This linguistic analysis of women's magazines begins with an introduction to sociolinguists' research on identity formation. Following the introduction is a basic study of two women's magazines, SELF and Cosmopolitan, examining how the magazines' linguistic features shape and identify the female reader. Covered next are the methods and results of sociolinguists' studies of magazine language. The methods used in these sociolinguists' research are then applied to the analysis of four women's magazines, Elle, Glamour, Ms., and The Oprah Magazine. The remainder of the analysis examines the linguistic features of the magazines' covers and article text. Following a detailed analysis of these components, conclusions are drawn about how each magazine defines the female reader, noting similarities and differences among the four.