So you have reached the Final Round and the diamond ring, which has been mentioned throughout
this analysis, is finally coming to life. The beautifully set sparkling stones "define and
describe a period of heterosexual courtship known as the engagement" (Farrell 36).
These symbolic rings are not only represented in the advertisements I have previously discussed,
but additionally fill the pages of Cosmopolitan as a whole. Within the six magazines I
analyzed for research, an average of six diamond ring advertisements and/or blatant representations
of the diamond ring occur within EACH magazine. This does not take into account the articles that
include diamond rings, but of course I have already discussed the intertexual connections that are
made through these types of visuals and texts. Specifically looking at a Tacori jewelry
advertisement (March 97), we see the 'man-hooking' game in its final round. The Tacori advertisement shows
two chess pieces, that of a Queen and a King. There would be no reason to think that these objects
would serve as anything other than what they are made for - playing pieces, but with the addition
of diamond rings, they become so much more. The diamond rings carry a discourse of their own which
allow the absence of words or other visuals to explain their meaning; a diamond ring automatically
speaks of what it is and what it knows.
 
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Going back to Cosmopolitan's Table of Contents, with listed tips and strategies for 'hooking a guy',
a gender-specific correlation can be made that the chess Queen and King are the ones within the
committed relationship - besides the given fact that one may automatically assume such a relation
in America's heteronormative society. Tacori's discourse focuses on the final achievement of
commitment - commitment to playing the game. With the ad's salience of the Queen and King's
physical positions, the Queen standing tall and the King at her base on his side, it is referenced
that the Queen defeated the King in order to obtain her prize of the diamond rings.
The Tacori ad is not about the common marriage associations of monogamy, finding soul mates,
or growing old together, but it is primarily focused on the game of achieving the diamond ring.
If one wishes to win the diamond ring, one must play the game! To reinforce the diamond ring's
presence, there are several jewelry company advertisements (Oct 58), just depicting a diamond ring.
These advertisements are very simple and to the point, yet serve as tools to show the guy in a woman's
life what he can buy, because of course the rings are not advertised to women as their product to
purchase.
Cosmopolitan is a widely distributed magazine that infiltrates the minds and lives of people all over the world. Whether the magazine is seen while waiting in the supermarket line, or purchased and perused, the discourse that takes place within Cosmopolitan plays an even larger role when it comes to perpetuating heteronormative ideas of sex, dating, and the mythology of a 'perfect ending'. |