針對第三波女性主義的內容分析－以ELLE她雜誌為例 - 政大學術集成

全文

(1)國立政治大學國際傳播英語碩士學位學程碩士學位論文. A Content Analysis of Third Wave Feminism in ELLE. 治. Magazine政 From 1992 to大 2016. 立. 針對第三波女性主義的內容分析－以 ELLE 她雜誌為例. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. 指導教授：郭貞博士研究生：潘蓉慧. 中華民國 106 年 6 月.

(2) . Acknowledgments This dissertation could not have been completed without the great support that I have received from so many people. I wish to offer my most heartfelt thanks to the following people. I would like to express the deepest appreciation to my advisor Professor Kuo Chen, who has been resourceful and helpful in regard to teaching; who has been patient and willing to offer me any suggestions and assistance since the beginning of. 政治大 discussion on my thesis from her busy schedule. Without her guidance and persistent 立 the process. Professor Kuo has been kind and generous to always arrange time for. ‧ 國. 學. help this thesis would not have been possible. I would like to thank my committee members, Professor Chang and Professor Tsai, who gave me helpful and honest. ‧. suggestions on improving my thesis.. Nat. sit. y. I would like to thank my family, my parents that have been supporting me. n. al. er. io. through grad school financially and emotionally. Without whom I would not have. i n U. v. made it through. I would like to thank all my friends that have been there for me. Ch. engchi. whenever I needed to. Thanks to my friends in grad school and my classmates, who offered me advices during the process. Thanks to my boyfriend, though he is in England and seven hours behind me, he is always there for me whenever I needed support. Thanks to all those people that helped this thesis to be accomplished..

(3) . Abstract This study examined the trend of increasing feminist messages in fashion magazines between the years of 1992 to 2016. Feminists have always criticized women’s magazines for conveying traditional messages—that women are concerned only with external appearances, pleasing a man, and finding a husband. Third wave feminism is a new feminism started in the 1990s that celebrates media visibility, with the central of fun, feminine and sex-positive; while using mass media and popular culture as tools to carry empowerment messages of the Third wave.. 政治大. It is hypothesized that feminist messages increase in fashion magazines under. 立. the influence of the Third wave feminism. Content analysis method is used for data. ‧ 國. 學. analysis. Pierce's (1990) measurements and definition of feminist messages are. ‧. refined and expanded as a basis for content analysis conducted on 16 selected issues. y. Nat. of ELLE Taiwan from 1992 to 2016.. n. al. er. io. content analysis.. sit. Keywords: Third wave, feminism, fashion magazine, ELLE magazine,. Ch. engchi. i n U. v.

(4) . Table of Contents 1.Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 1 2. Literature Review ........................................................................................................... 3 2.1 Fashion ..................................................................................................................................... 3 2.2 Fashion magazines ................................................................................................................ 4 2.3 Third Wave Feminism .......................................................................................................... 6 2.4 Third Wave Feminism and Pop culture ........................................................................ 11 2.5 Third Wave Feminism and Mainstream Media .......................................................... 15 2.6 New Feminism in Taiwan ................................................................................................. 19 2.7 Women Magazines in Taiwan .......................................................................................... 24 2.8 Feminism in ELLE ............................................................................................................. 25. 政治大. 3. Research Method ......................................................................................................... 30. 立. 3.1 Content analysis .................................................................................................................. 31. ‧ 國. 學. 3.2 Procedure of data collection ............................................................................................. 32 3.3 Unit of analysis .................................................................................................................... 33 3.4 Coding schemes ................................................................................................................... 33. ‧. 3.5 Data Analysis ....................................................................................................................... 34. sit. y. Nat. 4. Results ............................................................................................................................ 35. al. er. io. 5. Discussion and Conclusion ........................................................................................ 46. v i n Ch 7. References ..................................................................................................................... 51 engchi U n. 6. Contributions and Limitations ................................................................................. 49. 8. Chinese References ...................................................................................................... 58 Appendix A：Coding Schemes and Operational Definitions ................................ 61 Appendix B: Findings of the Taiwan Social Change Survey ................................. 64 Appendix C: Rebranding Feminism Campaign by ELLE ..................................... 66 Appendix D: Sample Articles of Each Dimension .................................................... 67.

(5) . List of Tables Table 1. The percentage of how much education does society think a girl should at least require ........................................................................................................... 21 Table 2. Percentage of female participation in government ................................. 22 Table 3. How society thinks of couples divorce ...................................................... 23 Table 4. How society thinks about whose last name should children take after . 23 Table 5. Cross time differences on sub-dimension (1a) ......................................... 36 Table 6.Cross time differences on sub-dimension (2a) .......................................... 36 Table 7. Cross time differences on sub-dimension (2b) ......................................... 37. 政治大 Table 9. Cross time differences 立 on sub-dimension (1b) ......................................... 39 Table 8. Cross time differences on sub-dimension (3a) ......................................... 38. ‧ 國. 學. Table 10. Cross time differences on sub-dimension (2c) ....................................... 39 Table 11. Cross time differences on sub-dimension (3b) ....................................... 40. ‧. Table 12. Cross time differences on sub-dimension (4a) ....................................... 41. sit. y. Nat. Table 13. Cross time differences on sub-dimension (4b) ....................................... 41. io. er. Table 14. Cross time differences on sub-dimension (4c) ....................................... 42 Table 15. Cross time differences on sub-dimension (4d) ....................................... 43. al. n. v i n C hon sub-dimensionU(5a) ....................................... 43 Table 16. Cross time differences engchi Table 17. Cross time differences on sub-dimension (5b) ....................................... 44 Table 18. Cross time differences on sub-dimension (5c) ....................................... 45 Table 19. Cross time differences on sub-dimension (6a) ....................................... 45.

(6) . 1. Introduction Fashion magazines have always been labeled as the one to blame for objectification of women and the symbol of oppression under patriarchy. The objectification of women is regarded as a consequence under the "man gaze" and the rising of materialism and capitalism. Despite the criticism from feminists, fashion magazines and the fashion industry are still the important roles in the global economy and also a media platform that distributes information.. 政治大 fashion magazine with 46 editions in over 60 countries. With its famous slogan "Si 立. ELLE, founded by Hélène Lazareff in 1945, is now the biggest international. ‧ 國. 學. elle lit, elle lit Elle (If she reads, she reads Elle)" ELLE has earned the loyalty of 800,000 readers worldwide.. ‧. Mrs. Lazareff’s original approach for the magazine is to provide women with. y. Nat. io. sit. exclusive and unparalleled access to fashion and beauty, while maintaining a close. n. al. er. relationship with its readers. For the first time, women’s interests and convictions. Ch. i n U. v. were taken into account. Mrs. Lazareff’s position was strong for she wanted only the. engchi. best for her readers, to hold them with their self esteem, as she felt they deserved to finally be regarded as strong and independent women. Also she considered women to be actors in society’s evolution, motivating them to invest in themselves, to be financially independent and position themselves as equal to men. Ever since the internationalization began in the US and the UK, Mrs. Lazareff’s individual vision has been transformed into a concept so strong and relevant to women that it has become a global brand. I witnessed this during my experience interning in ELLE Taiwan, which has been in Taiwan since 1991, and just celebrated. 1.

(7) . its 25th anniversary of ELLE Taiwan on October 21th. It has been operating many events for targeting female customers, and it has been successful. There are also Elle Decoration, Elle Accessories, and Elle wedding, designed specifically for female readers. ELLE has always concentrated on the best interests of women; this is what the brand ELLE means to millions of readers worldwide. Looking into the transformation and the dynamics between feminism and the fashion industry, I argue that fashion magazines can be useful when it comes to the issue of enlightening women and celebrating feminism by analyzing the content of ELLE magazine.. 治政大there is a trend of increasing The objective of this study is to uncover whether 立 ‧ 國. 學. feminist messages under the influence of the Third wave. Content analysis is used in examining feminist messages in the articles from fashion magazines across 14 years.. ‧. ELLE magazine is chosen as the subject for analysis. In other word, the research. n. al. Ch. engchi. 2. er. io. fashion magazines since the dawn of Third wave.. sit. y. Nat. question of this study is whether the feminist messages have increased in mainstream. i n U. v.

