porttrayal of women of color in mainstream women's magazines

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Communication Research

DOI: 10.1177/0093650207313166 2008; 35; 232 Communication Research

Juanita J. Covert and Travis L. Dixon of Color in Mainstream Women's Magazines

A Changing View: Representation and Effects of the Portrayal of Women

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Communication ResearchVolume 35 Number 2April 2008 232-256

© 2008 Sage Publications10.1177/0093650207313166

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A Changing ViewRepresentation and Effects of the Portrayal of Women of Color inMainstream Women’s MagazinesJuanita J. Covert1

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Travis L. DixonUniversity of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign

This research involved a content analysis of mainstream women’s magazines in 1999and 2004 and an experiment designed to examine the effect of counterstereotypicalportrayals on readers. White women were overrepresented while Latina and Black womenwere underrepresented in mainstream women’s magazine articles in 2004 compared toU.S. Census data, although not as much as in 1999. Representation of women of coloras professionals also increased. The experiment found that exposure to articles featuringcounterstereotypical depictions of women of color tended to elevate the occupationalexpectations of women of color among White readers but not people of color. The the-oretical implications are discussed in light of subgrouping and exemplification.

Keywords: Blacks; Latinas; stereotypes; counterstereotypes; subtyping theory; subgroupingtheory; magazines

Media research concerning the representation and portrayal of people of color ontelevision and in print media has identified serious problems. In general, Blacks

and Latinos are underrepresented in media content while Whites are overrepresentedwhen portrayals are compared to U.S. Census figures. People of color also continue tobe shown in stereotypically negative ways (Bowen & Schmid, 1997; Dodd, Foerch, &Anderson, 1988; Ford, 1997; Taylor, Lee, & Stern, 1995). In particular, stereotypes ofwomen of color are problematic and include the mammy, tragic mulatto, and lustyLatina (Dixon, 2000, 2001; Wilson & Gutiérrez, 1995). Moreover, a growing body ofresearch has indicated that these portrayals appear to reinforce cognitive linkagesbetween people of color and stereotypes (Dixon, 2006; Gilliam & Iyengar, 2000; Oliver,1999; Oliver & Fonash, 2002).

However, most of this prior media effects work on stereotyping has been conductedin the television news arena (Armstrong & Neuendorf, 1992; Mastro & Greenberg,2000). In addition, most of that research has addressed the negative effects of stereo-typical portrayals instead of the positive effects of counterstereotypical imagery



Covert, Dixon / Women of Color in Magazines 233

(Busselle & Crandall, 2002; Power, Murphy, & Coover, 1996). The present study seeksto contribute to research in this area by (a) documenting how women of color are rep-resented in mainstream women’s magazines, an area largely ignored by prior research,and (b) investigating how counterstereotypical portrayals in these magazines mightweaken stereotypes. However, before the goals and objectives of the current study areoutlined, the theoretical foundation underlying the potential psychological effects ofthese portrayals is discussed.

Social Cognition and Stereotypicaland Counterstereotypical Imagery

Stereotyping of people of color continues to be a problem in the media, and somestudies have found that the media’s portrayals can influence both White perceptions ofpeople of color and people of color’s self-perceptions (Dixon & Maddox, 2005;Mastro, 2004). Most of the prior research on stereotyping has relied on the social cog-nition paradigm advanced by psychologists. According to theories and research insocial cognition, schemas can be conceived of as cognitive structures linking socialcategories (e.g., Blacks) with various prominent traits (e.g., criminal and poor; Eagly& Chaiken, 1993; Fiske & Taylor, 1991). Moreover, these schemas can be activated incontexts where the relevant stereotypical linkages are represented (e.g., viewing aBlack criminal on television), and this activation makes the schema more likely to beused in subsequent judgments (Dixon, 2006; Hamilton, Stroessner, & Driscoll, 1994;Power et al., 1996).

A growing number of media effects studies have provided evidence that stereo-types can be activated in media contexts that influence subsequent judgments(Dixon, 2006; Johnson, Jackson, & Gatto, 1995; Peffley, Shields, & Williams, 1996;Valentino, 1999). Much of this research suggests that schemas are difficult to removebecause the frequency of activation of stereotypical constructs leads to increasedaccessibility and an increased likelihood of their use (Devine, 1989; Fazio, Jackson,Dunton, & Williams, 1995; Ford, 1997). Television exposure increases the activationof stereotypes, thereby increasing the accessibility of negative group schemas(Dixon, 2006; Gilliam & Iyengar, 2000; Gilliam, Iyengar, Simon, & Wright, 1996).

In spite of this, some media effects scholars and psychologists have attempted tounderstand the extent to which exposure to counterstereotypical information mightdiscourage the use of stereotypes (Hewstone, Hopkins, & Routh, 1992; Hewstone,Macrae, Griffiths, Milne, & Brown, 1994; Johnston & Hewstone, 1990; Park,Wolsko, & Judd, 2000; Power et al., 1996; Richards & Hewstone, 2001). A few havefocused on the role of counterstereotypical exemplars with an eye toward utilizingschema formation processes to disrupt their creation and use. Psychologists contendthat schemas may form through an exemplar process by which noteworthy examplesof social-category members might help form the cognitive linkages representative ofnegative group schemas (Eagly & Chaiken, 1993; Fiske & Taylor, 1991).



234 Communication Research

Exemplification and drench theory. Media effects scholars have applied this think-ing in exemplification theory, whereby phenomena are understood through a process bywhich noteworthy media examples influence subsequent judgments (Zillmann, 2002).Exemplification assumes that comprehension, storage, and retrieval of elemental, con-crete events are generally superior to those of complex, abstract events. These exem-plars rely on representativeness and availability heuristics. Exemplification assumes thatcounterstereotypical exemplars might be used to break down negative stereotypes andschemas by providing viewers with concrete examples that do not fit the stereotype.

Greenberg (1988) applied this perspective in his formation of the drench hypoth-esis. According to him, noteworthy media examples might override stereotypicalthinking and have more of an impact than the total number of portrayals. He usedthe popular Cosby Show, which prominently featured a Black doctor and a Blacklawyer, as an example of how stereotypical White thinking about Blacks could bereversed by exposure to mediated counterstereotypical exemplars.

