REPRODUCTION OF THE SOCIAL-STATUS SYSTEM OF RUSSIAN SOCIETY IN THE DISCOURSE OF GLOSSY MAGAZINES: A SOCIOLOGICAL ANALYSIS

The research aims to study the mechanism of gender differentiation in glossy magazines, which determines the motivational and value aspects of the life of men and women. It claims that glossy magazines are actively involved in the formation of gender stereotypes that correspond to the established gender system of society. Gender-oriented glossy magazines reproducing patterns of femininity and masculinity establish a gender regime, which guarantees the preservation of social order on the one hand and determines gender stratification on the other. The author focuses on the role of visual and verbal components of communication, which by means of the designation of statuses, roles and values of masculine and feminine behavior create gender inequality at the individual and institutional levels. As the sociological analysis showed, the representation of gender in women's magazines indicates the complication of gender identification, the emergence of new property and features of modern femininity, which reflects the dynamic nature of society. But the shift of emphasis towards fashion and beauty, the popularization of lifestyle in the context of recreational activities with a predominance of hedonistic forms significantly limit the range of social female roles in Russian society. In men's magazines, gender specificity is concentrated in the field of professional activity, which is responsible for the self-realization of a man that ideologically legitimizes masculine dominance. It can be argued that glossy magazines symbolically fix the gender display, focusing men and women on different life strategies, as well as ways to implement them. The gender asymmetry of modern Russian society is reproduced by using the mechanisms of social inequality (distancing, exclusion, hierarchy and exploitation) in the symbolic interpretation of femininity and masculinity. As a result, there is a differentiation of social positions of gender in various spheres of public and private life.