(8) . 2. Literature Review 2.1 Fashion Fashion in reality means “everywhere in the world, people make daily decisions about what to wear or how to dress” (Eicher et al, 2000, p. 11). What and how to wear, is a visible form of consumption, which plays a major role in the social construction of identity. Clothing choices offer the opportunity to observe how people interpret a specific form of culture for their own purposes, (Crane, 2001).. 政治大 motivated 立(Crane, 2001, p.18). How we. Fashion has always had a social agenda in women; therefore clothing behavior is always socially. clothe ourselves has. ‧ 國. 學. important implications for society as a whole and a key mode of cultural expression. In different times people dress up in different styles, reflecting different cultural vibes. ‧. or social customs of the society at the time (Sumner & Keller, 1927; Breward, 1994).. y. Nat. al. er. io. between individuality and conformity (Simmel, 1971).. sit. Fashion can be simultaneously global and local, generic and personal, it is a swing. n. v i n Furthermore, fashion is anCexpression of identity. It is an act of performativity, hengchi U. or the ways in which the body assumes a sense of self by creating a recognizable. identity through the way the body is clothed, gestures, expressions, and movement. In a fashion system, clothes function as symbols that indicate social markers such as status, gender, personality, fashionability, and sexuality. (Craik, 2009) Fashion has become a bigger interest to more people due to the needs of self-status seeking (Serrant, 2010). At a broader level, the fashion industry is also a cultural industry that establishes the aesthetic and practical dimensions of our clothing habits as well as constituting a keynote global consumer industry. Therefore,. 3.

(9) . fashion is a product of capitalist enterprise and the cultural expressions of that enterprise. (Miles, 1998). 2.2 Fashion magazines Fashion plate was the first way to try to spread information of current styles from one place to another (Serrant, 2010). It is a fashion engraving or illustration that depicts the latest trend of clothes and style of a specific period of time, which was first used in England and France during the late sixteenth century. This was a. 政治大. wonderful way to encourage fashion workshops in countries throughout Western. 立. Europe (Steele, 2005). Fashion plates can be seen as the first fashion magazine that. ‧ 國. 學. shows the details of the dresses.. Fashion plates have been printed and sold widely in Europe, which led some of. ‧. the publishers of magazines for women to add fashion plates to the current literary. y. Nat. er. io. sit. content of women’s magazines (Holland, 1955). At this period of time, fashion can be seen as a form of social regulation, a hierarchy, a social custom and also a social. al. n. v i n Cafter process (Serrant, 2010). Shortly invention of the printing press, the printed h ethe ngchi U page began to be replace fashion plates in conveying fashion information.. In the late seventeenth century the presentation of fashion information was found within fashion magazine pages. The French publication Mercure Galant was regarded as the earliest fashion magazine addressed to female readers with a combination of illustrations and magazines (DeJean, 2005). Mercure Galant is considered the first gazette to appear in the fashion world, and also a notable development in the history of journalism. It played a vital role in the distribution of news and fashion texts. (DeJean, 2005). 4.

(10) . The fashion magazines as we know it today emerged in England during the 1870s. Modernization of printing technology in the 19th century made the whole printing process easier and cheaper (Gershon, 2015). Christopher Breward, wrote a paper for the Journal of Design History in 1994, explaining how fashion magazines show the changing views of a woman's role in society through time. He noted that the first popular interest fashion magazine started up in 1806 in England presented with heavy graphics and a focus on women's position in the public world. Also the intention of fashion magazines was to promote. 治政大it was building a "feminized advertisers' product, he stresses that the central idea of 立 ‧ 國. 學. consumer culture" (Breward, 1994). During 1870s, graphics showed how women dressing up pretty in public spaces,. ‧. during the time in which women were not only expected to be a good house wife but. sit. y. Nat. also to communicate their families' social status through their clothing and. n. al. er. io. appearance. As department stores and fashion consumption arises, the magazines. i n U. v. increasingly showed graphics of women shopping. Even though fashion magazines. Ch. engchi. have pushed their own form of male dominance, the idea that women should dress to please men is also the emerging concept of consumerism as a way to happiness. It is certain to say that not only do fashion magazines reflect women's position in the current society but also it is a platform that conveys ideas and ideologies that shift through time (Gershon, 2015). Furthermore women magazines are magazines that target female readers, purposes of such magazines are: (1.) satisfy female readers needs of social involvement (2.) assist women in managing the family (3.) provide. 5.

(11) . fashion and beauty information in order to satisfy women's individual needs (賴珮如,1994).. 2.3 Third Wave Feminism After World War II, and after the first wave of feminism, which started in late 19th to early 20th century, women realized they must have political power such as the right to vote to start off the pursuit of gender equality. During the 60s, Second wave feminism broadened the debate to workplace, sexuality, family, and reproductive. 政治大. rights (Walter, 1998). Betty Friedan's book The Feminine Mystique, which was. 立. written in 1962, pointed out the frustration of educated housewives that felt trapped. ‧ 國. 學. and unfulfilled. The book stunned the society by contradicting the prevailing knowledge that housewives were satisfied to serve their families; also by calling on. ‧. women to seek fulfillment in work and career outside of family. Friedan's work had a. y. Nat. er. io. sit. great impact on the society and is credited with sparking the "Second wave" of the feminist movement (Collins, 2009).. al. n. v i n Women used to be limitedC in h almost every aspectUfrom family life to work place, engchi. but the Second wave feminism has liberated women from the domestic realm and enter the work place. Then the Second wave of feminist movement splits over the issues related to sexuality, therefore a new wave of feminism began to emerge in order to avoid the contentious splits over sex issues and also to revitalize feminism (Snyder-Hall, 2010). Third-wavers rose arguments about women using their sexuality to wield power over men and controlling their own sexuality against the inherently exploitative nature of sexual performance from second-wave arguments showed the self-identification of the Third wave as pro-sex (Gilley, 2005). The beginning of. 6.

(12) . Third wave feminism is often dated to Rebecca Walker's 1992 essay in Ms. called "Becoming the Third wave," in which she claimed herself as a part of a new generation of feminists wanting a feminism which they considered to be more familiar to their own experiences (Karlyn, 2003; Keller, 2011). Given the reason that with the stereotypes of the hairy-legged, bra-burning, anti-male, strident feminist permeated the society has led to the phenomenon of “I’m not a feminist, but...”syndrome among women, beginning in the late ’80s, in which young women refused to identify themselves as “feminist” even they agreed with feminist political views (Gilley, 2005).. 立. 政治大. ‧ 國. 學. The term "Third wave" also made its first official political appearance at the Freedom Summer youth organizing event in 1992, and the same year that a feminist. ‧. conference at Hunter College in New York featured a panel dedicated to Third wave. sit. y. Nat. feminism (Baumgardner & Richards, 2000).. n. al. er. io. Third wave feminism arose within the Second wave, kept the core idea of the. i n U. v. Second wave that women are capable of seeking fulfillment outside of the domestic. Ch. engchi. realm but it insists that each woman must decide for herself how to negotiate the common contradictory desires for both gender equality and sexual liberation (Snyder-Hall, 2010). On the issue of sex and heterosexuality, Third wavers see the opportunities for sexual pleasure and empowerment (Snyder-Hall, 2010). For example, many Third-wavers believe in the use of female sexuality as a power tool, which is if dancing sexually improves the female body image because men are whistling it can be empowering (Gilley, 2005).. 7.