Media as a “stand-in” for contact. Exemplification and the drench hypothesis partlyrely on the unstated assumption that contact with the outgroup may facilitate greaterunderstanding, tolerance, and less stereotyping of outgroup members (Gaertner &Dovidio, 1986; Neuberg, 1994; Tropp, 2006; Wicks, 1992). This is noteworthy becausein spite of the often touted progress over the last 40 years since the Civil Rights move-ment, Whites remain largely segregated from people of color (Center for SocialInclusion, 2006; Katz, Wackenhut, & Hass, 1986; Lipsitz, 1998; Matei, Ball-Rokeach,Wilson, Gibbs, & Hoyt, 2001; Sniderman & Piazza, 1993). This suggests that Whites,who have relatively little contact with people of color, should be more influenced bycounterstereotypical exemplars in the media compared to people of color. Therefore,segregation patterns heighten the need for research on potential counterstereotypicalexemplars in the mass media.

Subgrouping rather than subtyping. However, one of the major drawbacks to thepotential of counterstereotypical exemplars to influence stereotypical linkages andschematic references is illustrated by subtyping theory. According to subtyping theory,rare examples of counterstereotypes very infrequently break stereotypes successfully.Subtyping occurs when a group member disconfirms a stereotype in such an extremeway that the member becomes disparate from the group, and the group’s stereotypepersists (Hewstone et al., 1992; Hewstone et al., 1994; Johnston & Hewstone, 1990;Richards & Hewstone, 2001). This member is viewed as unrepresentative of the restof the group and as an “exception to the rule” (Richards & Hewstone, 2001). Insteadof breaking the stereotype, the exception helps insulate the stereotype. For example,subsequent research on White perceptions of The Cosby Show found that many Whitessaw the Cosby characters as noteworthy exceptions who did not reflect the behavior ofmost Blacks (Gray, 1989; Jhally & Lewis, 1992, 1998).



However, some factors can decrease the likelihood of subtyping under certain cir-cumstances. For example, information that is “blocked” (information organized inan uninterrupted block) focuses attention on a member’s disconfirming attributesand may help to weaken the stereotype (Hewstone et al., 1994). This is relevant tothis study as mainstream women’s magazines present information in blocks (arti-cles). This is especially true if the article features a profile of a specific woman orfeatures profiles of several women (which is not uncommon in women’s magazines).The likelihood of subtyping is also decreased by a distribution of disconfirminginformation among several group members (Hewstone et al., 1994; Richards &Hewstone, 2001).

Hence, subgrouping differs from subtyping in that it has the potential of weaken-ing stereotypes (Richards & Hewstone, 2001). Subgroups are formed when groupmembers demonstrate a key disconfirming characteristic differently. As subgroupsincrease the “perceived variability” of group members, the stereotype may be dimin-ished (Richards & Hewstone, 2001). Mainstream women’s magazine article contentmay effectively communicate perceived variability, given its emphasis on variousindividuals engaging in activities that reflect the topical focus of the magazine andof specific magazine articles. In the current study, we examine whether mainstreamwomen’s magazines contain significant numbers of counterstereotypical informationregarding women of color. In addition, we test whether subgrouping might actuallylead to counterstereotyping by exposing mainstream women’s magazine readers toblocks of counterstereotypical women of color exemplars. Below, we discuss theimportance of mainstream women’s magazines, prior research on women of color inmagazines, and how they may be especially suited to a test of subgrouping.

Women of Color in Magazines

Mainstream women’s magazines typically feature professionally and personallysuccessful women. Therefore, the appearance of women of color in prominent rolesin these magazines might serve to provide counterstereotypical exemplars to maga-zine readers. However, according to a 1995 content analysis of magazine advertise-ments, Blacks and Latinas were underrepresented in ads in general, and they wereeven more underrepresented in counterstereotypical roles in those ads (Taylor et al.,1995). The most severe underrepresentation occurred in the Latina portrayals. Only4.7% of models in the ads were Latina, although this group represented 9% of theU.S. population according to 1990 Census information. The study also found thatLatinas were underrepresented in business settings and Blacks were underrepre-sented in technical product advertisements. A second content analysis of magazineadvertisements focused entirely on fashion advertisements in mainstream women’smagazines (Bowen & Schmid, 1997). Only 10.6% of these ads featured Blacks.

Very few content analyses have addressed race and occupational depictions inmagazines. However, one study did examine this issue by focusing on the presence




and portrayal of women and minorities on news magazine covers (Dodd et al., 1988).Generally, magazine covers represent a topic or person that is later addressed in thecontent of one of the magazine’s articles. Also, the cover subject is thought to be ofsignificant importance or interest compared to the rest of the articles in the maga-zine. The researchers found that people of color were most frequently depicted assports figures and rarely depicted as professionals (only 1%). These results suggestthat people of color were associated with stereotypical (e.g., athletic/entertainment)portrayals on news magazine covers.

In sum, prior work has found that people of color are underrepresented inwomen’s magazine ads, and they are typically associated with stereotypes on newsmagazine covers. There is a lack of prior work addressing the presence and portray-als of women of color in mainstream women’s magazine articles. Examining articlecontent is important because it is this content that comprises the bulk of text in mostwomen’s magazines. It arguably may have the most influence on readers becausethey likely spend more time reading it than looking at advertisements. This maga-zine content may also represent blocks of information that are the key to providingeffective counterstereotypical exemplars to readers.

Present Studies’ Objectives

Our first study was designed to determine whether women of color are underrep-resented in article content, using two time points five years apart. Our second studyexamined the possible effects of the portrayals on readers. As indicated by previousresearch studies and scholarly literature, people of color, and women of color in par-ticular, appear to be underrepresented in magazine advertisements and underrepre-sented as managers or professionals on news magazine covers. Mainstream women’smagazines generate the reasonable expectation that they mimic the lives of womenin the “real world,” so it is important to study possible misrepresentation in thesemagazines. It is also imperative to examine portrayals of managerial/professionalwomen given that many mainstream women’s magazines feature success stories thatmay serve as counterstereotypes for women of color. The first study, then, focuseson the representation of women of color in mainstream women’s magazine content.We analyze data over two time periods, 1999 and 2004, in order to determinewhether underrepresentation of women of color exists in mainstream women’s mag-azine content and whether it persists over time.

The second study examines whether portrayals of women of color that disconfirmracial or ethnic stereotypes in articles are likely to weaken those stereotypes.According to subgrouping theory, if portrayals of women of color contribute to aperceived variability of women of color, then they are more likely to weaken racialstereotypes. We test this by exposing readers to varying levels of multiple counter-stereotypical exemplars.




