ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the construction of femininity through language on how language helps construct women as 'feminine'. In the case of advertising-related texts, the kinds of gendered identity constructed for us centre on patterns of consumption. The purpose of examining the population of a mass media text is to see who the audience is 'associating with' in reading it. The testimonials section provides the most explicit cues to characters in the beauty feature; namely, four snapshots captioned with names and ages and four texts marked off with speech marks. The editorial speaks in different voices, however; she is not the same persona throughout the two pages but has multiple identities. The writer guides the reader's attitudes towards texts, postulating the reader's sympathies towards the various characters who are supposed to have produced them. Consumer features which are based entirely around testimonials are frequent in Jackie, and lipstick is a common topic.
