Presentation: Resarch methods: Dissertation!

‘WITHOUT FEMINISM WE WOULDN’T HAVE VOGUE’
Intro
For the next ten minutes I am going to present my chosen topic for my dissertation, the reason why I’ve chosen it, the existing literature that relates to my question and the methodology I will use.
I will be applying the post-feminist theory to a range of female orientated magazines, the magazines I have chosen are Vogue and Heat.
The research will attempt to provide a definition of the post-feminist theory and apply it to two constrasting magazines focusing on the binary oppositional between high and low culture, in my research I will be notifying the differences and similarities between the two magazines.

Existing Literature
Sarah Gamble - Companion to feminism & post-feminism
Anthea Taylor - Popular culture & post-feminism
Budgeon S. & Currie D.H - From feminism to post-feminism - women’s liberation in fashion magazines
John Storey - Cultural theory & popular culture - an intro.
Anna gough-Yates - Understanding women’s magazines: publishing, markets & readerships.
Janet Helen Legge - Post-feminism in cosmo: a critical analysis.
Kate helburn - Media representations of women: conflicting definitions of femininity in cosmo/reveal.

Angela McRobbie - The aftermath of feminism - gender, culture and social change.
‘Which is that post-feminism positively draws on and invokes feminism as that which can be taken into account, to suggest that equality is achieved, in order to install a whole repertoire of new meanings which emphasise that it is no longer needed, it is a spend force,’ (McRobbie, 2009: 12)
Throughout her book Angela talks about:
- Post-feminism in popular culture/Britain
- Post-feminism in cultural-politics
- Post-feminism in education
- Post-feminism in everyday life

‘The media has become the key side for defining codes of sexual conduct. It casts judgement and establishes the rules of play across these many channels of communication feminism is routinely disparaged,’ (McRobbie, 2009: 15-16)
Why?
My particular expertise lies in Visual Culture, especially gender and sexuality. Gender and sexuality is where my interest lies, it is the favourite subject I’ve studied throughout my degree, the reason behind this is due to my interest in the way in which women are represented in the media, also the post-feminist theory is my favourite theory, simply because I’m a girl myself.
My reflection on the importance in carrying out this research is to see how women are represented, in a positive equal way as the post-feminist theory suggests.

Methodology
I will be conducting a theoretic dissertation, which means it will be library based involving analysing and engaging with existing literature. As it will also contain me analysing the texts myself, so it will be empirical research, which will also be qualitative.
Firstly I will be reviewing the existing literature around my subject, then I will be textually analysing my texts (Vogue & Heat) and finally applying the post-feminist theory to them.