THE ROLES OF THE WOMEN’S MAGAZINES BETWEEN 1940's and 1960's AND WOMEN’S PLACE IN SOCIETY

Between the 1940s and 1960s magazines assumed more importance than they do today in helping people, especially women, to both shape s and reflect the values, habits, and aspirations of American women and their families. Magazines provide that importance by their contents. They are always selected by the editor’s perceptions of women and interests. Also, each magazine was an advertisement. Let me explain details about magazines between those years.

While magazines were helping women about life, I think they put some kind of pressure on women. Those years, there were a few magazines were devoted to the woman who worked outside the home. Generally, magazines attracted women readers about housework. Most likely magazines were a guidebook for most women about the cultural history of the twentieth century but not for all of them. Why do they buy magazines? I suppose not they wanted magazines to shape insistently their place in society. Despite that magazines would be an inspiration for women that helps them make their lives better and richer with the beauty of living. There is another matter issue is that no gender equality. Marjorie Ferguson points out in Forever Feminine ‘There is no men’s periodical press in the same generic sense that there is for women.’ I agree with her. When we look at those times, for men publications directed at business and hobbies. According to these situations, the female sex was unconfident and they needs or wants to be instructed rehearsed (!) What a humiliating act, isn't it? The woman is intelligent and clearheaded. . She is forever seeking new ideas and editors must keep her in touch with the best. Although editors decided on content, I guess they were not free all the time while deciding because of the state's repression. In special cases such as the Cold war, politicians referred to precisely what the magazines existed to serve. Magazines were commercial enterprises; appearing to take sides on the explosive issue of racial integration would doubtless have cost a magazine considerable advertising revenue. While the magazines should keep their status, they did not. They also positioned women as a consumer; the pages and pages of advertising depict women with various machines and various cleaners. This is what I just said they were commercial enterprises.

In a conclusion, despite their emphasis on women's domestic responsibilities magazines between 1940 and 1960 were was one of the important communication tools which give people, not only women, insight into values, tastes, and desires that no other single source can provide. Woman's magazines had a significant part in defining women's aspirations regarding work and family, appearance. Magazines allow us to understand what society expected of them and shape women according to life in American culture.