Research Hypotheses

The content analytic study was designed to document representation and portray-als of White, Black, and Latina women in mainstream women’s magazine articlecontent.2 Based on prior research, we predicted that women of color would be under-represented in mainstream women’s magazine articles, particularly in managerialand professional (i.e., counterstereotypical) roles. We also predicted that Whitewomen would be overrepresented overall and particularly when they were depictedas managers and professionals. Specifically, the following hypotheses were tested:

Hypothesis 1: White women will be overrepresented and Latina and Black women willbe underrepresented in mainstream women’s magazine articles compared to thetotal United States population.

Hypothesis 2: White women will be overrepresented as managers and professionalswhile Blacks and Latinas will be underrepresented in these roles in mainstreamwomen’s magazine articles compared to the United States’ population of managersand professionals.

The second study was designed to uncover whether greater exposure to counter-stereotypical portrayals of women of color would inhibit stereotypical beliefs aboutthem and would prime or activate counterstereotypes. It is especially important tostudy the response of Whites to these portrayals because many of them have littleinteraction with women of color as we still live in a largely segregated society(Center for Social Inclusion, 2006; Gilliam et al., 1996; Lipsitz, 1998). Portrayals inmainstream women’s magazines may serve as a form of interracial contact forWhites. Based on prior research and theorizing, we predicted that increased coun-terstereotypical portrayals of women of color in magazine articles would cause read-ers, especially White readers, to have higher expectations for people of color.Specifically, we hypothesized the following:

Hypothesis 3: For White readers more than for people of color, exposure to greater pro-portions of women of color featured as professionals in articles would yield a higherestimate of educational success among women of color and foster the perceptionthat women of color work in jobs with good pay and good benefits.

According to subgrouping theory and contact theory, exposure to blocks of suc-cessful women of color should facilitate the use of a mental subgroup of successfulwomen of color among Whites (who have relatively little contact with people ofcolor). This subgrouping would then influence subsequent judgments by Whitesmore than the judgments by people of color (who have more regular contact withBlacks and Latinas).





Study 1

Introduction

The purpose of the first study is to describe the representations of Black, Latina,and White women in article content. Women featured were also coded for employ-ment and occupation. The results were then compared to real-world figures from the2000 U.S. Census to determine the extent to which each of these groups was under-represented or overrepresented in mainstream women’s magazine content. We pre-dicted that just as Black and Latina women are underrepresented in advertisements(Bowen & Schmid, 1997; Plous & Neptune, 1997; Taylor et al., 1995), these groupswould also be underrepresented in articles in general and in professional or man-agerial roles.

Method

Sample. We drew two samples for the current content analysis study. One wasdrawn in 2000 to represent a complete year of 1999 mainstream women’s maga-zines. The second was drawn in 2005 to represent a complete year of 2004 main-stream women’s magazines. We chose the year 1999 for the sample to take stock ofthe representation of women of color at the end of the 20th century, and we chosethe year 2004 to identify changes evident five years later, in the 21st century. Thepopulation of interest was the group of 10 mainstream women’s magazines with the highest circulation. The term mainstream refers to the marketing strategy of thesemagazines, which is designed to garner readership from the majority of the public.In other words, the sample excludes special interest magazines and ethnic minoritymagazines that target specific types of women. The magazines chosen for the sam-ple were therefore those women’s magazines that target women in general (or at leastdo not proclaim to target a specific subgroup) and whose circulation demonstratesthat they are in fact popular among women.

The 1999 sample consisted of the 10 most popular women’s magazines for that yearas identified by the magazine management periodical Folio: The Magazine forMagazine Management (Ennis, 1999). Folio listed current mainstream women’s mag-azines according to circulation figures. Four issues of each magazine were chosen ran-domly from the months of January 1999 to December 1999, for a total of 40 magazinesand 1,816 women featured in the articles (whose ethnicity/race could be determined).These issues allow generalization to an average issue of the magazine because a par-ticular issue or consecutive issues may involve seasonal or topical biases.

The 2004 sample included the 10 most popular women’s magazines for that yearas identified by the Audit Bureau of Circulations (Magazine Publishers of America,n.d.), as well as two magazines that had been in the top 10 in 1999 but had dropped



from the list by 2004 (for comparison purposes).3 Four issues of each magazine werechosen randomly from the months of January 2004 to December 2004, for a total of48 magazines and 3,530 women featured in the articles (whose ethnicity/race couldbe determined). The sampled mainstream women’s magazines were Better Homesand Gardens, Family Circle, Good Housekeeping, Woman’s Day, Ladies’ HomeJournal, Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Redbook, Southern Living, O (Oprah) Magazine,Vogue, and Martha Stewart Living.

Levels of analysis. Within each article, coders examined portrayals at the individualwoman level of analysis. Coders documented her ethnicity/race, employment, andoccupation. They coded each woman mentioned by full name in the text or appearingin the foreground of a photo, drawing, or other visual image. If there were more than10 women in the foreground, coders looked at the 10 in the center of the image.

Definition of variables. Coders determined the ethnicity/race of women in thearticles by a variety of factors. The term ethnicity/race referred to identification asWhite (non-Latina), Black (non-Latina), Latina, and Other. These included explicitmention of ethnic or racial group, heritage, nationality or family background, originof first and/or last name, affiliation with an ethnic organization, or appearance.

Coders determined whether women portrayed were employed. Indicators ofemployment were explicit mention of work-related topics or income in the text orvisual representation (e.g., featuring work uniform, badge, etc.).

Coders determined the specific occupation women held by explicit mention ofwork title, job description, other work-related topics in the text, or visual represen-tation (e.g., featuring work uniform, badge, job description). In particular, coderswere instructed to code women as managerial/professional if they worked in busi-ness (nonclerical), law, medicine, or other similar fields or if they were described aseditors, executives, politicians, business owners, or professionals. These subcate-gories in the “managerial/professional” category matched examples in the U.S.Census occupational data.

Coding and reliability. Since many mainstream women’s magazines includeadvertisements and articles that may be confused for each other, coding instructionsencouraged coders to verify an article by checking the table of contents. Four coders(including one of the authors) reported on characteristics of women in the articles.

Each coder was given extensive training and practiced coding one women’s mag-azine issue with one of the principal researchers. Six mainstream women’s magazineissues were randomly chosen and coded by all four coders to gauge the reliability ofthe coding scheme.