(13) . Rebecca Walker expressed the contradictions and tensions of self-positioning young feminists who were uncomfortable with what they regarded as the inflexibility of Second wave identity politics: "For many of us it seems that to be a feminist in the way that we have seen or understood feminism is to conform to an identity and way of living that doesn’t allow for individuality, complexity, or less than perfect personal histories. We fear that the identity will dictate and regulate our lives, instantaneously pitting us against someone, forcing us to choose inflexible and unchanging sides, female against male,. 治政 black against white, oppressed against oppressor,大 good against bad."(Rebecca 立 ‧ 國. 學. Walker, 1995, Being Real: an introduction, in Walker, To Be Real, p. 33.). Therefore, most feminist theorists agree that the Third wave focuses more on. ‧. how each individual defines feminism and further leads to an embracing of. sit. y. Nat. contradiction, conflict when it comes to agreeing on a specific Third wave scheme. n. al. er. io. (Heywood and Drake, 1997; see also Dicker and Piepmeier, 2003; Henry, 2005).. i n U. v. Third waver Naomi Wolf, also as the writer of Fire with Fire, stated that women. Ch. engchi. are never the minority in our society, and are a financial bloc with "enormous power". She stressed that patriarchy does not prevent women from achieving the goal of equality. She referred Second wave as "victim feminism." She defined the term "victim feminism" as "when a woman seeks power through an identity of powerlessness" and criticized how traditional consciousness raising efforts. Therefore she calls for women to reject victim feminism and embrace "power feminism" with the following definition:. 8.

(14) . "What is power feminism? It means taking practical giant steps instead of ideologically pure baby steps; practicing tolerance rather than self-righteousness. Power feminism encourages us to identify with one another primarily through the shared pleasures and strengths of femaleness, rather than primarily through our shared vulnerability and pain. It calls for alliances based on economic self-interest and economic giving back rather than on a sentimental and workable fantasy of cosmic sisterhood." (Sigerman, 2007, The Columbia documentary history of American women since 1941, p.510). 治政 In order to understand it more, Wolf's emphasis大 on individualism needs to be 立 ‧ 國. 學. noted. Regarding power feminism as an opposition to Second wave collective action makes it an individualistic motion, the message might be understood as we already. ‧. have the power in us and all we have to do is to use it. Third wavers claim to be less. y. sit. n. al. er. io. Second wavers.. Nat. rigid and judgmental than the anti-male, anti-sex, anti-femininity, and anti-fun. i n U. v. Naomi Wolf referred Second wave feminism as "victim feminism" and it is. Ch. engchi. "sexually judgmental, even anti-sexual," "judgmental of other women's sexuality and appearance," and "self-righteous" (Wolf 2006, p.14-15). Second wave feminism expects women to give up heterosexual privilege by not marrying, instead of extending civil rights; and to give up beauty, instead to expand the definition. It believes that sensuality cannot be compatible with seriousness and fears that having much fun might pose a threat to the revolution. On the other hand Third wavers feel that we should interact with men as equals, claim sexual pleasure, either heterosexual or otherwise, and play with femininity vigorously as we desire it (Wolf, 2006).. 9.

(15) . Third wave feminism is defined as the feminist thought influenced by postmodern culture in a way that embraces the contradictory and the multi-perspective of feminisms; making use of the current culture to its biggest benefits, and how young feminists negotiate with the current cultural domain (Conrad, 2001). Thus, it can be seen as a contemporary feminism and culture. In this post modern era Third wave feminism has diverse approaches to feminism activism and various values about intimate topics such as sex and lifestyle. Third wave feminism is an extension of its earlier movement, Second wave, yet. 治政 it somehow fused itself with postmodern culture and 大 broke down the stereotype that 立 ‧ 國. 學. society held against feminism, which came with the Second wave feminism (Conrad, 2001). It is a movement that is considered to contain elements of Second Wave. ‧. critique of beauty culture, sexual abuse, and power structures; while it also. sit. y. Nat. acknowledges and makes use of the pleasure, danger, and power of those structures. n. al. er. io. (Leslie Heywood & Jennifer Drake, 1997). But it rejects the feminism of the Second. i n U. v. wave, claiming that it reflects almost exclusively the perspectives and values of white,. Ch. engchi. middle-class, heterosexual, who define themselves as oppressed victims of patriarchy. Empowerment means different in this new feminism, unlike the collective terms in the Second wave, it is in a rather individualistic term. In a Third wave sense, being empowered is about feeling good about the self and having the power in making choices, no matter what choices they are. Third wavers seek to embrace sexual desire and expression, to be free from the limits of patriarchy and heterosexuality also from the anti- sex sensibilities perception of second-wave feminism (Shugart, Wggoner, & Hallstein, 2001). Therefore Third wave feminism is a hybrid of multicultural,. 10.

(16) . individualism and anti-essentialism, diverse sexualities, contradictions and contrasts (Conrad, 2001).. 2.4 Third Wave Feminism and Pop culture During the 90s, Third wavers criticized Second wave feminists' contempt for pop culture and began to redefine pop culture from a media-savvy perspective, and embraced it as a potential feminist stand (Heywood and Drake, 1997). Its integration with popular culture then became a major characteristic of the Third wave. Therefore. 政治大. it led to an energetic fresh feminism pervading the contemporary mass media, in the. 立. form of vibrant and powerful young women (Shugart, Wggoner, & Hallstein, 2001).. ‧ 國. 學. Third wave feminists adopted popular culture for potential empowerment of women (Hopkins, 2002). Popular culture was becoming more girl-centered; girls. ‧. became the focus of many pop culture products, such as in music, television, and. y. Nat. er. io. sit. movies (Hopkins, 2002). A fun and pop-culture based feminism "Girlie" has arisen in the mid 90s. It is a new intersection that comes with the Third wave's brand of fun,. al. n. v i n and celebration of femininity C andhgirlhood along with e n g c h i U the developing mainstream interest in "Girl power" (Baumgardner & Richards, 2001).. Girlie culture, or as it may be called "Girl power" is a central strand within the Third wave. Girlie culture questions the definitions of what it means to be a feminist and seeks to further demystifying the stereotype that came with Second wave by looking into the contradictions and conflicts that shaped young women's experiences (Stacy Gillis & Rebecca Munford, 2004). Girlie culture includes the tabooed symbols of women’s feminine enculturation such as Barbie dolls, makeup, fashion magazines, high heels, and claiming using them isn’t shorthand for "we’ve been duped" (Keller,. 11.

(17) . 2011). "It is not a sign of our sway to the marketplace and the male gaze; it can be sexy, campy, ironic, or simply decorating ourselves without the loaded issues” (Baumgardner & Richards 2006, p.302-3). Young women have complicated the previous feminist critique of the male gaze. Instead of seeing the male gaze as a threat to the identity of women, women should exploit the spotlight as a source and energy (Karlyn, 2003). "Girl Power icons can dress in provocative clothing while demonstrating fierce physical prowess (such as Buffy, the Vampire Slayer) or chant the virtues of female. 治政大 the Spice Girls)" (Karlyn, power and solidarity while wearing Wonder Bras (like 立 ‧ 國. 學. 2003, p.10). Women’s desires are not simply booby traps set by patriarchy (Baumgardner & Richards, 2001). Commercial artists in mainstream popular culture. ‧. embraced the term Girl power and inspired with the power feminist principles, it. sit. y. Nat. became popular in the late 1990s as a result of the Spice Girl's branding. Girl power. n. al. er. io. is broadly perceived as a pro-girl term that supports girls and girl culture by. i n U. v. reclaiming the feminine and marketing it with culture value (Hains, 2009). It is often. Ch. engchi. presented as the idea that girls can do anything they choose, in this regard it owes much to the power feminist ideas been popularized by Wolf (Hains, 2009). The central idea of Power feminism and Girl power is that girls are empowered to only use their inherent power to effect change, instead of succumbing to victim feminism. Consequently, objects and cultural artifacts that were once deemed sexist toward women are now been looked at with a fresh eye as mainstream girl culture and Third wave feminism converged in the realm of popular culture. The mainstreaming of girlhood not only became the best selling concept of. 12.

