home fitness equipment that were displayed in Muscle & Fitness Hers (Oct 2004), Fit (Nov 2004), and Women's Health and Fitness (Oct 2004). I will also share from my personal experience with fitness and how it correlates with the semiotic analysis of the printed advertisements. Last, I would like to examine how the advertising directed toward women has created a highly complicated image of what a woman "should be" in the context of our culture.
             I selected four examples from Muscle & Fitness Hers (Oct 2004), Fit (Nov 2004), and Women's Health and Fitness (Oct 2004) for my semiotic analysis. These advertisements were selected because they were advertising home fitness equipment in a magazine directed toward women and also because they fairly represented the majority of the home fitness equipment print advertising. I will go over each advertisement individually, but first I would like to discuss common themes found in all four.
             Almost all the advertisements I looked at, including the four I am focusing on, were in personalized ad format. According to notes taken during class, in the personalized ad format, the meaning is defined by the relationship between a product and the personality of a person. Each of the advertisements had a woman athlete (the personality) that was identified with a piece of home fitness equipment. In order to effectively evaluate the advertisements, the personality used (the female athlete) to promote the product must be examined.
             So how did the advertisements represent the female athlete? Each had the woman model in a sports bra and lycra shorts. The models usually had long hair up in a pony tail, large full lips, perfect skin, flat stomachs, and they were carefully shaved and glistening. Models were placed in positions that emphasized the bust, hip
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