REPRESENTATION OF WOMEN IN FEMALE MAGAZINE ADVERTISEMENTS

This study analyzes women representation in 12 printed advertisements of Cosmopolitan magazine in edition of January 2016 that used women as the participant models from linguistic and semiotic point of view. The analysis is centered on the verbal and visual texts that may have particular strategies that are used by the product companies and advertisers to persuade and also exploit the potential consumers, especially women. The analytical tools of this study is based on Leech’s linguistic devices in advertisement, Barthes’ semiotic sign system namely denotation and connotation, and also Lacey’s theory about the categories of women representation and their stereotypes in media. A qualitative research design is suitably used in this study to give in-depth description and result of analysis. The findings of the analysis about the women representation in the advertisements are: 1) the advertisers selectively and creatively use particular linguistic features such as the major use of adjectives, noun phrase, and disjunctive clause that seem to have strong and persuasive effect to influence the potential consumers; and nonverbal features such as the major use of sexy attires, body gesture, colors, direct gaze, smiling facial expression, and other things which symbolized something that are compatible with the textual meanings; 2) the combination of such linguistic and semiotic aspect in analyzing the advertisements are able to reveal the myth or ideology of femininity and beauty such as being beautiful is sexy and slim in order to look attractive; 3) the advertisements mostly stereotype women as being beautiful and having attractive physique within narrow perspective such as object of sexuality and the most desired kind of beauty that is not all women have. Thus, advertising language and image is used to influence people’s minds.