Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Nylon Magazine


As any media text marketed towards teenage girls, Nylon magazine incorporates features that are associated with typical feminine interests and values.  Although Nylon is marketed as a forward thinking, stylistically distinctive resource for fashion and pop culture, it falls into the stereotypical trappings of placing focus upon product placement and unattainable imagery. With a chosen “It Girl” of the month, Nylon reinforces the idolatry that young females have developed towards an ideal figure. Females such as Megan Fox, Evan Rachel Wood, Sienna Miller, Lindsay Lohan, and Katy Perry. Predominantly waifish and quintessentially beautiful, the cookie cutter nature of these individuals is undeniable. The format of the magazine places a spotlight upon mediocre actresses and faux musicians who coincidentally may be identified as fashionable and chic. This focus communicates a value of vapidity; aesthetic appeal over a successful and meaningful career. The message seems to be that mediocrity is acceptable as long as one places time, energy, and money upon aesthetic features such as makeup, hair, and clothing. The cover of the magazine particularly enforces the worship and glorification of a goddess figure. Hardly different from the capitalization of the female form found within media texts such as Vogue and Cosmo, Nylon disguises this exploit by modernizing the feminine construction for its audience. This is done through an embracement of capitalism; the products of diverse and supposedly trendy companies buoy the woman’s femininity.

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