| Description |
Even though there are many studies on domestic advice experts, the total coordination of lifestyle, and the images of women promoted through commercialized domesticity, there has been comparatively little research into the relationship between domesticity and women's images in different cultures, particularly through cooking magazines. In this thesis, I will compare two periodicals, Martha Stewart's Martha Stewart Living (MSL) and Harumi Kurihara's haru_mi in order to examine how Stewart and Kurihara convey their images of homemaker through their magazines, how and why they are different (such as cultural, linguistic, social, and economic factors) and the kinds of messages they send to their readers. In order to answer these questions, the following issues will be discussed: 1) the historical background of women in society in both the U.S. and Japan, with a focus on changes in the roles of women in society during 1960s to 1990s, 2) how Stewart and Kurihara manipulate their images as homemakers in their magazines in order to promote not only the lifestyles they suggest but more so for their products, and 3) the kinds of influences Stewart and Kurihara have had on their readers through magazines and their products. |