(18) . power feminism but it has also led some scholars to characterize the popular culture of this period as "girl culture"(Hopkins, 2002; Karlyn, 2003). Which leads to some feminists began to ask whether feminine-scripted items such as make-up and fashion could be the catalyst for female empowerment and resistance to patriarchal notions of the feminine. It is to say that post-feminist forms, such as power feminism and Girl power are the main forms that dominate the mainstream media discourse in this era. Vavrus (2002) indicates, "The manner in which feminism has been eclipsed by post-feminism. 治政大 better as a promotional in certain contexts suggests that post-feminism works 立 ‧ 國. 學. discourse for luring new consumers to a proliferating set of products for today's new women." (Vavrus, 2002, p.29) Post-feminism collided with commercial capitalist. ‧. system and depended on mainstream Western media to propagate; therefore thrived. sit. y. Nat. and paved the way for power feminism and Girl power. Third Wave is here serving. n. al. er. io. as an umbrella for Girl power, which celebrates media visibility. (Hains, 2009). i n U. v. Incorporating some Third wave ideas into the mainstream can be considered as a. Ch. engchi. sign of progress (Keller, 2011). In a December phone interview, Baumgardner said, "I think [third wave feminism and “girl power” are] on the same continuum, it's just that one is more consciously political and understands how power works and the other is more about being a consumer as opposed to having a really active understanding of female power. But the more cheesy, watered down representations of girl power don't offend me — I feel like they just show how much feminism penetrates the culture at large. " Also just as Kristina Sheryl Wong (2003), in Catching a Wave, explains how popular culture function for young feminists:. 13.

(19) . "Popular culture provides an effective vehicle to carry the self-celebrating concepts of third wave feminism" (Wong, 2003, p. 296). It is certain to say that fusing the feminist ideas into mainstream, integrating with corporations and assimilating with pop culture is an efficient way to gain more exposure on feminism. In a generation that engages pop culture constantly, Third wavers have learned that it is something good to indulge in, to see as a tool, and to create a healthy relationship with (Baumgardner, J. 2000). Girl culture is a crucial character of refocusing pop culture, bringing ideas about. 治政大 a public discourse about personal empowerment into the mainstream, and creating 立 ‧ 國. 學. feminism (Driscoll, 1999). "Whatever its implications from a feminist point of view, this new focus on girls meant that girls were now seen as a valuable demographic in. ‧. the capitalist marketplace" (Karlyn, 2003; Keller, 2011, p.2). Like in the study of. sit. y. Nat. Stacey K. Sowards and Valerie R. Renegar (2004) showed that young female. n. al. er. io. audiences are empowered by female role models and became aware of their own. i n U. v. oppression and the possibilities for liberation through the consumption of popular. Ch. engchi. culture; they take away messages of empowerment from popular television shows and music despite some texts might be problematic from other feminist perspectives (Sowards & Renegar, 2004). This new feminism that embraces girlish tabooed symbols is about having all those pretty things, be feminine and typically girlish can still be a feminist. Being female, embracing femininity as fun, and playing with femininity is positive and empowering. And as Wolf puts it, power feminism recognizes that "making social change does not contradict the principle that girls just want to have fun." (Wolf,. 14.

(20) . 1994, p.138) Some young women during this time felt pressure to accommodate to Second Wave standard of “good” feminism. Third wave feminists questioned the strict rules for what defines “good” feminism or who is a “good” feminist; Such as is a lesbian more feminist than a heterosexual woman? Does putting on make-up make you less of a “good” feminist? (Gilley, 2005). Therefore Third wave feminism means that younger feminists have different style from Second wave feminism. It is more pluralistic about sexuality and personal. 治政 expressions, fashion choices and less dogmatic, and 大 it is more involved into using 立 ‧ 國. of Third wave feminism is fun, feminine, and sex-positive.. Nat. y. ‧. 2.5 Third Wave Feminism and Mainstream Media. 學. media, consumer practices for a good outcome (Wolf, 2008). To sum up, the central. Alternative Journalism in American History, 1984, p.74.. al. er. io. sit. "You can't have a revolution without a press", Kessler, The Dissident Press:. n. v i n C hreason that womenUcannot identify with feminism Naomi Wolf pointed out the engchi. due to the reason that feminism movements relied too much on scare tactics in seeking for support. She argued that feminism failed to inspire women, because women more often found inspirations or role models they identify with in the mainstream media than in feminist discourse. Feminism used to lack of mainstream media support. As a result, a media platform is needed in order to start a revolution and to enlighten people. For example, BUST magazine, founded by Stoller, Henzel, and Marcelle Karp in New York, 1993. With the magazine slogan "For women with something to get off their chest", it is. 15.

(21) . pretty well known by researchers of Third wave feminism (Keller, 2011). BUST magazine started out as zines and its initial idea was to form a platform for women to be able to express themselves, to say things that they were not allowed to say also the focus and the purpose to unite, inform and to mobilize young feminists. Despite the founders of BUST magazine insisted to remain the alternative to mainstream magazines, to completely shut down any commercial resources and sponsors is impossible. While facing financial problems they had no choice but to compromise. Somehow they still tried hard to strike the balance between consumerism and their. 治政 initial intentions. It is sure to say that in this modern大 society where capitalism and 立 ‧ 國. 學. consumerism prevail, feminism needs mass mainstream media to support.. Editors of mainstream fashion magazines have developed a certain practical. ‧. strategies called "Third wave ethnic" to overcome the challenges of incorporating. sit. y. Nat. feminism into mainstream publications. The tactics are related to some of the ideals. n. al. er. io. of Third wave feminism with the general ideas of "Disguise feminism," and "Make. i n U. v. feminism fun." (Keller, 2011) The strategy of how Third Wave feminism fits in the. Ch. engchi. modern world differs from Second wave feminist tactics, while Second wave feminists emphasized the importance of establishing separate feminist institutions away from the mainstream (Baumgardner and Richards, 2000). Baumgardner explained that, in contrast, “the third wave is bringing feminism into other institutions... it's an integrating force.” This strategy is based on the Third wave's interaction with mainstream institutions, including the media, popular culture and entertainment industries.. 16.

(22) . Most of the editors agreed that printing the "f-word", which is the word "feminism" might cause political tense in mainstream publications. So the editors put feminism within less threatening topics such as entertainment stories and stressing feminist content as something else. Also they use the word "empowerment", which is a less political term to strip the f-word of its bad reputation (Keller, 2011). Avoiding the word “feminism” has been central to “post-feminist” discourse in popular culture; by using the term "empowerment", indicates that the word "empowerment" and "feminism" has the same meaning. But the word. 治政大 with no responsibility to "empowerment" has no political implications and carries 立 ‧ 國. 學. critique structural inequalities like patriarchy or capitalism (McRobbie, 2009).. Feminism is a political critique and a collective movement, whereas "empowerment". ‧. is an individual condition, which can also easily supports capitalism because it. sit. y. Nat. privileges individual action and the individual's ability to change their own situation,. n. al. er. io. rather than collective movement which was the central of Second wave feminist and. i n U. v. socialist movements (McRobbie, 2009). Though this tactic has been criticized as an. Ch. engchi. efficient, but short-term measure (Gill, 2007). It refers to the central idea of Third wave feminism, which are individualism and the collaboration with pop culture, also to strike the difference to the Second wave. Fashion and beauty are the areas that are most concerned to be receiving criticisms from critical feminists perspectives. But fashion magazines are still popular among women; for example, Cosmopolitan reports an annual circulation of 2,740,000, Glamour 2,130,148, and Mademoiselle 1,236,392 (Katz & Stemberg Katz, 1992). This shows that women continue to support a medium widely condemned for its. 17.

(23) . stereotyped treatment of women. Women begin to reject an oversimplified identification of fashion and beauty texts as bad for women, and the view that women are somehow hoaxed by patriarchal “propaganda” and they continue to support a medium broadly blamed for its stereotyped treatment of women (Budgeon S., 1995). Feminists failed to see that fashion and beauty represent one of the few domains in which female desire can be legitimately expressed and also that women are capable of actively modify or resist messages from commercial texts (Davis & Fisher, 1993). Also editors believed that these sections of magazines could be made more feminists. 治政大1995; see also Heywood & by keeping it fun and offering girls choices. (Walker, 立 ‧ 國. 學. Drake, 1997; Dicker & Piepmeier, 2003.) They believed that even though the. messages they convey in the magazines sometimes seem frivolous and fun but. ‧. underneath there is something more serious (Keller, 2011).. sit. y. Nat. In the matter of how feminism has been portrayed in fashion magazines,. n. al. er. io. replacing the word "feminism" with "empowerment" still aims to achieve the purpose. i n U. v. of enlightening female readers. It is actually a tactic to disguise feminism in fashion. Ch. engchi. magazines in order to spread feminism and also maintain the market of mass culture and capitalism. The representation of feminism through a fashion and relatively harmless quotations makes it less threatening and more accessible to a broader demographic while avoids standard backlash criticisms against feminism and feminists (Groeneveld, 2009). To come to a conclusion, I tend to believe that Third wave feminism is the result of young feminists re-adoption of those that used to be seen as symbols of male oppression, such as lipsticks and high heels. One of the most important notions lies. 18.