The proportional reduction of error technique used in this study to assess coderconsistency relied on Cohen’s kappa (Cohen, 1960). Cohen’s kappa is commonlyviewed as a version of Scott’s pi that corrects for chance error in the consistency





ratings of multiple coders, and it is considered a standard proportional reduction oferror technique in content analysis studies (Wimmer & Dominick, 2000). Resultsrevealed that each variable had high intercoder agreement, including ethnicity/race(.96), employment (.94), and occupation (.88).

Results

Representation of women in mainstream women’s magazine articles. The firsthypothesis predicted that White women would be overrepresented and Latina and Blackwomen would be underrepresented in mainstream women’s magazine articles com-pared to the United States population. This hypothesis was supported (see Table 1).

In 1999, 91% of women featured in mainstream women’s magazine articles wereWhite, 6% were Black, and 1% were Latina, χ2(3, N = 1816) = 5740.21, p < .001. In2004, 82% of women were White, 10% were Black, and 6% were Latina, χ2(3, N =2673) = 4649.36, p < .001.4

In order to determine whether mainstream women’s magazines overrepresented orunderrepresented women of color, these percentages were subtracted from the propor-tions of White, Black, and Latina women in the United States according to the 2000U.S. Census. The resulting difference was the percentage point differential. In the finalstep, a 95% confidence interval was calculated around each sample estimate of the pro-portions of women in the magazine articles (Dixon & Linz, 2000a, 2000b; Moore &McCabe, 1989). If the percentage point differential exceeded the 95% confidence inter-val, the corresponding mainstream women’s magazine article proportion was consid-ered a statistically significant underrepresentation or overrepresentation.

Table 1Race of Women Portrayed in Top 10 Mainstream Women’s Magazines

Compared to the Racial Makeup of Women in the United States

Percentage Percentage Magazine % Magazine % Point Differential Point Differential

Ethnicity/Race Census %a in 1999b in 2004b in 1999c in 2004c

Black 12 6 10 –6d –2d

White 73 91 82 +18d +9d

Latina 10 1 6 –9d –4d

Other 5 2 3 –3d –2d

Note: For 1999, χ2(3, n = 1816) = 5740.21, p < .001. For 2004, χ2(3, n = 2673) = 4649.36, p < .001.a. Percentage of Black, White, Latina, and Other women in the United States according to the U.S. Censusfor 2000.b. Percentage of Black, White, Latina, and Other women who appeared in article content.c. Difference between the percentage of women who appeared in articles and the percentage of womenreported in the U.S. Census for each racial group (magazine % – census %).d. Percentage point differential outside the confidence interval.




As Table 1 shows, in 1999, Whites were overrepresented by 18 percentage points.Blacks were underrepresented by 6 percentage points and Latinas were underrepre-sented by 9 percentage points. In 2004, Whites were overrepresented by 9 percent-age points, Blacks were underrepresented by 2 percentage points, and Latinas wereunderrepresented by 4 percentage points. Given the confidence intervals calculated,these proportions represent statistically significant misrepresentations.

To examine the trend of representation between 1999 and 2004, we compared thedata collected from the nine women’s magazines ranked in the top 10 in 1999 (sinceMcCall’s ceased publication) to the nine that remained in 2004. Afterwards, we cal-culated a trend difference by subtracting the proportion of women featured in 2004from the proportion of each racial group featured in 1999. In addition, we summedthe confidence intervals for each corresponding proportion year. If the trend differ-ence exceeded the sum of the confidence intervals, we took the trend as statisticallysignificant.

As Table 2 shows, Whites were less likely to appear in top 10 mainstreamwomen’s magazines in 2004 compared to 1999 by 8 percentage points. Latinasincreased their appearance by 5 percentage points, and Blacks were featured moreby 3 percentage points. Given the confidence intervals around the percentages, eachof these trends was statistically significant. However, it should be noted that Blacksand Latinas remained underrepresented while Whites were overrepresented overallcompared to census records over the five-year period.

Representation of women as managers and professionals. The second hypothesispredicted that White women would be overrepresented as managers and professionals

Table 2Race of Women Portrayed in Mainstream Women’s Magazines Ranked in

the Top 10 in 1999 Compared to the Racial Makeup of the Same Surviving Magazines in 2004

Magazine % Magazine % Trend 1999 2004 Ethnicity/Race in 1999b in 2004b Differencec Confidence Interval Confidence Interval

Black 5 8 +3d 1 1White 91 83 –8d 1 1Latina 1 6 +5d 1 1Other 3 3 0 1 1

Note: For 1999, χ2(3, n = 1664) = 3877.09, p < .001. For 2004, χ2(3, n = 2780) = 5057.05, p < .001.a. Percentage of Black, White, Latina, and Other women in the United States according to the U.S. Censusfor 2000.b. Percentage of Black, White, Latina, and Other women who appeared in article content.c. Difference between the representation of women in 2004 and the representation of women in 1999 foreach racial group (2004 % – 1999 %).d. Percentage point differential outside the combined confidence intervals for both 1999 and 2004.




while Blacks and Latinas would be underrepresented in these roles in mainstreamwomen’s magazine articles compared to women in these roles in the United Statespopulation. This hypothesis was not supported in 2004, while it was supported in 1999.

In 1999, White women comprised 90% of the managerial and professional subsetof the sample. Blacks were 5%, and Latinas 2%, χ2(3, N = 191) = 431.35, p < .001.In 2004, White women were 63% of the managerial and professional subset, Blackswere 19%, and Latinas 6%, χ2(3, N = 134) = 110.48, p < .001. In order to determinewhether mainstream women’s magazines overrepresented or underrepresentedwomen of color in these positions, these percentages were subtracted from the pro-portions of White, Black, and Latina women in these positions in the United Statesaccording to occupational data in the 2000 U.S. Census.

As Table 3 shows, in 1999, Whites were overrepresented in these roles by 10 percentage points and Latinas were underrepresented by 4 percentage points. (Theunderrepresentation of Blacks in 1999 was not statistically significant.) In 2004, Whiteswere underrepresented in these roles by 17 percentage points. Blacks were overrepre-sented by 12 percentage points. Given the confidence intervals calculated, these propor-tions represent statistically significant misrepresentations.

Again, we compared the data collected from the nine mainstream women’s mag-azines ranked in the top 10 in 1999 to look for a trend. As Table 4 shows, Whitesdecreased their representation as managers and professionals by 18 percentagepoints. Given the confidence interval around the percentages, this trend for Whitesis statistically significant. (The trends found for Black and Latina women were notstatistically significant.)

