Theoretical Reading- Del-Teso- Craviotto, M. (2005) ‘Words that matter: lexical choice and gender ideologies in women’s magazines'

Mariso del-Teso- Craviotto conducted similar research to what I have done. He looked at four US women’s lifestyle magazines, Good Housekeeping, Cosmopolitan, Working Women and Ms.;  looking at the relationship between lexical choice and gender ideologies in women’s magazines (2005, p.1).
I have noted down some quotes from his reading to help me structure my Proposal. His reading also provided me with a better understanding of how to conduct discourse analysis. 

'article reports on a lexical study of four US women's magazines (Good Housekeeping, Cosmopolitan, Working Women and Ms.)' (del-Teso- Craviotto 2005, p.1)

'the ideological weight of each magazine is partly sustained by particular uses of the lexicon'
(del-Teso- Craviotto 2005, p.1)

'sex and gender are not characteristics people have...sex and gender are conceptualised as fluid categories where meaning is constantly negotiated through interaction with different symbolic systems in social practices,' (del-Teso- Craviotto 2005, p.2) 


'popular media are nowadays central to the formation and continuation of such discourses in western societies' (del-Teso- Craviotto 2005, p.2)

'the particular linguistic practises of women's magazines are influenced by the overall ideology of the magazines' (del-Teso- Craviotto 2005, p.4)


'various ideals of femininity' (del-Teso- Craviotto 2005, p.4)

'study focuses on analysis of content words (nouns, verbs and adjectives)' (del-Teso- Craviotto 2005, p.7)

'women's magazines...address women with casual but appropriate language thus presenting themselves as friends,' (del-Teso- Craviotto 2005, p.14)

 'not all women maintain that level of linguistic "appropriatness" at all times, still, there is a normative assumption that they "should" observe it' (del-Teso- Craviotto 2005, p.14)

 'regardless of their overall gender ideologies, women's magazines tend to address similar concerns about women and femininity' (del-Teso- Craviotto 2005, p.14)



 Bibliography 


Del-Teso-Craviotto, M. (2005) 'Words that matter: lexical choice and gender ideologies in women's magazines,' Journal of Pragmatics, 38, pp.1-14.