(24) . within Third wave feminism is that it is possible for women to be pretty and smart at the same time. Third wave feminism encourages women to embrace the sexuality, and the femininity we are born with inside. Instead of being taken as victims we should use it to our benefits, and redefine feminine beauty as subjects not as objects of a sexist patriarchy. Feminism has been made to be more appealing to readers by making it more fun, it has been given a new look as a fun celebration of individual promising that through hard work and dedication will lead to a successful, powerful feminist life. This is a positive and liberating message of girls can do anything and be. 治政大 anything and to live a vigorous life. 立 ‧ 國. 學. 2.6 New Feminism in Taiwan. Feminist activism started in Taiwan during the 70s when Anette Lu (呂秀蓮). ‧. started to promote new feminism, and then thrived with feminist groups in the 80s,. y. Nat. er. io. sit. further with the addition recruit of female college students, along with the establishments of new feminist groups. Therefore not until after mid 90s did. n. al. i n feminism in Taiwan starting to C make impact to the society. hengchi U. v. Before the Martial law lifted in 1987, the western Second wave feminism was. not yet seen in Taiwan, but with the female students influenced by the western Second wave feminism coming back from abroad were still making effort on promoting feminism, Anette Lu published the book New Feminism, therefore became the beginning of feminist activism in Taiwan. After the Martial law lifted in 1987, with the liberating of political environment, feminism in Taiwan began to catch up with the international trend of Second wave feminism and Third wave feminism.. 19.

(25) . In order to further elaborate, when people were granted the freedom to assembly and association after the martial law lifted in 1987, women's groups in Taiwan began to thrive and became a strong force of promoting gender equality and the improvement on women rights in early 90s. Also in 1992, women activism groups urged that we should establish Act of Gender Equality in Employment to make sure women are treated equally in the work environment. Implying that women began to fight for their rights and began to have the conscious on gender equality. With the growing need of female work force, women then faced the double. 治政大trend of women returned to pressure of family and career in the 80s, leading to the 立 ‧ 國. 學. family during the 90s; women are no longer just a mother or a wife (劉佩詩, 2006).. The trend of women returning to the family has became a "fashion" during the 90s,. ‧. kids' faces appeared on the cover of fashion magazines, implied that women in the. sit. y. Nat. 90s are encouraged to have both careers and families; and their life choices were to. n. al. er. io. be respected and accepted.. i n U. v. Also after the martial law lifted, women sexual liberation movement began to. Ch. engchi. develop. Women began to embrace their sexuality and began to have more open minds on the matter of sex and lust. Therefore led to the sexual liberation movement and LGBT movement development during the early 90s. Experts also began to focus on sexual diseases especially AIDS and provided different perspective on the sexual liberation movements. For example, doctor Edwin Yen (晏涵文) established Chinese Association of Sexuality Education in 1991, devoted into promoting the sex education in Taiwan. Doctor Yen's focus has been the effect on sex of AIDS and the education of preventing AIDS since 1993.. 20.

(26) . Writer Josephine Chuen-juei Ho (何春蕤) stated the women want orgasm not sexual harassment in her book The Gallant Woman--Feminism and Sexual Emancipation《豪放女人-女性主義與性解放》(1994), and followed with her another book《豪放女人誰不爽》in 1997 to promote the idea of women embracing desires and sexuality. Josephine Chuen-juei Ho (何春蕤) talked about how women should embrace their sexuality and lust in a workshop in 1993, this fearless rebelling act indicates an important progress that women in Taiwan has begun to feel more comfortable about embracing their sexuality and lust. Getting people to pay more. 治政 attention on the related issue and that sex is no longer a大 taboo (何春蕤, 2008). 立 ‧ 國. 學. Furthermore, laws have been established to protect women and gender equality. such as such as Act of Gender Equality in Employment in 2002, Gender Equity. ‧. Education Act in 2004, Sexual Harassment prevention Act in 2005; gender equality. sit. y. Nat. in work place has since been protected by legit law (羅燦煐，2005; 劉惠琴，2007).. n. al. er. io. According to Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics, Executive. i n U. v. Yuan, R.O.C ( 行政院主計總處 ,) women's right of education has had a big. Ch. engchi. development in high-level education during the 90s; the percentage of female students in university was even slightly above male students (劉毓秀, 2002）. Based on the Taiwan Social Change Survey Report percentage of people believing the least education of a girl is bachelor degree has been increasing since year 1990 (see Table 1.). Until 2010 58.3% of the society has come to believe that women should at least achieve college level. This implied that women had started to be treated equally on education level (章英華&杜素豪＆廖培珊, 2011). Table 1. The percentage of how much education does society think a girl should at. 21.

(27) . least require 1990 (%). 1995 (%). 2000 (%). 2005(%). 2010(%). Elementary. 1.0. 0.9. 0.3. 0.1. 0.2. Mid-school. 8.8. 4.3. 3.5. 1.2. 1.4. High school. 52.8. 47.1. 33.9. 23.1. 19.6. College. 18.1. 20.4. 25.1. 18.5. 9.4. University. 13.0. 18.0. 26.9. 46.0. 58.3. Graduate school. 0.8. 0.8. 4.16.1. 6.9. 8.3. Other. 5.3. 8.4. 6.3. 4.1. 2.7. Total. 100. 100. 100. 100. 100. Note: Adapted from 台灣社會基本變遷調查計畫 by 章英華&杜素豪＆廖培珊, 2011, p.184. 政治大 Women also began to take more interest in areas other than family such as 立. ‧ 國. 學. politics. Anette Lu (呂秀蓮) the first female vice president was elected in 2000. represented the new modern Taiwanese women that can be brilliant, professional, and. ‧. have the choice to either get married, or stay single to pursue their life achievements.. y. Nat. sit. Also at the female cabinet member has increased to a quarter of the member, made. er. io. Taiwan the highest rate of female participation in politics in Asia (see Table 2.). n. al. i n C Table 2. Percentage of female participation h e n gincgovernment hi U. Position. General government employee. 1999. 2000. 40.79%. 41.52%. ---. 25%. 8.46%. 11.76%. Cabinet member Government officials. v. Note: Adapted from 台灣女性人權現況分析: 全球化與女性角色交集下的困境及其出路思考. 國家政策季刊, 1(2), 85-116 by 劉毓秀, 2002 On the aspect of family values and relationships, divorce rate has increased and women began to take the first move in divorcement and seek for their own independent lives by 1999 (蘇芳瑩, 1999). Based on Taiwan Social Change Survey. 22.