Table 3Race of Women Portrayed in Managerial and Professional Roles in Top 10 Mainstream Women’s Magazines Compared to the Racial

Makeup of Professional Women in the United States

Magazine % Magazine % Percentage Point Percentage Point Ethnicity/Race Census %a in 1999b in 2004b Differential in 1999c Differential in 2004c

Black 7 5 19 –2 +12d

White 80 90 63 +10d –17d

Latina 6 2 6 –4d 0Other 7 3 11 –4d +4

Note: For 1999, χ2(3, n = 191) = 431.35, p < .001. For 2004, χ2(3, n = 165) = 162.10, p < .001.a. Percentage of Black, White, Latina, and Other women in the United States who hold managerial andprofessional roles according to the U.S. Census for 2000.b. Percentage of Black, White, Latina, and Other women who appeared in article content as professionals.c. Difference between the percentage of women who appeared in articles and the percentage of womenreported in the U.S. Census for each racial group (magazine % – census %).d. Percentage point differential outside the confidence interval.




Discussion

As predicted, White women were overrepresented and Black and Latina women wereunderrepresented in mainstream women’s magazine articles as compared to U.S. Censusfigures. However, this did not occur in 2004 to the extent observed in 1999. Proportionsof Black and Latina women portrayed in mainstream women’s magazines increased,approaching the proportions reported in the census. The decrease in the proportion ofWhite women in the magazines was especially meaningful (Wilson et al., 1998).

Furthermore, the 2004 results regarding the portrayal of women as managers andprofessionals were surprising. White women were underrepresented and Blackwomen were overrepresented as managers and professionals in article content. Thisdid not support our hypothesis or concur with the 1999 results. Furthermore, Latinawomen appeared to no longer be underrepresented as managers and professionals in2004 as they were in 1999.

Considering the boost in the representation of women of color in general and inprofessional roles, the question arises whether this increase affects readers’ percep-tions of women of color in the real world. Our second study sought to examinewhether a greater representation of women of color featured in mainstream women’smagazines, especially in professional roles, might affect readers’ endorsement ofstereotypes of women of color.

Table 4Race of Women Portrayed in Managerial and Professional Roles in

Mainstream Women’s Magazines Ranked in the Top 10 in 1999 Compared to the Racial Makeup of Depicted Professionals

in the Same Surviving Magazines in 2004

Magazine % Magazine % Trend 1999 2004 Confidence Ethnicity/Race in 1999b in 2004b Differencec Confidence Interval Interval

Black 6 12 +6 4 6White 88 70 –18d 5 8Latina 3 7 +4 3 5Other 4 12 +8 3 6

Note: For 1999, χ2(3, n = 160) = 340.35, p < .001. For 2004, χ2(3, n = 122) = 130.78, p < .001.a. Percentage of Black, White, Latina, and Other women in the United States who hold managerial andprofessional roles according to the U.S. Census for 2000.b. Percentage of Black, White, Latina, and Other women who appeared in article content as professionals.c. Difference between the representation of professional women in 2004 and the representation of pro-fessional women in 1999 for each racial group (2004 % – 1999 %).d. Percentage point differential outside the combined confidence intervals for both 1999 and 2004.




Study 2

Introduction

The second study was an investigation of whether greater exposure to counter-stereotypical portrayals of women of color as professionals in women’s magazinecontent would increase counterstereotypical notions regarding the educational leveland occupational status of women of color. Specifically, Study 2 was designed as aninvestigation of subgrouping theory to test whether exposure to varied counter-stereotypical exemplars in mainstream women’s magazines might facilitate thebelief in a counterstereotypical subgroup of Black and Latina women. Thus, onewould then rely more on the counterstereotypical subgroup exemplars rather than thestereotypical schema to make overall judgments regarding Black and Latina women.

Method

Sample. The sample of readers consisted of 205 undergraduates at a largeMidwestern university. Readers were offered extra credit in their communicationcourses in return for their participation. The sample was 59% White, 16% Black,12% Latino, and 9% Asian American, and 5% indicated some other racial groupingor category. Given the lack of diversity in the sample, and the lack of power for fullyinvestigating racial differences, we created a dichotomous measure for Whites ver-sus non-Whites (or people of color). We did this, in part, to test for ingroup biasesand account for differences in interpersonal contact with people of color (Fiske &Taylor, 1991; Gilliam & Iyengar, 2000; Matei et al., 2001; Power et al., 1996).

Design. A 4 (magazine condition—nonexposure, absence, integration, or saturation) ×2 (race of participant—White, people of color) between-subjects factorial experi-ment was undertaken. Readers were randomly handed one of three sets of women’smagazine articles. In the nonexposure group, participants simply responded to the dependent measures. The manipulated magazine conditions contained varyingdegrees of women of color in work-related articles. One set was the “absence” con-dition, in which all women featured in the articles were White. Another was the“integration” condition, in which 40% of women featured were women of color. Theset in the “saturation” condition included 80% women of color. The minimum N forthe interaction terms was 15.

Materials. For this study, three sets of sample women’s magazine articles were cre-ated. Each set was 12 pages long. Each included 10 articles and a few advertisementspulled from past issues of mainstream and ethnic magazines and Internet publications.This increased the articles’ realistic quality, but the articles’ actual date of publicationmade it less likely that readers would recognize or remember the content. Ten articles




were included so that the article manipulation could easily fit the absence (0%), inte-gration (40%), and saturation (80%) conditions. In the integration condition, four arti-cles prominently featured women of color, and in the saturation condition, eight articlesfeatured women of color. The sets included manipulated feature articles about profes-sional success and work. They included the images and names of women made toresemble White, Black, or Latina women. Specifically, each article only included aheadshot of one woman so that it could be easily replaced according to the absence,integration, or saturation conditions. No ads featured women in order to not confoundthe effects of article content manipulation.

The conditions of 0%, 40%, and 80% were chosen because the study aims atexamining significant differences in the presence of women of color in mainstreamwomen’s magazine content. Although the conditions could have been 0%, 50%, and100%, the set of mainstream women’s magazine articles may have appeared unreal-istic as a mainstream magazine if it did not include some White women. Not onlywould this threaten the original goal to study mainstream women’s magazines, itwould also compromise the deception story presented to participants (that they areto evaluate a mainstream women’s magazine).

Pretest of materials. The portrayals of women in the articles were pretested tomake sure the women would be identified reliably as White, Black, or Latina. Inaddition, we wanted to ensure that any findings observed were not confounded withthe attractiveness of the featured women. Eleven undergraduates rated each of thepictured models on the extent to which they appeared Black, White, or Latina, andthey rated their attractiveness on a 1 to 7 scale.

