What is discourse?

When we say discourse, we mean language plus the practices, behaviours and systems around it: not just what’s said, but how people act, and what routines they follow.

It’s not only the words on a page, but also:

who is speaking (brand, influencer, editor),
where it appears (runway notes, IG caption, ad, review),
what it quietly suggests about bodies, money, time and taste.

A foundation shade name, a show title, a tagline like 'effortless beauty' or 'no‑makeup makeup' are all tiny pieces of discourse. Put together, they build a picture of what normal or ideal should look like.

What is Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA)?

Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) is a way of reading language that asks:

What is this text (both verbal and visual) doing?
Whose side is it on?
What kind of world does it make feel natural or inevitable?

In academic terms, CDA developed by Norman Fairclough looks at how language and images help to maintain or challenge power and social norms.

In Discourse Of terms, CDA becomes:

Collect the exact words and images (adjectives, numbers, shade names).
Spot the ideal (what kind of life/body is being presented as 'right').
Notice who’s missing.
Ask how that might affect how we feel, spend, and see ourselves.

It’s the same toolkit—just shrunk down to something you can use while scrolling or shopping.

What are power relations? (Foucault in soft focus)

For Michel Foucault, power is not only about a boss shouting at a worker or a government making a law. Power is everywhere there are relationships, and it works mostly through soft nudges, norms and expectations.

A few key ideas, in plain language:

Power is relational
Power doesn’t sit in one person; it lives in the way people and institutions relate to each other—brands, platforms, clinics, magazines, followers.
Power shapes what feels 'normal'
Instead of forcing us, power often works by making some choices feel natural and others weird: e.g. hairless vs hairy, 'office‑appropriate' vs 'too much,' 'good skin' vs 'problem skin.'
Where there is power, there is resistance
Foucault says power always meets pockets of resistance. In beauty terms, that might be: skipping a trend, remixing it, or naming why an ad feels off. Reading closely is already a small form of resistance.

When we analyse beauty or style talk, we’re looking at how these power relations show up in gentle ways: ads, 'before/after' photos, filters, campaign taglines.

What is media power? (Bourdieu and symbolic power)

For Pierre Bourdieu, media don’t just report reality—they help build it.

He talks about symbolic power: the power to shape what counts as valuable, respectable, aspirational. In modern life, media (including fashion and beauty media) hold a kind of meta‑power because their images and stories travel into almost every field—politics, work, school, dating, home.

Some key ideas for this magazine:

Fields and taste
Different worlds (fashion, art, finance, medicine, influencers) are 'fields' with their own rules and status markers. Beauty media translate those rules into looks: the 'editor girl,' the 'clean girl,' the 'old money' face, the 'wellness' dresser.
Symbolic power
When a big brand or glossy magazine repeats a look or phrase enough times, it starts to feel like the way to be stylish, successful or attractive. That’s symbolic power at work.
Media as meta‑power
Because media touch every field, they can quietly tilt what seems normal everywhere—from what’s OK in the office to what’s desirable on dating apps.

Discourse Of is interested in this kind of power: not in order to shame anyone for liking trends, but to show how strong the current is—and how you might swim a little more on purpose.

Why put this in a beauty/fashion magazine?

Beauty and fashion images are some of the most powerful media most of us see daily; they can affect body image, self‑esteem and spending without us noticing.
CDA, Foucault and Bourdieu give us language to notice what’s happening—but usually live in dense books and ads.

This page is our shortcut: a light translation of big ideas into something you can actually use on a lipstick launch, a runway review or a 'glow routine' reel.