C1 Magazines

What is representation?

LO: To explore the concepts of representation and stereotypes.

The media offers the audience an interpretation of the world.

Representation is the way that the media portrays a subject, usually fitting to their beliefs, wants and general opinions.

Positive and Negative

The first thing we can consider about representations is if they are positive or negative

This is a positive representation, because it presents a teenager (Lamine Yamal, 16/17) as a new uprising star in football. It does this by explicitly stating "Wonder Boy", which emphasises his skill compared to his age. They do this because of his excellent performance in his debut at the Euros, and how young players such as him, have potential to be mature and talented. 

Stereotype: A generalised representation of a person, place or thing. They are limited and often offensive or used for comedy.

Do Now                                                                                                                    Friday 20th September

1. The way something is shown in order to create a specific impression

2. If it is positive or negative.

3. An idea of a specific type of person, without actual evidence that every person meets the criteria. A generalised representation of a person, place or thing.

4. 2

5.  Audiences

Stereotypes

Grandmother: White hair, glasses, knitting, old, floral clothes, moves slowly

Tattoo Lover: Biker, violent, mohawk, angry, sunglasses, dangerous

Private School Boy: Posh, talks very Queen-like, rich, smart, trust fund

The stereotypes are reinforced. The students act rambunctious, and misbehave regularly and the teachers are well-mannered and all want the best in life for their students. The students occasionally backchat to the teachers and the teachers are stern with their warnings and sanctions. The surprising part is that there is some segments that challenge stereotypes, where the students are having mature conversations with the teachers, and in some cases, thanking them.

Representations in Magazines

Lo: To explore the representations found in magazines.

Masthead: The magazine title

Cover lines: The different stories within the magazine.

Main image: The main image

Main cover line: The main story within the magazine

Puff: An eye catching graphic or text to draw attention, anywhere on the cover

Colour palette: The main colours used in the magazine cover

Direct address: When the magazine mentions the reader or when the model looks at you

Star vehicle: A famous person on the cover

Do Now                                                                                                                  Friday 27th September

1. The title of the magazine

2. Cover lines

3. A sticker-like graphic with to reel someone in on a magazine.

4. Positive or negative

5. Stereotypes

1. Normal, Chilled, Cheerful

2. Powerful, Confident, Celebrity-like

3. Stylish, Fancy, Cheerful

Relaxed, Normal, Kind

GQ's aimed towards men, Cosmopolitan is aimed towards women. Cosmopolitan has a puff, GQ does not. Cosmopolitan has a banner, GQ does not. They have different colour palettes, stereotypical to each gender. The genre of magazine is different. The gender of the cover stars are different.

Men are represented as strong in the GQ cover. We can see this because of the emphasis on his hands by the lighting, it shows his tattoos, and his hands are in a fist-like gesture. Using stereotypes, tattoos and fists are usually things associated with strength and power.

Women are represented as people who want to look a certain way. It seems this way because of the cover lines used, "Snack so hard and still drop pounds." and "Flatter Abs, 9 minutes flat." This can also be proved through the use of the star vehicle, who is a slim, young woman who follows beauty standards. The use of these methods all work together to create this impression, by directly linking them together, "Carrie Underwood, all her confidence secrets revealed." This, along with the women target audience, make it seem like woman are people who constantly want to lose weight. 

Friday 4th October

Do Now 

1. Bold, bigger than the other cover lines, and focussed on the main story.

2. When the model looks straight into the camera

3. Puff

4. Blue

5. Referring to a living thing, as if it were an object. 

Do Now               How do you compare representations?             Friday 11th October

1. If it is positive or negative, and what audience it is addressed to

2. When you refer to a person as a  sex object to sexualise them

3. Inside GAME of THRONES

4. Pink

5. Laziness

Lo: To write and structure an effective exam style answer

• List similarities and differences
• Use list to make my judgement
• Use structure to write my essay, make sure I include my judgement

In the GQ cover, men are represented as older and sophisticated. The tuxedo has connotations of wealth and elegance and the use of DB as a star vehicle suggests an older audience. This is different to the Cosmo cover...