Results revealed that the Black photos (M = 5.97, SD = 1.04) were rated as appear-ing more Black compared to the White or Latina photos (M = 1.40, SD = .66), t(129) =30.18, p < .001. In addition, the Latina photos (M = 5.77, SD = 1.42) were rated asappearing more Latina than the White photos (M = 2.55, SD = 1.53), t(124) = 10.77,p < .001. Moreover, the Latina photos were rated as appearing more Latina (M = 5.77,SD = 1.42) compared to the Black photos (M = 3.31, SD = 1.52), t(72) = 7.18, p < .001.

In terms of the findings for attractiveness, results revealed that the Black photos(M = 3.71, SD = 1.53) were not rated as any less attractive than the White photos (M = 3.71, SD = 1.51), t(127) = .01, p < .99. In addition, the White photos (M = 3.71,SD = 1.54) were not rated as any more attractive than the Latina photos (M = 4.12,SD = 1.34), t(123) = 1.35, p < .18. Finally, the Black photos (M = 3.71, SD = 1.51)were not rated as any less attractive than the Latina photos (M = 4.12, SD = 1.34),t(70) = 1.21, p < .23.

Procedure. This experiment uses a variation of the two-experiment ruse. Deceptionwas used so that readers would not know the purpose of the study and respond in anuncharacteristic way. They were told that they would be evaluating prototypes ofarticles for a new mainstream women’s magazine and that they would later complete




an “unrelated” questionnaire for another study. After 25 minutes of reading the mag-azine articles, readers completed a questionnaire regarding their opinion of the qual-ity of the magazine. They were given 25 minutes so that they could leisurely readeach of the 10 articles in the magazine and still have at least 35 minutes to completetwo questionnaires.

After approximately 10 minutes of completing the first questionnaire, readerscompleted another, allegedly unrelated, questionnaire for another media researchstudy. They were told that the other study was about working habits, educationalgoals, attitudes, and media use. Along with questions about media use, this secondquestionnaire included questions regarding beliefs about women of color. Theresponses to the questions about women of color were used as dependent measures.

In the nonexposure condition, participants believed that they were waiting for anexperimenter who was supposed to arrive with a women’s magazine for them toevaluate. Eventually, these nonexposure participants were told that a research assis-tant had failed to attend the session with the relevant magazines to assess. After thisapproximately 20- to 25-minute period, they were asked to move on to the secondpart of the study and were then administered the dependent measures. Participantswere debriefed after the completion of the study.

Dependent measures. Three primary dependent measures were used in this study.The first measure was an estimation of the average education level of women ofcolor on a 1 to 5 scale (middle school, high school, 2-year degree, 4-year degree,graduate degree; e.g., “Which level of education does an average Latina womanreach?”; 2 items; alpha = .79). The second measure assessed the extent to which par-ticipants believed that women of color hold jobs with good pay on a 1 (not verylikely, definitely not, disagree) to 7 (very likely, definitely, agree) scale (e.g., “Theaverage Black working woman works at a job with good pay”; 2 items; alpha = .80).The final measure utilized a similar 1 to 7 scale and assessed the extent to which par-ticipants perceived that women of color tend to hold jobs with good benefits (e.g.,“The average Latina working woman works at a job with insurance benefits”; 2items; alpha = .72).

In addition to the aforementioned dependent measures, three single-item vari-ables based on the ones above assessed (a) the estimation of the average educationlevel of a White woman, (b) the extent to which participants believed that Whitewomen hold jobs with good pay, and (c) the extent to which participants believedthat White women hold jobs with good benefits.

Results

All statistical tests were conducted at the p < .05 significance level. The data wereanalyzed using two-way magazine condition (i.e., absence, integration, and satura-tion) by race of participant (White, people of color) between-subjects analyses ofvariance (ANOVAs) for each of the dependent measures.




The third hypothesis predicted that, particularly among Whites, greater proportionsof women of color in mainstream women’s magazine articles would yield higher esti-mates of the educational level of women of color and foster the perception that womenof color work in jobs with good pay and good benefits. This hypothesis was largelysupported.

Estimates of education level. In terms of estimates of education level, only a maineffect between Whites and people of color emerged, F(1, 197) = 10.12, p < .01,η2

p = .05. Whites (M = 2.84, SD = .68) had lower estimates of women of color’s edu-cational achievement compared to people of color (M = 3.09, SD = .66).

Perception that women of color earn good pay. The ANOVA for the extent towhich participants perceived that women of color work at a job with good payrevealed an interaction between the race of the participant and magazine condition,F(3, 198) = 3.14, p < .05, η2

p = .05. Means and standard deviations for each of theconditions by racial grouping are displayed in Table 5 along with the results of post-hoc tests. This interaction is also depicted in Figure 1.

For Whites, as exposure to women of color in women’s magazines increases, so doesthe perception that women of color earn good pay. More specifically, Whites in the sat-uration condition (M = 3.54, SD = 1.02) and the integration condition (M = 3.53, SD =.90) are more likely to believe that women of color earn good pay compared to Whitesin the nonexposure condition (M = 2.84, SD = 1.74). However, the opposite was gener-ally true for non-Whites. For people of color, the perception that women of color earngood pay was lower in the saturation condition (M = 3.15, SD = 1.15) compared to thenonexposure condition (M = 3.84, SD = 1.06).

Table 5Means and Standard Deviations of Occupational Perceptions

of Women of Color

Nonexposure Absence Integration Saturation M (SD) M (SD) M (SD) M (SD)

Women of color work at a job with good pay

Non-Whites 3.84a (1.06) 3.33ab (1.16) 3.60ab (.97) 3.15b (1.15)Whites 2.84a (1.74) 3.40ab (1.16) 3.53b (.90) 3.54b (1.02)

Women of color work at a job with good benefits

Non-Whites 4.67a (1.05) 4.06ab (1.37) 3.60b (1.06) 3.57b (1.30)Whites 3.34a (.63) 3.68ab (1.01) 4.10b (1.04) 3.78ab (1.12)

Note: Means in the same row with different subscripts differ at the p < .05 level.




Perception that women of color have good benefits. The ANOVA for the extent towhich participants perceived that women of color work at a job with good benefitsalso revealed an interaction between the race of the participant and magazine condi-tion, F(3, 196) = 5.01, p < .01, η2

p = .07. Means and standard deviations for each ofthe conditions by racial grouping are also displayed in Table 5 along with post-hoctests. This interaction is also depicted in Figure 2.