(28) . Report (台灣社會變遷基本調查,) showed that the rate of agreeing there is nothing wrong with divorcement has been increasing since 1995 (see Table 3.). the society started to consider divorcements more acceptable. Also more and more different family structures such as same-sex family, single families have become more acceptable by Taiwan society (蘇芳瑩, 1999). Indicating Taiwanese society's attitude towards marriage has become more open-minded. Table 3. How society thinks of couples divorce 1995(%) 21.3. Not wrong. 21.2. No opinion. 20. ‧ 國. 立. 2005(%). 2010(%). 政17.8 治大 8.7. 9.2. 24.1. 44.3. 50.9. 17.4. 14.2. 6. 學. Very wrong. 2000(%). Note: Adapted from 台灣社會基本變遷調查計畫 by 章英華&杜素豪＆廖培珊, 2011, p. 194. ‧. The percentage of people believing children can take after both the father or the. y. Nat. io. sit. mother's last name has increased since 1990. Which indicated that taking after the. er. mother's last name is just as equal to taking after the father's (see Table. 4).. al. n. v i n C hwhose last name should Table 4. How society thinks about e n g c h i U children take after 1990. 1995. 2000. 2005. 2010. Father's. 85.2. 82.2. 79.7. 74. 62.9. Mother's. 0.2. 0.7. 0.5. 0.1. 0.1. Either. 12.9. 15.4. 18.2. 24.4. 35.8. Note: Adapted from 台灣社會基本變遷調查計畫 by 章英華&杜素豪＆廖培珊, 2011, p. 190 After the presidential election in January 2016, Taiwan elected their first female president. This is a very important and historical moment for the feminism movement in Taiwan. It shows that the gender quality movement in the past three decades has. 23.

(29) . achieved a victory. And with the female president, comes with more female legislators, and also encourages women to enter the world of politics. Nearly 40% of the legislators are women by 2016 (吳嘉麗 , 2016). Also in the three groups of presidential candidates, half of the candidates were women, which is an inspiration to all women in Taiwan. Most female candidates are single, representing the situation of high-educated women or women with high social status. Which also implies that modern women now have the right to make their own life decisions. Married or not, women's happiness depends on their achievements in lives.. 立. 政治大. ‧ 國. 學. With the first female president in History of Taiwan, showed that Taiwan has took a big step forward to the goal of gender equality. The society is more acceptable. ‧. with feminist concepts such as women going for their career and higher education,. sit. y. Nat. such as women should be independent and can achieve higher than older society. n. al. er. io. expected them to achieve.. i n U. v. Not only Taiwan had their first female president, leading to the increasing. Ch. engchi. amount of women involving in politics and government employees. Based on the Taiwan social change survey report, statistics showed that the society has begun to realize the gender equality on the internal level, such as no longer believing men are the dominant role in a family, and women deserve the equal educational right as men.. 2.7 Women Magazines in Taiwan Since the beginning of 1980, local Taiwan women magazines began to imitate the edit style of foreign magazines, and therefore began the impact of international magazines (賴永忠，1992). The government began to allow foreign investments and. 24.

(30) . with the liberating of media press, women magazines in Taiwan entered the stage of internationalization. European magazines such as Cosmopolitan, ELLE, Vogue began to publish in Taiwan during the 90s, providing new perspective and opinions towards women issue and began to influence Taiwanese readers, also with the localization of the content it then developed into a style of International-Chinese version of magazines (郭詠萱, 2009). Women magazines had been growing rapidly due to the increasing feminism consciousness in Taiwan; women magazines have slowly become the life guide in. 治政大 society, every time period women's daily life. Magazine has the function of reflecting 立 ‧ 國. 學. shows the current social trend, further women's magazines change with the changing structure of society, constantly altering the central idea, and the changing trend plays. Nat. y. ‧. an important role in enlightening the readers (周欣君，2002).. er. io. sit. 2.8 Feminism in ELLE. Feminism used to be labeled as man hating and unhygienic and unattractive. al. n. v i n because of the Second wave C agenda back in the 60s. Two of the most common U hen i h gc. stereotypes of feminists are that they hate men and that they are all lesbians (Holmes, 2000d, 235). Alex Holder, creative director of Mother, said that there are too many women who believe in equality and choice but not proud to call themselves feminists. A kind of mythical beast that dominates feminism’s image—a hairy, man-hating, bra-burning shrew, which is unfortunately not helpful in promoting feminism, and it is the feminist stereotype that intimidates people (Dunne, 2013). To break the stereotype of being a feminist and to make it more approachable, ELLE provided different perspectives and new definition of the modern face of. 25.

(31) . feminism. Based on the literature review it is possible that feminism can work with fashion magazine to benefit each other. With the upcoming Third wave feminism, power feminism and girl power, girly and glossy objects are no longer be seen as symbols of patriarchy oppression. Elle magazine UK has initiated a rebranding feminism campaign in the November issue, 2013. They invited three feminist groups to work with three awardwinning agencies, Mother, Brave and Widen & Kennedy to rebrand feminism, which many feel the term has become burdened with complications and negativity. The goal. 治政大modern society and the value of the campaign is to make feminism a better fit to the 立 ‧ 國. 學. of modern women (see Appendix C for more information on the feminism campaign). The three campaigns are as follows: Mother worked with the campaign group and. ‧. magazine Feminist Times on its campaign, called "Make Them Pay", which aims to. sit. y. Nat. tackle gender pay inequality. Brave collaborated with campaigner Jinan Younis, their. n. al. er. io. campaign, "Feminism For Everyone", aims to convince women who do not call. i n U. v. themselves feminists to reconsider the label by using a flowchart. "Being a feminist is. Ch. engchi. actually pretty simple," the ads state, also stating that Feminism is not extreme but rather the radical belief that women are people. Wieden & Kennedy worked with Holly Baxter and Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett, the founders of satirical feminist blog Vagenda in the project, "I'm A Woman And...". Their concept aims to reverse gender stereotypes, asking women to post a picture on Twitter or Instagram with the hashtag "I'm a woman and", followed by a phrase that defies stereotypes. (Ridley, 2013) Also another new initiative of ELLE UK in 2015, "MoreWomen"; by interacting with the Internet users it is aiming to celebrate the global power of women's. 26.

(32) . collectives in a more playful, engaging way. Smart and successful women are often presented as "fierce individualists concerned with their own success" ELLE's campaign page reads "The story of how women in positions of strength continually support and empower each other is consistently ignored while the myth that we pit ourselves against each other perpetuates." The goal is to create more positive conversation and to support and grow each other when pushing for global equality. During the campaign they are asking powerful groups of women to post a group photo on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram with the caption: "One woman's success. 治政大campaign hashtags (Horton, makes EVERY WOMAN STRONGER" tagged with 立 ‧ 國. 學. 2015). The tactic of using social media is a good progress on the effort of promoting feminism for it is made to be more interesting and entertaining and also easier to. ‧. access for readers. Which serves the purpose of making feminism fun (Wolf, 2006).. sit. y. Nat. Most women cannot appeal to feminism is because they do not have a role. n. al. er. io. model to look up to (Wolf, 1994). But through this campaign by showing all the. i n U. v. successful women on mass media as a feminist icon can serve the purpose. For. Ch. engchi. example, in the November issue of 2015 ELLE featured the English Hollywood star Carey Mulligan talking about motherhood, reflecting the need of women's voices to be heard, also on wage inequality both in Hollywood and other industries, and how to be a feminist. Also nowadays, more feminism has been displayed on pop stars such as Beyonce and Miley Cyrus, providing modern women feminist role models to look up to. Popular culture female icons can relate to women in ways that academic cannot, they represent powerful and independent women for women to identify with. Feminism has become too academic for people to understand, but feminist politics. 27.

(33) . can be spread to the world if carefully disguised in the mass media (Wong, 2003). In an interview with Camille Froidevaux-Metterie, a professor of Reims University in France, published in June International Chinese issue 2015 with the topic of《要女權也要性感.》Camille stated that women's bodies are an important break through in the progress of feminism and it deserves to be furthermore discussed in a positive way. Camille refuses to be labeled and avoids the traditional perspective of feminism research. Her point of view corresponds to Simon Beauvoir's statement in her book, Le Deuxième Sexe, also known as The Second Sex; that women should. 治政大individual equal with men, truly embrace her femininity in order to be a complete 立 ‧ 國. 學. denying femininity is also denying part of the humanity in you as a woman. In. Camille's new book, tells us that woman being pretty is not a completely useless and. ‧. a shallow matter. She explained that it is time to liberate women on a more personal. sit. y. Nat. aspect, such as their body and sexuality. The situation is different from when Simone. n. al. er. io. Beauvoir wrote The Second Sex. It was necessary for Second wavers to avoid. i n U. v. discussing body issues other than maternity and appearances, in order to get out of. Ch. engchi. the situation that women should stay in households. Not only that this enhances the social existence of women it also diminishes women's existence in a personal level, which are women's femininity and their appearance. Today women should know that being pretty is not compromising to men or capitalism. It is true that media has been giving women this perfect image and body of women that is just so difficult to achieve, but since women are now liberated from all the social expectations, they should be able to be judgmental and objective when encountered this sort of situation. Women now should know better and be able to make their own decisions on how to. 28.

