Abstract
This study explores the strategies used to legitimate relationship advice articles in locally produced English language women’s magazines from three different contexts, which are, Malaysia, the US, and two Middle Eastern countries (UAE and Egypt). Six women’s magazines, two from each context, were chosen for this study. Sixty articles, ten from each magazine, from the relationship advice sections of each magazine were analysed using content analysis. We focused on the strategies used to legitimise these advice articles based on similar studies on the legitimisation of advice through the use of intertextuality and voices appearing in these texts. In addition, we also investigated if there are differences in the strategies of legitimation used in these articles due to differences in the cultural norms in the three contexts. Our findings revealed four legitimation strategies which were employed to construct advice in the texts we analysed, namely, ‘Cross-Section of Real-Life’, ‘Appealing to Authorities’, ‘Celebrity Endorsement’, and ‘Popular Culture References’. Our findings also revealed that the writers of sex and relationship articles in all three contexts have to carefully craft their texts in order to produce advice that is considered legitimate and can be accepted by their readers. Finally, our study showed that there appears to be a clear connection between the legitimation strategies used and the socio-cultural aspects of each society.
Highlights
Women’s magazines were believed to first appear in Britain in the late 17th century, catering to upper-class women who were literate and had time on their hands to indulge in reading
The findings reveal that this type of narratives is more prevalent in the Middle Eastern advice articles than in the United State (US) and the Malaysian data
As the Malaysian and Middle Eastern magazines are English language magazines, it is expected that Western references would dominate the texts. This cross-cultural study on the legitimation strategies used by writers of relationship advice articles in women’s magazines in three different cultural contexts reveals that these writers have to carefully craft their texts in order to produce advice that is considered legitimate and can be accepted by their readers
Summary
Women’s magazines were believed to first appear in Britain in the late 17th century, catering to upper-class women who were literate and had time on their hands to indulge in reading. Jurnal Pengajian Media Malaysia / Malaysian Journal of Media Studies to Ceulemans and Fauconnier (1979: 39), women’s magazines are distinguished from other media mainly because they are directed towards women and are read primarily by women They generally feature articles on fashion, beauty, health, fitness, lifestyle and relationships. Berns (1999) states that they provide an interesting perspective on many issues and they introduce different social problems in greater detail than other types of mass media. This belief is shared by Caldas-Coulthard who stresses that women’s magazines “are about being female and the problems of being female” (1996: 252).
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