Similarities:

• Both overly sexual
• Both have cover lines that challenge stereotypes
• Both have the opposite gender cover star to the target audience
• Both have some stereotypical cover lines

Differences:

• One has very stereotypical colours, cosmo vibrant, GQ monotone
• One represented as more chilled, the other powerful and fearless

Both covers are overly sexual. In the GQ cover, the star vehicle is naked, without any explicit reason for being so. This is a case of sexual objectification, which is not stereotypical for a magazine who's audience is sophisticated, older men. Whereas in the Cosmopolitan cover, this sexualisation of the media is through the cover lines such as, "Inside the deepfake porn matrix" and "The winners of our first ever sex toy awards." Sexual cover lines are common in young woman aimed magazines; however this one has anti-stereotypical topics (e.g. porn). These are closely linked to each other, because they focus on the sexual aspects of the covers. In the GQ cover, there is emphasis on Rihanna's body through the use of lighting; and also through her hand gesture and facial expression. In the Cosmopolitan cover, "Inside the deepfake porn matrix" is one of the main cover lines, as shown by the size, colour and font of the text. 

Friday 8th November

Industry Research

L/O: To research companies linked to set products

Circulation: The number of copies it usually distributes for each issue

Advertising revenue: Income you earn specifically from placing advertisements for products or services on behalf of others

Cover price: The published cover price at which a single copy of the publication may be purchased without limitation and for an ongoing duration

Subscription model: One in which customers are charged a recurring fee for access to a product instead of a one-time expense

Multi-platform: Publish your content into different mediums, massively maximising your reach

Readership: An estimation of how many readers a publication has

Ideology: A set of beliefs or values shared by a group of people

Brand identity: The recognisable brand attributes that make you distinguishable from competitors

Target audience: Center around a specific group of people

GQ was launched in 1931

GQ's genres are: politics, travel, entertainment, sports, technology, food and wine, fitness, health and relationships. It targets men from 20-44 years old. It was original published for fashion industry insiders. ABC1, 

Gentlemen's Quarterly was rebranded to GQ in 1967, and the rate of publication was increased from quarterly to monthly in 1970.

GQ is published by Condé Nast and Advance Publications

Each issue is published in print and digitally: with its own acclaimed websites and apps.

GQ has an average circulation of 85080

GQ had a monthly readership of approximately 213000 print readers.

GQ's slogan is "Look sharp, live smart." GQ tends to teach men on latest trends, and different ways to live their lives. They tend to focus on topics relevant to adult men, and have a sophisticated and usually serious style. Forward thinking, progressive, cutting edge. 

Vogue was launched in 1892

The original genre/target audience was for the New York upper class

Vogue's target audience has changed to female beauty enthusiasts, 30-45, sophisticated, wealthy 

Condé Nast publishes Vogue

Vogue cross-promotes its content through print and digital platforms

Vogues average circulation is 190249

Vogue's average readership is 796000 million

Vogue means fashion in french and offers luxury pieces of clothing for everyday life

Vogue's slogan is 'Before it's in fashion, it's in Vogue."

Friday 15th November

Raheem Sterling GQ

Do Now

1. Conde Nast

2. ABC1

3. 20-44

4. Masthead

5. The main two or three colours used on a cover

LO: explore the context and layout design for GQ magazine

Magazine for men with an IQ - GQ

GQ according to lots of people has a history of objectifying women, promoting a chauvinist attitude towards women.

In the 1990s, the covers went from men-only covers to female too.

Men often were remained clothes, whereas women were shot mostly not fully clothed.

Present day GQ magazines still do this, and have women presented very differently from men. 

Some women on the cover are nude, in the magazines and on the website

Magazine's website has an entire section dedicated to women, with lists of 'Sexiest Women', all four men of the year are fully clothed on their pictures. 

GQ targets it's audience through the sexual objectification of women, and present men and women drastically differently. They also target their audience through star vehicles and sophisticated fashion. 