(34) . do with their bodies. She stressed that during her research and interviews with lots of women, she came to know that now women are more capable of seeing themselves with a more positive attitude. Also women's bodies are no longer serving the only purpose of breeding and procreation. Feminism should be about the freedom of women, about women be able to do whatever they want and be liberated from certain expectations that have been put on women for centuries. Women deserve to have choices, whether its becoming a housewife, a mother, or a career woman...etc. It is not appropriate anymore to assume. 治政大today are allowed to make that there is only one way to be women. Women 立 ‧ 國. 學. whatever choices they want, choices they did not have the freedom to make in the past; many young feminists are now practicing their right to choose these. ‧. traditionally gendered activities such as cooking for the reason one likes to is the new. sit. y. Nat. empowering order of the current Feminism point of view (Gilley, 2005).. n. al. er. io. By using its strong influence among female magazines and with its robust. i n U. v. marketing system, ELLE has changed the fact that feminism used to be lacking of. Ch. engchi. mainstream media support. It is also worthy to mention that these advertisements made by a fashion magazine do make feminism more interesting for the mass public. Based on the previous reviews of relevant literature about feminism and the positioning of fashion magazine ELLE, I propose a hypothesis as follows: Hypothesis: There is a trend of increasing dose of feminist messages in ELLE magazine Taiwan under the influence of Third wave feminism during 1992~2016.. 29.

(35) . 3. Research Method In order to examine my hypothesis, content analysis was conducted in collecting data for this study. According to Publication Annual of ROC 2004《中華民國 93 年出版年鑑》，International Chinese version magazines are the complete translation or partial translation of foreign magazines (鄭錦祥，2004). Purposes of women's magazines are : (1.) satisfy female readers needs of social involvement (2.) assist women in managing the family (3.) provide fashion and beauty information in order. 政治大 International Chinese立 magazines can be divided into two categories in Taiwan,. to satisfy women's individual needs (賴珮如,1994).. ‧ 國. 學. European/American and Japanese (郭詠萱, 2008). And due to the difference of the origins of the magazines the way they produce contents can be different. In order to. ‧. enter the market, international magazines will consider the cultural differences when. y. Nat. io. sit. producing their content. There are three main dimensions in content localization: (1.). er. using local language, Chinese (2.) produce more local content while maintaining the. al. n. v i n magazine's style and message from (3.) understand local consumers' C hits origin country U engchi preference by doing market research (張意曼, 2003).. In a study of international women magazines showed that European/American magazines tend to produce more localized content due to the cultural difference, and their position of magazine is to provide readers with comprehensive fashion information (陳柔均, 2006). Also the higher level of culture-specificity the more they need to produce more localized content (Cavusgil, Zou, & Naidu, 1993). Therefore this study aims to examine under the influence of Third wave feminism, feminist. 30.

(36) . messages in European/American International Chinese version of women's magazine in the specific social context of Taiwan. ELLE Taiwan magazine was chosen as the subject to be examined so as to uncover whether such a trend is present during the period of time in question. Content analysis was conducted for data collection. It has been my belief that it is an international and the largest fashion magazine with broad readership. ELLE is the biggest fashion magazine with 46 editions in over 60 countries; reaches more than 26 million readers, users, followers, and fans across all mediums including print, digital, mobile and social.. 政治大. 立. ‧ 國. 學. ELLE Taiwan has been publishing ELLE international Chinese version for 25 years since 1991, which is during the time when Third wave just started. The purpose. ‧. was to examine whether if International-Chinese version of ELLE fashion magazine. sit. y. Nat. began to contain more feminist messages that empowers women since Third Wave. n. al. er. io. feminism arose; and as a result, fashion and feminism have begun to strike a balance in the social context of Taiwan.. 3.1 Content analysis. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. Content analysis is a method of analyzing written communication messages by compressing text into fewer content categories based on explicit coding rules (Berelson, 1952; Krippendorff, 1980; Cole, 1988; Weber, 1990; and GAO, 1996). A broader definition of content analysis offered by Holsti (1969): "any technique for making inferences by objectively and systematically identifying specifies characteristics of messages" (Holsti, 1969, p.14). Content analysis is useful for examining trends and patterns in documents ( Stemler, 2001). This content analysis. 31.

(37) . follows the definition provided by Neuendorf (2002): “content analysis is a summarizing, quantitative analysis of messages that relies on the scientific method” (p. 10).. 3.2 Procedure of data collection Four issues of ELLE Taiwan for the years of 1992, 2000, 2010, 2016, that is, content of 16 issues in total were selected and analyzed so as to investigate the changes in percentage and essence of the feminism messages imbedded in the content. 政治大. of the magazine from year to year. Excluding special issues such as Mother's day and. 立. Christmas. Advertisements were not analyzed. The issues of magazines of the. ‧ 國. 學. selected years were examined to see whether feminist messages in ELLE Taiwan increase under the influence of Third wave since it started in the 90s. Year 1992 was. ‧. chosen to represent the beginning of the Third wave, Year 2000 was chosen to. y. Nat. er. io. sit. examine the first ten years in Taiwan under the influence of Third wave as during the 90s feminism activities began to thrive; Taiwanese Feminist Scholars Association. al. n. v i n C h in 1994, in theUlecture they discussed about held the first Women's day lecture engchi. women taking control of their own sexuality and body, with the expression of "breaking the mystiques of virginity" and "women want orgasms not sexual harassment." And also it is the year Taiwanese female activist Annette Lu (呂秀蓮). became the first female vice president of Taiwan. 2010 represented the post-movement era of Third wave according to Jennifer Baumgardner's book, F ’em!: Goo goo, gaga, and some thoughts on balls (Baumgardner, J. 2011); also since 2000 there has been more feminism research and the feminist consciousness among the society (李元貞, 2010). Year 2016 was chosen for the reason that the first female. 32.

(38) . president Tsai Ing-Wen has been elected representing the monumental moment in the feminism history of Taiwan, also to examine the influence of the rebranding feminism initiation of ELLE since 2013. The selected issues were selected to examine the increase doses of feminist contents in the 25 years of ELLE Taiwan and while under the influence of Third wave. Similar content analysis has been done by Silver (1976) compared issues of McCall's magazine from 1964 and 1974. There were significant increases on feminist messages such as items that showed parents sharing responsibility for their children,. 治政大 leisure, and appealed to addressed emotional problems and maladjustments, promoted 立 ‧ 國. 學. interests outside the home (Schlenker, Caron, & Halteman 1998).. 3.3 Unit of analysis. ‧. The unit of analysis of this study was the feature articles of editorial content in. y. Nat. er. io. sit. the selected ELLE Taiwan magazine issues. All articles were divided into four major categories in each issue of ELLE magazine Taiwan, which are On the Cover, Fashion,. al. n. v i n Beauty, Feature/Report/People,Cand Among with the articles there were U h eLifen gStyle. i h c advertisements, retail information, letters, and ELLE event information, which were. not considered as editorial contents and therefore were analyzed. It should be noted that four regular features were not included in the analysis: "Dear ELLE" (letters from readers), "Calendar", "Solar," "Lunar," and "Retail guide.". 3.4 Coding schemes A coding scheme was developed on the basis of a study by Schlenker, Caron, and Halteman (1998) and Shaw (2000). Adjustments have been made to better fit my. 33.

