was a teenager she stared in her first movie which was called the princess diaries which was about a girl who gets appointed as a princess, later on they decided to do princess diaries two. Anne has gotten very far in life and is now an A list actress who is respected in society. I think she is a good representation and role model on teenage girls because she got where she was today by just being herself. Anne didn't follow the medias ways of being really skinny and wearing makeup all the time to be 'pretty and liked by boys.' Because of Anne Hathaway teenage girls can feel confident to inspire to be like Anne, without all the media pressure of how teenage girls should be to become successful and liked.


I think Instyle has a Negative representation on teenage girls but does have a positive by doing an article on Anne Hathaway and putting her on the cover page. Anne Hathaway is a role model to the majority of teenage girls today for being different and not being exactly how the media stereotypes teenagers to be. It does also have a massive negative representation on teenage girls because of the advertisements telling girls what they should look like, eat, dress like and be like and its just to much for girls to try keep up to medias expectations. I think the media should be more careful on what they say and stop being so judgemental to teenage girls. Media need to see the effect on what they portray teenage girls to be- skinny, pretty, boyfriend, popular etc. Teenage girls should just be who they want to be and not feel bad about it, they should feel confident in themselves.