When asked to pick either a text, an event or a phenomenon that I think exemplifies consumerism one thing sprang to mind.
Fashion Magazines.
For me they are the epitome of consumer culture all wrapped up in a neat package with a glossy front and shining celebrity staring at you from the cover. Depending on what fashion magazine you buy, whether its considered a more high end one like Vogue or a high-street one like Look, can affect your social ranking and status amongst other fashionistas. Which in my opinion is just plain silly. However everything about fashion magazines screams consumerism and highlights our ever growing consumer culture because they tell us what clothes to buy and which celebrity styles to admire which subsequently lead to the 'advise' of more clothes to buy in order to 'get the celebrity look'. Not to mention the 'what's hot and what's not' sections of these 'bibles'.
As for key features:
- Glossy cover with a well-known celebrity on it entices you to buy the damn thing.
- Sub-heading on the front cover outlining the best bits of the magazines contents, usually relating to the latest fashions, tips and sometimes fashion nightmares. (All 'juicy' news to us females)
- 'How to' pages. How to get the latest catwalk look or celebrity look by buying clothes that are affordable.
- Tips on make-up for different skins types, how to dress for your body shape etc. the things to buy for said shape and skin type, where to buy them, how much they cost and how taking their advise on what to wear and buy will help you look your best.
I'm sure there's countless other features, but these are the ones that jump out at me and well, to me one fashion magazine is very much like the other and they all seem to follow the same format and say the same things just the clothes featured are more expensive in some than others.
The media text I've chosen offers a form of escapism for the consumer much like most media texts. By being a regular buyer of fashion magazines you can keep up to date with the latest fashions, get tips from people in the know and find out the latest celebrity news/gossip. All in all, they appear to contain everything a woman would want in a magazine and contain some of the things that we seem to be more than marginally obsessed with within society, celebrities and the way we look.
As for how I relate to this type of media text, I'm afraid I don't. For me, fashion magazines are just something you skim through to pass the time while you're waiting at the hairdressers.
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