Women's magazines in Asian and Middle Eastern countries

Abstract

This article provides an overarching view of research available in the field of women's magazines and popular media in Asian and Middle Eastern countries. One of the common themes of research is the influence of western media on the other cultural media forms, and how it is having an impact on the portrayal of cultural values and women in these societies. However, these research studies do not provide any hard evidence on the impact of western influence on media cultural forms and on their consumers. The claims are mainly based on the analysis of non-random selection of women's magazines and their consumers. These studies suggest that the portrayal of women in magazines has been changing but causes of these changes are based on assumptions about western influences. This article explains that the Asian and Middle Eastern societies are somehow evolving from within and this process of change is visible in the local media forms.