This paper uses a grounded theory approach to examine the perceptions and depictions of American men in Cosmopolitan's Agony (Advice) Column. A theoretical typology of “Agony-Resolution Pathways” is developed from the data. This theoretical typology generates several insights regarding gender relations. Theoretically, this paper fills the gap in gender studies in that it explores cross-gender perceptions and promotes a new engagement between the genders. Politically, this paper explores ways in which men can be constituted as subjects of advisory discourse regarding gender and/or relationship problems so that both genders can jointly “make sense of each other.”
BartonA. H., & LazarsfeldP. F. (1955). Some functions of qualitative analysis in social research. Reprinted from Frankfurte, Beitrage Zur Soziologie, Band 1.
2.
BegganJ. K.GagnéP., & AllisonS. T. (in press). The advisor hypothesis: An analysis of stereotype refutation by an editorial voice. The Journal of Men's Studies.
3.
ChangJui-Shan. (1999a) Scripting extra-marital affairs: Marital mores, gender politics and infidelity in Taiwan. Modern China, Spring Issue.
4.
ChangJui-Shan. (1999b). Refashioning womanhood in 1990s Taiwan: An analysis of the Taiwanese edition of Cosmopolitan magazine. (Under Review: Modern China).
5.
ChangJui-Shan. (1999c) Familial values, gender politics and meanings of infidelity: A cross-cultural comparison of extra-marital affairs. In MillerR. & BrowningS. (Eds.), With this ring: Divorce, intimacy, and cohabitation from a multi-cultural perspective. JAI Press.
6.
FergusonM. (1983). Forever feminine: Women's magazines and the cult of femininity. Heinemann Educational Books, Ltd.
7.
FriedanB. (1983). Feminine mystique. New York: Dell.
8.
GlaserB., & StraussA. (1967). The discovery of grounded theory: Strategies for qualitative research. Chicago: Aldine.
9.
McRobbieA. (1997). More! New sexualities in girls' and women's magazines. In McRobbieA. (Ed.), Back to reality? Social experience and cultural studies. New York: Manchester University Press.
10.
McRobbieA. (1994). Postmodernism and popular culture. London: Routledge.
11.
McRobbieA. (1991). Feminism and youth culture: From Jackie to just seventeen. Basinstoke: Macmillan.
12.
SenecaT. (1996). The history of women's magazines: Magazines as virtual communities. Internet publishing.
13.
ShevelowK. (1989). Women and print culture. New York: Routledge.
14.
SheridanS. (1995). Reading the Women's Weekly: Feminism, femininity and popular culture. In CaineB. & PringleR. (Eds.) Transitions: New Australian feminisms. NSW: Allen & Unwin, Australia.
15.
SimondsW. (1994). Women and self-help culture: Reading between the lines. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.
16.
StraussA., and CorbinJ. (1990). Basics of qualitative research: Grounded theory procedures and techniques. London & New Delhi: Sage Publications.
17.
StuartA. (1990). Feminism: Dead or alive? In RutherfordJ. (Ed.), Identity: Community, culture, difference. London: Lawrence and Wishart.
18.
TurnerR. H. (1953). The quest for universals in sociological research. American Sociological Review18, 604–611.
19.
WinshipJ. (1987). Inside women's magazines. London and New York: Pandora.
