Pragmatically, the primary purpose of my article ‘Stereotypes, it’s over’ is to entertain and relate to
my target demographic. To achieve this, my article is written for Cosmopolitan magazine, targeting
women aged 18-35 which matches my chosen contemporary genre that reflects 21st-century ideals
in terms of gender. Whilst my style model ‘Dear Feminism’ is written for the Sunday Times which
appeals to a wider audience of ABC1 males and females. Contrastingly, I have written for
Cosmopolitan magazine to target a specialised audience of primarily women as I feel that my piece
could potentially alienate male audiences due to its strong feminist values, therefore I mirrored the
graphology of Cosmopolitan through my iconographic choices. Considering wider contexts, I aimed
to represent the progressive values of contemporary society due to significant developments
regarding the changing perceptions of gender which has been influenced by movements such as
#MeToo. This is reflected in my article which empowers women and encourages the audience to
fight back against patriarchal oppression.
In terms of syntax, I was inspired by my style model which personified feminism in the style of a
break-up letter which I have emulated in my format through personifying stereotypes in the
salutation “Dear stereotypes. You have really outdone yourself” and using a cyclical structure. This
allows the audience to be positioned on a narrative journey which is used effectively in my style
model to hyperbolise the turbulent relationship the writer has experienced with feminism.
Furthermore, to convey my resentment, I used the active voice “you have been ingrained in us” to
place blame and responsibility as the second person pronoun “you” could pragmatically appear
critical and disproving. Syntactically, this is further emphasised by the pattern of minor sentences
such as “Admit it” and “It’s over” to reiterate the forceful and accusatory tone of my article, likewise,
Glass employs minor sentences such as “I’m leaving” and “This is hard” to achieve a similar effect as
Glass establishes herself as self-assured and powerful. Therefore, both myself and Glass adopt an
antagonistic tone to convey our anger, however, this is juxtaposed by the use of irony within Glass’s
piece as the parenthesis “we were cr*p” enables the reader to appreciate the satirical shared
references, signifying Glass’ conflicting emotions towards feminism.
In terms of grammar, I utilised the first-person inclusive pronoun “we” to connote inclusivity and
unity, implying that women are a powerful force driving for change. Contrastingly, Glass employs the
first-person singular possessive pronoun “my” to express her individual and personal experiences.
Moreover, the use of shared references such as “Tasty Tracey” and “Barbie dolls” create the
cumulative effect of engaging my target demographic as there is an assumption of shared
understanding and relatability which can be evidenced in Glass’ piece such as “Alan Sugar” and
“Lady Gaga”. Given the cultural contexts of my piece and the style model, it’s clear that both myself
and Glass are unsatisfied with the progression in society and believe change can still be made.
Lexically, this is highlighted in Glass’ piece by the intensifiers “too” and in my piece “so” and “really”
which hyperbolise our annoyances towards stereotypes and feminism as the adverb of degree
“really” emphasises my resentment and the extent of my aggravation. Likewise, this is exemplified
by my use of the dynamic present participle verbs “brainwashing”, “distorting” and “degrading”
which reinforce dominant ideologies that women are still critiqued and marginalised. Similarly, Glass
utilises past participle verbs such as “fuelled” to illustrate her frustration and passion which may
persuade the audience to stand up to harmful stereotypes in society. Correspondingly, the past
participle verb “criticised” demonstrates the societal pressures placed on women to conform to
western standards of beauty which is further emphasised by the semantic field of appearance such
as “my body”, “sexuality” and “hair extensions” in Glass’ article.
Furthermore, I used a pattern of rhetorical interrogatives and hypophora for instance “you liked how
it used to be – didn’t you?” and “Why? Because that’s what you think girls like, isn’t it?” to highlight
my patronising and critical tone which I used to appear more face-threatening and disconcerted
towards stereotypes. Consequently, this would empower my target audience which is effective
my target demographic. To achieve this, my article is written for Cosmopolitan magazine, targeting
women aged 18-35 which matches my chosen contemporary genre that reflects 21st-century ideals
in terms of gender. Whilst my style model ‘Dear Feminism’ is written for the Sunday Times which
appeals to a wider audience of ABC1 males and females. Contrastingly, I have written for
Cosmopolitan magazine to target a specialised audience of primarily women as I feel that my piece
could potentially alienate male audiences due to its strong feminist values, therefore I mirrored the
graphology of Cosmopolitan through my iconographic choices. Considering wider contexts, I aimed
to represent the progressive values of contemporary society due to significant developments
regarding the changing perceptions of gender which has been influenced by movements such as
#MeToo. This is reflected in my article which empowers women and encourages the audience to
fight back against patriarchal oppression.
In terms of syntax, I was inspired by my style model which personified feminism in the style of a
break-up letter which I have emulated in my format through personifying stereotypes in the
salutation “Dear stereotypes. You have really outdone yourself” and using a cyclical structure. This
allows the audience to be positioned on a narrative journey which is used effectively in my style
model to hyperbolise the turbulent relationship the writer has experienced with feminism.
Furthermore, to convey my resentment, I used the active voice “you have been ingrained in us” to
place blame and responsibility as the second person pronoun “you” could pragmatically appear
critical and disproving. Syntactically, this is further emphasised by the pattern of minor sentences
such as “Admit it” and “It’s over” to reiterate the forceful and accusatory tone of my article, likewise,
Glass employs minor sentences such as “I’m leaving” and “This is hard” to achieve a similar effect as
Glass establishes herself as self-assured and powerful. Therefore, both myself and Glass adopt an
antagonistic tone to convey our anger, however, this is juxtaposed by the use of irony within Glass’s
piece as the parenthesis “we were cr*p” enables the reader to appreciate the satirical shared
references, signifying Glass’ conflicting emotions towards feminism.
In terms of grammar, I utilised the first-person inclusive pronoun “we” to connote inclusivity and
unity, implying that women are a powerful force driving for change. Contrastingly, Glass employs the
first-person singular possessive pronoun “my” to express her individual and personal experiences.
Moreover, the use of shared references such as “Tasty Tracey” and “Barbie dolls” create the
cumulative effect of engaging my target demographic as there is an assumption of shared
understanding and relatability which can be evidenced in Glass’ piece such as “Alan Sugar” and
“Lady Gaga”. Given the cultural contexts of my piece and the style model, it’s clear that both myself
and Glass are unsatisfied with the progression in society and believe change can still be made.
Lexically, this is highlighted in Glass’ piece by the intensifiers “too” and in my piece “so” and “really”
which hyperbolise our annoyances towards stereotypes and feminism as the adverb of degree
“really” emphasises my resentment and the extent of my aggravation. Likewise, this is exemplified
by my use of the dynamic present participle verbs “brainwashing”, “distorting” and “degrading”
which reinforce dominant ideologies that women are still critiqued and marginalised. Similarly, Glass
utilises past participle verbs such as “fuelled” to illustrate her frustration and passion which may
persuade the audience to stand up to harmful stereotypes in society. Correspondingly, the past
participle verb “criticised” demonstrates the societal pressures placed on women to conform to
western standards of beauty which is further emphasised by the semantic field of appearance such
as “my body”, “sexuality” and “hair extensions” in Glass’ article.
Furthermore, I used a pattern of rhetorical interrogatives and hypophora for instance “you liked how
it used to be – didn’t you?” and “Why? Because that’s what you think girls like, isn’t it?” to highlight
my patronising and critical tone which I used to appear more face-threatening and disconcerted
towards stereotypes. Consequently, this would empower my target audience which is effective
