How do magazines target their readership by gender?

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Victoria Canavan        

How do magazines target their readership by gender?

Magazines tend to target their readership by gender by tapping into gender specific stereotypes. This can be shown by the content that conventionally appears in male and female magazines. For example, men’s magazines generally contain semi-naked women, cars, sport, jokes, technology/gadgets, fashion and gruesome stories. Women’s magazines normally feature fashion, beauty, problems, celebrity news, horoscopes and real life stories. Magazines use gender stereotypes to target their readership because men and women have different interests and by targeting readers by gender, the features of the magazine are more appealing to audiences and this makes more money for the company.

The target audience for ‘Company’ magazine, according to , is females aged 25. The assumed lifestyle of this audience is they shop when they want, go clubbing when they want, they live for the weekend and know their fashion and popular culture. This assumed lifestyle is connected to the magazine’s strap line, ‘for your freedom years’. The magazine is priced at £1.99, which would be affordable for the assumed target audience. The magazine looks glossy and high value and the price is in bold, suggesting it is good value for money and will engage the reader.

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The front cover of the April 2006 copy of ‘Company’ consists of one model, who is framed by text. The model is glamorous, fashionable, has a confident pose and looks directly at the camera, which would engage the reader. The reader would aspire to the model, as she is attractive and appears slightly younger than the assumed target audience. Features included in the magazine are shown on the cover and include fashion and beauty, real life stories, career, men, sex and celebrity. The magazine targets their readership by gender because the model on the cover is similar to the ...

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