(39) . study. I applied the definitions from Pierce's measures of feminist messages to serve as the features of Third wave feminist content. Adding additional features based on third wave feminist agenda (Wolf, 2006). The coding scheme consists of six dimensions of Third wave feminism themes, and under each dimension there are several sub-dimensions and in total of 15 sub-dimensions (see Appendix A). Articles were coded into Third wave feminist content based on the operational definitions of the 15 sub-dimensions and were further analyzed (see Appendix A). If the coder sees the presence of notable themes of certain sub-dimensions,. 立. as yes in the certain. ‧ 國. 學. sub-dimensions.. 治政大 the article will be coded. Coding reliability. Two sample issues (10% of the sample) were selected to. ‧. assess the inter-coder reliability. Two individuals independently coded the articles of. sit. y. Nat. the two issues. Both of the coders were female and had basic knowledge about. n. al. er. io. feminism. Coding training was performed before coding, and the inter-coder reliability result was 0.84.. 3.5 Data Analysis. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. Articles from all the selected magazines were analyzed based on the coding scheme to determine whether any of the Third wave features was manifested in each article (see Appendice A). The number of articles for all four issues each year were summed up with the total number of 751 articles. The percentage of articles devoted to each Third wave sub-dimension were determined by dividing the articles with Third wave feminism messages by the total articles each year. Percentages of each sub-dimension from each year was examined to test the hypothesis.. 34.

(40) . 4. Results It was hypothesized that the feminist messages were to increase under the influence of Third wave feminism from 1992 to 2016. Chi-square analysis was conducted to examine if changing amount of Third wave feminist messages from year to year was significantly different. Based on the analysis results, four of the Third wave feminism sub-dimensions showed significant differences in the percentage of articles devoted to Third wave feminism messages from 1992 to 2016.. 政治大 appear on Sub-dimension 1a, 立2a, 2b, and 3a; which were Fashion product, Travel and According to the results of Chi-square tests, significant cross-time differences. ‧ 國. 學. vacation, Efficient home making, and Information. The results that showed cross time significant difference are as follows:. ‧. Sub-dimension 1a, Fashion product showed cross time significant difference. y. Nat. io. sit. (see Table 5.). In the Third wave feminism agenda, objects such as makeups and high. er. heels or beautiful dresses are no longer seen as a symbol of male gaze consequences.. al. n. v i n The significant difference of sub-dimension 1a, Fashion, can be referred to one of the Ch engchi U. core ideas of Third wave feminism, that fashion and beauty products are not just booby traps of patriarchy and male gaze. Instead, fashion merchandises and make up products are to show the natural femininity with women. The increasing messages of fashion and beauty also implied that feminism has collaborated with fashion to make feminism idea more familiar to modern women and sending the message of fashion and beauty products such high heels on a woman does not make a woman less of a feminist.. 35.

(41) . Table 5. Cross time differences on sub-dimension (1a). Yes No Column total. 1992. 2000. 2010. 2016. Row total. 41%. 41.3%. 52.4%. 61.1%. 49%. (68). (85). (99). (116). (368). 59%. 58.7%. 47.6%. 38.9%. 51%. (98). (121). (90). (74). (383). 100%. 100%. 100%. 100%. 100%. (166). (206). (189). (190). (751). Chi Square. Sig.. 21.266. .000*. Note. Sub-dimension 1a: Fashion product. 立. 政治大. Articles related to lifestyle such as Travel and vacation and Efficient. ‧ 國. 學. home-making showed cross time significant difference indicated that women's life. ‧. quality and life style also deserve more attention (see Table 6.and Table 7.).. sit. y. Nat. The increasing articles that related to Travel and vacation through time indicated. io. er. that traveling and going on holidays allow women to relax and enjoy their lives as. al. v. n. women and to see the world in order to improve that mental health (see Table 6.).. i n C Table 6.Cross time differences on h sub-dimension i U e n g c h(2a) Yes No Column total. 1992. 2000. 2010. 2016. Row total. 1.8%. 3.9%. 2.6%. 8.9%. 4.4%. (3). (8). (5). (17). (33). 98.2%. 96.1%. 97.4%. 91.1%. 95.6%. (163). (198). (184). (173). (718). 100%. 100%. 100%. 100%. 100%. (166). (206). (189). (190). (751). Chi Square. Sig.. 12.395. .006*. Note. Sub-dimension 2a: Travel and vacation. 36.

(42) . Also themes that are related to efficient home-making such as cooking, sewing, money budgeting, and house decorating were used to be seen as chains that put upon women. But Third wave feminism agenda is to argue that cooking and decorating houses can be hobbies instead of chores that women were forced to do, they are options that women can practice in life and not to be seen as anti-feminist; that cooking erotic cuisines and house decorating can be seen as living lives in styles (see Table 7.).. 政治大. Table 7. Cross time differences on sub-dimension (2b). Row total. 4.8%. 11.2%. 14.3%. 8.9%. 10%. (8). (23). (27). (17). (75). 95.2%. 88.8%. 85.7%. 91.1%. 90%. (158). (183). (162). (173). (676). 100%. 100%. 100%. 100%. y. 100%. (166). (206). (189). sit. (751). ‧ 國. 2016. io. Sig.. 10.001. .019*. al. n. Chi Square. (190). er. Column total. 2010. ‧. No. 2000. 學. Yes. 立. Nat. 1992. Ch. engchi. Note. Sub-dimension 2b: Efficient home-making. i n U. v. At the same time based on Taiwan Social Change Survey Report, Taiwanese people have been spending more time on leisure activities, exercising and holidays and vacations since 2005 (see Appendix B). Implied that Taiwanese people began to care more about their life style and how they spend their leisure time and outdoor activities.. 37.

(43) . Sub-dimension 3a of dimension Career development, Information showed cross time significant difference (see Table 8.). Implied that in a modern society where a woman having a job and a career is normal. Women just as men would face career problems and issues. Therefore the articles are providing female readers advices and information about jobs and careers additional to fashion information through a fashion magazine.. Table 8. Cross time differences on sub-dimension (3a) 1992 0%. 98.9%. (166). (294). 100% (166). (6). (10) 98.7%. (187). (184). (741). 100%. 100%. 100%. 100%. (206). (189). (190). (751). y. sit. .041*. 1.3%. 96.8%. Sig.. io. 8.278. 99.0%. Nat. Chi Square. 100%. 3.2%. ‧. Column total. (2). Row total. 學. No. (2). ‧ 國. (0). 立. 2016. n. al. er. Yes. 政治2010 大 1.0% 1.1% 2000. Note. Sub-dimension 3a Information. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. Those sub-dimensions that did not show cross time significant difference are as follows: In sub-dimension 1b Appearance Changing procedure, showed no cross times significant difference (see Table 9.). The result showed that there were only a few articles in each year that contain messages contain sub-dimension 1b. Implied that there has never been a prominent trend of conveying certain message to female readers since the beginning of Third wave feminism.. 38.

(44) . Table 9. Cross time differences on sub-dimension (1b). Yes No Column total. 1992. 2000. 2010. 2016. Row total. 1.8%. 1.0%. 0.0%. 2.6%. 1.3%. (3). (2). (0). (5). (10). 98.2%. 99.0%. 100.0%. 97.4%. 98.7%. (163). (204). (189). (185). (741). 100%. 100%. 100%. 100%. 100%. (166). (206). (189). (190). (751). Chi Square. Sig.. 7.454. .059. Note. Sub-dimension 1b: Appearance Changing procedure. 立. 政治大. In sub-dimension 2c, Political and world issues, showed no cross time. ‧ 國. 學. significant difference (see Table 10.). The percentage of articles related to. ‧. sub-dimension 2c did not show big differences through each year. Therefore. sit. y. Nat. indicated that the amount of messages related to the issue remained similar each year. io. er. and did not increase because of the evolving in feminist movements.. n. al. i n C U Table 10. Cross time differences on hsub-dimension e n g c h i (2c) Yes No Column total. 1992. 2000. 2010. 2016. Row total. 10.8%. 6.3%. 6.9%. 6.3%. 7.5%. (8). (13). (13). (12). (56). 89.2%. 93.7%. 93.1%. 93.7%. 92.5%. (148). (193). (176). (178). (695). 100%. 100%. 100%. 100%. 100%. (166). (206). (189). (190). (751). Chi Square. Sig.. 3.327. .344. Note. Sub-dimension 2c: Political and world issues. v. 39.