Similar to the findings for perceptions regarding good pay, White perceptions thatwomen of color work at a job with good benefits increase with additional exposure towomen of color. More specifically, Whites in the integration condition (M = 4.10, SD =1.04) were more likely to hold the perception that women of color work in jobs withgood benefits compared to Whites in the nonexposure condition (M = 3.34, SD = .63).However, people of color again exhibited the opposite trend. People of color exposed toeither the integration (M = 3.60, SD = 1.06) or saturation conditions (M = 3.57, SD =1.30) were less likely than people of color in the nonexposure group (M = 4.67, SD =4.06) to perceive that women of color work at a job with good benefits.

Perceptions of White women. In order to verify that the interactions and maineffects observed above were due to seeing women of color and not simply successful

Figure 1Plot of Interaction Between Race of Participants and Version of Magazine

on Perceptions That Women of Color Work at a Job With Good Pay

3.84

3.333.6

3.152.84

3.4 3.53 3.54

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Magazine Conditions

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women, additional analyses were conducted. These included an assessment of theeducational and occupational attainment of White women, the extent to which Whitewomen hold a job with good pay, and the extent to which White women hold a jobwith good benefits. Results revealed that people of color (M = 4.23, SD = .60) hadhigher estimates of Whites’ educational attainment compared to White participants(M = 4.03, SD = .69), F(1, 196) = 4.76, p < .05, η2

p = .02. However, no other maineffects or interactions were observed on the educational attainment variable (allother Fs < 0.90, n.s.). In addition, no main effects or interactions emerged on the per-ception that White women hold a job with good pay or on the perception that Whitewomen hold a job with good benefits (all other Fs < 1.60, n.s.).

General Discussion

The first study examined the representation of women of color in mainstreamwomen’s magazine articles in general and in the occupational role of managers andprofessionals. The second study examined whether significant differences in the

4.67

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3.6 3.573.34

3.684.1

3.78

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Figure 2Plot of Interaction Between Race of Participants and Version of Magazine on

Perceptions That Women of Color Work at a Job With Good Benefits



representation of women of color in article content affected how readers judgedwomen of color in the real world. Our first study found that overall, Black and Latinawomen were underrepresented and White women were overrepresented in articles ascompared to the U.S. Census. Although this trend persisted between 1999 and 2004,it was lessened in 2004. The study also found that Black women were overrepre-sented and White women were underrepresented as professionals in 2004, a reversalof findings in 1999. Our second study revealed that increased exposure to profes-sional women of color in women’s magazine articles generated more positive occu-pational expectations among White readers but not readers of color.

Below, we discuss the representational trends from 1999 to 2004 in portrayals ofwomen of color in mainstream women’s magazine articles. Afterwards, we discussthe implications of the counterstereotypical effects study. Finally, we provide anoverview of some of the limitations of this research.

Representation Trends in 1999 and 2004

It is important to acknowledge the increase in the representation of women of colorin mainstream women’s magazines, which allows the magazines to more closelyresemble reality as reported in the U.S. Census. These mainstream magazines appearto be doing a better job reflecting the diverse audience of women they reach. A grow-ing cultural trend toward diversity may have caused editors to make a concerted orsubconscious effort to include more women of color. Another possible reason for theincrease between 1999 and 2004 may be the launch and success of O Magazine. Thismagazine was not only created by a powerful and popular professional Black woman,it portrays a variety of women in its content. These portrayals contributed to thehigher proportions of women of color in 2004 when we compared the top 10 maga-zines to census figures. Moreover, O Magazine’s competitors may have followed suitand increased the amount of diversity in their own magazine content.5 It is importantto note that our trend analysis necessarily did not include O Magazine because it didnot exist in 1999; it was first published in 2000. Only the magazines that existed inboth 1999 and 2004 were compared for the trend analysis. Nevertheless, a positivetrend in representation of women of color persisted among the other magazines. Thissuggests that mainstream women’s magazine editors may have become more com-fortable with diversity given the success of Oprah’s magazine.

Even so, women of color do continue to be underrepresented in mainstreamwomen’s magazines, albeit to a lesser degree than they were five years ago. This maybe due to the fact that the editorial staff of these mainstream women’s magazinescontinues to be predominantly White. White editors may not consider issues ofdiversity as instinctively or recognize misrepresentations as easily as might editorsof color. On the other hand, an emphasis on White women as the primary focus ofmainstream magazines may signal a marketing strategy to serve White women as atarget audience. The resulting underrepresentation of women of color continues to




marginalize an important segment of the mainstream women’s magazines’ audience.However, the trend appears to at least be moving in a more hopeful direction.

Effects of Counterstereotypical Imagery

According to the findings of the second study, differences in the prevalence ofwomen of color in women’s magazine articles do affect readers. The experimentillustrated that exposure to higher proportions of women of color in professionalroles in women’s magazine articles can influence White readers to view women ofcolor in a more favorable way. The articles appear to have provided White readerswith a subgroup of counterstereotypical women of color exemplars they could drawon when forming impressions of other women of color.

Support for subgrouping theory. The current set of results appears to provide sup-port for the theory of subgrouping; a variety of positive portrayals worked to weakensupport for negative stereotypes. The current study offers a unique test of subgroup-ing because mainstream women’s magazines often focus on highly successfulwomen. When those successful women are diverse, this may inhibit the use ofstereotypes. Mainstream women’s magazines may be especially useful for weaken-ing stereotypes and negative impressions because of the prevailing positive tone intheir articles. In addition, their regular use of “experts” (professional or knowledge-able women) to offer advice and information to readers and the frequency of articlesabout success stories may all have an influence when women of color are featuredin the content.

Women’s magazines also present blocks of information about women in the formof articles and sections within articles, which can help work against stereotypicalthinking according to subgrouping theory. When blocks of women are presented in this way, it may have two effects. First, it prevents readers from counter-arguingthat the featured counterstereotypical exemplar is an exception to the rule becausemultiple diverse women are presented in counterstereotypical contexts. Second,these counterstereotypical blocks encourage viewers to build upon and acknowledgevaried subcategories of a racial group inconsistent with the stereotype.

