Process and Progress

With the semester starting up, I wanted to give you all an update on how my intersession research progressed, where I am going with my topic, and what my goals are for senior thesis. Over intersession, I read many books and journals related to my topic; I annotated all pertinent findings and quotes that resonate with my paper. I have narrowed my focus to looking at 1 issue per year of American Vogue from 1965-1974. This timeline is more manageable and will allow me to delve into my textual and photographic analysis better. I am looking at how women’s roles are represented and constructed through the magazine by assessing how they are portrayed in editorial photographs, lifestyle articles, and advertisements. I am analyzing how these depictions relate to and portray aspects of the second wave feminist movement, as well as the social, cultural, and political happenings of the time

            I created the idea for my methodological analysis tool after reviewing 3 magazines online through The Vogue Archive and will be including the following classifications in my analysis: female form and silhouette, environment, interactions with other figures, signifiers of counterculture, and feminist focus. Each categorical term serves to be representative of larger concepts. The category female form and silhouette alludes to a woman’s pose in photographic content, the shape of her body, the shape created by what she is wearing, how her body is discussed or featured. The category environment refers to the surroundings and conditions a woman is shown in through text or the background of photographs or advertisements. The category interactions with other figures allude to who else is shown in the photograph and how a woman is shown interacting with them. The category signifiers of counterculture refer to noteworthy changes in ideology of the definition of womanhood, the social roles appropriate to this definition, shifts in clothing styles, and the cultural, social, and political events of the time. Signifiers include mentions or inferences of youth, innocence, and sexual appeal in textual and photographic content. The category of feminist focus alludes to equal rights, women’s liberation, empowerment, and individualism.

My advisors approved my proposal and I have made significant progress in the past 2 weeks, having met with both of my advisors and looked at issues of American Vogue through my newly established methodology. I even watched a 4 part documentary series entitled Killing Us Softly: Advertising’s Image of Women by Jean Kilbourne that Dr. Lent recommended for my research, which initiated my whole writing process. At this point, I have written roughly 10 pages and will continue to make revisions, subtractions, and additions in the upcoming weeks. In this past week’s class, I reviewed 2 classmates’ thesis drafts so far. It was intriguing see how greatly some of our projects have changed since fall semester. However, everyone seems to be on a good path and change is a part of the whole writing process. I intend to incorporate feedback into my draft from my class cohort. Going forward, I need to find visuals to bring into class and set up more meetings with my advisors regarding feedback as well as my process and progress. I intend to be fully prepared for and meet all my deadlines. I am looking forward to seeing my hard work pay off and my project proposal coming to fruition. Until then, I will be writing!