LOCAL POPULAR WOMEN'S MAGAZINES IN ENGLISH, 1960 TO THE PRESENT : A PORTRAYAL OF SINGAPORE WOMEN

Abstract

A woman cannot be herself in contemporary society; it is an exclusively male society with laws drafted by men, and with counsel and judges who judge feminine conduct from the male point of view. Henrik Ibsen The role and status of Singapore women have progressed substantially since the nineteenth century. Traditionally, women enjoyed very little rights, lacked formal education and were confined mainly within the home. Today, with increased educational opportunities and changed social attitudes towards working women, Singapore women have become an essential part of the labour force. They also have equal access to educational properties and are able to hold and trade property. However, even with these strides forward, women have yet to attain parity with men. Singapore's society remains a patriarchy whereby men have control of the political and economic institutions. Discrimination against women persists in areas such as remuneration and education. Although much has been written on the changing status of Singapore women, there has been a dearth of literature on the media's portrayal of women, in particular, that of local popular women's magazines. While popular women's magazines are generally regarded as an unconventional source for historical writing, their portrayal of women is nonetheless important. It reflects and reinforces women's perceptions of their role in society. Working within the constraints of time and space, this Academic Exercise will attempt to discuss and analyse the evolving status and roles of women through the magazines projection of certain stereotyped images of women. It also seeks to discover the extent to which the image portrayed reinforces the patriarchal nature of Singapore society. The magazine chosen for this study are the Malayan Monthly, Her World and Female, as these are the earliest local popular magazines. Her World and Female have been in existence since the 1960s and early 1970s, and therefore provide a useful insight into Singapore's social history. Chapter one looks into the definition of a popular magazine and discusses the roots for Singapore's patriarchal society. It focuses on how local popular magazines reflect and reinforce the patriarchal nature of Singapore society. Chapter two discusses the portrayal of women between 1960-1973 by Her World and Female in the 1970s up to the present. It analyses this portrayal within the context of gender-biased government policies. These are policies which favour males rather than females. Chapter four is a brief appraisal of how the political and socio-economic changes undergone by Singapore's society are reflected in the mushrooming of popular local women's magazines. It then evaluates the portrayal of women by the periodicals.