The pattern of findings suggests that saturation is not necessary to observe theeffect but that simple integration of imagery can lead to counterstereotypical pro-cessing. Two mechanisms may have been at work. First, exposure to the multipleexemplars of successful women may have made readers more cognizant of theirpotential prejudice against women of color. Several psychological studies havefound that conscious processing of information decreases reliance on stereotypicalinformation to make judgments (Devine & Monteith, 1999; Fazio et al., 1995).Second, exposure to multiple exemplars in either the saturation or integration conditionsmay have simply inhibited the generic stereotype from operating. Instead of relyingon the stereotypical construct, readers may have simply spent more time processing




the counterstereotypical information, which inhibited the use of the stereotype(Hamilton et al., 1994; Hamilton & Trolier, 1986). The popularity of women’s mag-azines and their apparent ability to affect readers’ views makes them a very power-ful cultural force—one that necessitates further study. One area to pursue wouldinclude further research on the relative strength of subtyping versus subgrouping aspart of a mediated counterstereotypical process.

Opposite effects for people of color. It is notable that people of color actuallyappeared to move in the opposite direction from Whites with increased exposure tocounterstereotypical portrayals. For Whites, the images may have served as a stand-in for contact with people of color and therefore had a strong and positive influenceon their perceptions (Armstrong & Neuendorf, 1992; Entman & Rojecki, 2000;Hebl, Tickle, & Heatherton, 2000; Tropp, 2006). These counterstereotypical exem-plars served as evidence for the lack of validity of racial stereotypes.

However, for people of color, these exemplars may have caused them to comparetheir own experiences and those of other people of color with featured exemplars’(Major, 2006). As people of color saw more and more women of color portrayed suc-cessfully in the women’s magazine articles, they were reminded that these were atypi-cal exemplars. As a result, they may have reflected on the continuing struggles and jobdiscrimination facing women of color. This process has been termed the hypothesizedeffect of generalized appraisals (Bodenhausen, Schwarz, Bless, & Wanke, 1995).Hence, people of color tempered their ratings of the success of women of color in thejob market. This finding remains an interesting one, and it should be explored in futureresearch. We make further suggestions on potential future studies below.

Limitations, Future Directions, and Conclusion

While this study allowed us to investigate some interesting trends in the repre-sentation of women of color, we also need to study the characteristics of these por-trayals and the emphasis placed on particular women. A follow-up qualitative studycould contribute valuable insight to this research. A drawback of the experiment isthat due to the size of the sample of readers, we were unable to analyze differentreactions between Black and Latina readers. Another study could focus on recruit-ing Black and Latina participants. In addition, a qualitative study, involving inter-views or focus groups, would provide additional understanding of how readers ofcolor react psychologically and emotionally to seeing greater representation of theirgroup (signaling acceptance) in mainstream women’s magazines.

Short-term versus long-term effects. In addition, given the current positive trendstoward increasing representation of women of color in mainstream women’s magazines,one should investigate the effects of long-term exposure to such positive content.Clearly, our experiment demonstrates that a positive short-term effect exists for White





readers and that exposure to counterstereotypical exemplars may have increased theaccessibility of or primed counterstereotypical cognitive linkages (Power et al., 1996).However, the observed effects may only be short term. For instance, Oliver and col-leagues suggest that stereotype-congruent memory errors over time are rooted in expo-sure to repeated stereotypical media portrayals that lead to chronic activation ofstereotypes (Dixon, 2006; Oliver, 1999; Oliver & Fonash, 2002). In order to overcomeviewers’ almost automatic reliance on stereotypes, significantly more counterstereotyp-ical images must become prominent in the mass media. Our study begs the question,Can reading mainstream women’s magazines featuring women of color contribute topositive views of people of color and a reduction of prejudice in the long term? The pop-ularity of women’s magazines—with many women reading them on a regular (ormonthly) basis and many women reading multiple magazine titles—necessitates longi-tudinal studies and survey work to be undertaken in order to answer this question.

Conclusion. In conclusion, the current study remains novel in that it is one of onlya handful of studies that attempts to understand whether mass media might discour-age adults from using racial stereotypes. In addition, the study offers hope in that itdemonstrates that counterstereotypical exemplars are becoming more rather than lessfrequent in mainstream magazines. Furthermore, the study draws upon and extendsthe social psychological perspective of subgrouping theory. The study provides someevidence that, at least among Whites, counterstereotypical imagery presented in a cer-tain format can inhibit the use of racial stereotypes. However, future work needs to(a) further tease out these effects, (b) examine the long-term impact of counterstereo-typical imagery, and (c) better understand why people of color appear to have a dif-ferent reaction to counterstereotypical imagery compared to Whites.

Notes

1. The University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign Institutional Review Board approved the proceduresused in this research. Versions of this article were presented at the annual meetings of the Association forEducation in Journalism and Mass Communication in 2004 and in 2006. Correspondence concerning thisarticle should be addressed to Travis L. Dixon, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, Department ofSpeech Communication, 702 S. Wright Street, #244 Lincoln, Urbana, IL 61801; phone: 217-244-0104;e-mail: [email protected].

2. In the present studies, Black means non-Latino Black, and White means non-Latino White. Theseterms were used for consistency with data available from the U.S. Census Bureau.

3. The 2004 sample drawn in order to study the trend between 1999 and 2004 included the nine sur-viving titles of the 10 most popular mainstream women’s magazines in 1999. McCall’s ceased publica-tion between 1999 and 2004. Vogue and Martha Stewart Living dropped from the top 10 between 1999and 2004. Southern Living, Redbook, and O (Oprah) Magazine were on the top 10 list in 2004, instead ofMcCall’s, Vogue, and Martha Stewart Living. O Magazine was first published in 2000.

4. In 1999, about 19% of women in the articles were coded as having “undetermined” ethnicity/race.In 2004, about 33% of women in the articles were coded this way. Many of these women were named inarticles, but they were not described or shown in such a way that would contribute to a reliable judgmentof race or ethnicity.




5. A subsequent analysis found that O Magazine had little effect on the overall representation of Blackwomen (8% with and 8% without O Magazine included) and Latina women (5% with and 5% without OMagazine included) in 2004. However, O Magazine did directly lead to an increase in the portrayal of pro-fessional Black women (11% without but 17% with O Magazine included) yet no real difference in theportrayal of Latina women professionals (5% without and 5% with O Magazine).

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Juanita J. Covert was a Roy H. Park MA Fellow at the School of Journalism and Mass Communicationat the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She graduated in May 2004.

Travis L. Dixon is an assistant professor of speech communication at the University of Illinois atUrbana–Champaign.



porttrayal of women of color in mainstream women's magazines

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