Media representation of gender

Labels:

Men:

• independent
• aggressive
• ruthless
• professional
• competitive
• rational
• strong
• tough

Women:

• emotional
• weak
• sensitive
• domesticated
• passive
• supportive
• independent

The key concepts:

• Representation - making meaning - visual codes
• Audience - readers - passive/active
• Ideologies - ideas - dominant/negotiated (values society)
• Language and Form - verbal codes/layout
• Institution - owners publishers/compete
• Narrative - story/pictures
• Genre
• Semiotics and Signs

Ideologies:

What are the main ideas behind these magazines?

- aspire to career 'skilled'/ non-labour

- 'lads' magazines - attractive to women - heterosexual

Are they reflective of the time (historical and social background)

- Feminine Mystique - Beauty Myth

- skinny is good/fat is bad

- encourage relationships/comfort the single

Do they play on insecurities reflective of the time? 

- heterosexual male - male pinups

- post war

- pre-war

- size zero

- skin creams

- laddish

- feminism

Language and Form:

What is the style of these magazines?

Using personal pronoun/friendly tone/feminine colours/the male gaze/assumptions/ shared experience to try and reel in the reader.

Institution:

Who owns these magazines?
- Emap
- Conde Nast
- IPC Media
But is the face of the editor much more important?

Narrative:

If these magazines do tell stories then what tales do they tell?
Is it real life the reader wants or is it an illusion of an aspirational life sold to hook the reader?

Genre:

Does this genre have a future?
What about the threats of NMT such as the internet and mobile phones delivering a much more interactive experience?
What does your research into reader figures show?