Cover Analysis - Media Language

Typography - Font style, font size, colour, serif or sans serif, 

The colours of the text are mainly neutral (beige/white) which emphasises the colour of the sunglasses. It also suggests that the magazine is calm and peaceful. The use of sentence case and serif font also suggest that the target audience is educated, sophisticated, older men. however in the cover lines, sans serif is used, to suggest that despite the serious nature of the brand, they can bring a youthful and passionate side to the table; most probably to continue the relevance of their brand in the newer generations who are brought up without much focus on magazines when Internet is simpler/easier. The text is bolder on the titles, to bring attention to the topics. This cover uses a Z-Pattern design, so that the reader starts reading on the masthead, and ends on the website, to encourage readers to further engage with the content they provide. The use of the anchorage text, "Rock'n' Roll Star", relates to an Oasis song, which most likely means that Liam Gallagher (cover star) talks about his time in the band within the magazine. 

Friday 22nd November

Case Study: Raheem Sterling

Do Now

1. Anchorage is the words that accompany an image to give it a specific meaning

2. Colour, Size, Font, Serif or Sans Serif

3. Cover lines

4. Sans Serif

5. Mid Shot

Raheem Sterling was born in Jamaica

He moved to London when he was 5

He started his formal football education in the Queen's Park Rangers academy

At 15, he made his debut for the Liverpool senior team

He was a vital part of the England national team

Raheem Sterling was racially abused in 2018 in a match against Chelsea, this sparked his drive to fight against racism in football. He put out multiple statements about his experiences with racisms, and attempts to guide others to a more equal mindset

Masthead:

The masthead is a dark gold colour which links to his authority in the main image, and the connotations to heaven through 'Guardian Angel'. This has been included to emphasise Sterling's power in the fight for equality in football, and how influential of a figure he is

Cover lines: 

The cover line 'How Raheem Sterling saved football from itself' links to racism in football, and the struggles he has been through in personal experiences, but for helping others too. The other cover lines are conventional GQ cover lines, which shows that Raheem Sterling as a black individual, shouldn't have his race explicitly referenced to, to further expand the point of equality in not just football, but in life too. 'Guardian Angel' refers to how Raheem Sterling is protecting the next generation of young footballers from the racial abuse that was previously disregarded.

Anchorage text:

'Guardian Angel' refers to how Raheem Sterling is protecting the next generation of young footballers from the racial abuse that was previously disregarded. 'How Raheem Sterling saved football from itself' links to racism in football, and the struggles he has been through in personal experiences, but for helping others too.

Friday 29th November

Case Study: Raheem Sterling

Do Now

1. Play football and advocates against racism

2. Colour, size, serif or sans serif, font

3. Racism in football

4. Serif

5. Anchorage

Masthead - Sans serif font, Modern, Block Capitals, Masculine, Gold, Wealth, Wealthy target audience, Religion, Juxtaposes black used for wings, binary oppositions

Coverline - 'Why its finally ok to wear a beltbag', metrosexual, subverting stereotypes of bags only for women, now men can own and enjoy them too

Anchorage Text - Guardian Angel - A multitude of meanings:

Winger in football, playing on the sides or 'wings'

He protects other black players from further racial incidents through his campaigning

He was seen as an evil person, but in reality seems on the whole to be a good one

Layout Z Shape - Traces the route the human eye travels when they read, left to right, top to bottom. First people scan the top left from top right.

Coverlines - 

'Westminster has become a living nightmare, Andy Burnham's Manchester masterplan' - Politics, English, Intelligent, Middle Class, Gentlemen

'Picture exclusive! Gwendoline Christie, Ricky Gervais, Adwoa Aboah & Michael Wolff! All the sizzle from GQ Heroes' - Self promotion, Top tier luxury business and creative minds, leadership, changing industries, Political, Economic

'Speak no evil. Inside the most brutal dictatorship you've never heard of' - 

'74 minutes in the insane, wild, totally nuts life of Machine Gun Kelly'

Black wings and clothing, connoting darkness and evil

Light reflecting off his skin showing that his actual person is good

Tattoos, connoting toughness

The anchorage text ('Guardian Angel') gives the image a multitude of meanings. We can see this through the fact that angels have wings. This could be an analogy of his position in football (winger) where he plays on the sides or 'wings'. It is used to allow the target audience of GQ (older, middle class men) to have an idea of Raheem Sterling's place in the world of football and how he operates in the sport. We can see this through his background of being seen as evil, but in reality being good. The use of this juxtaposition, relates to how he 'protects' other black players from further racial incidents through his campaigning. In 2018, he had a match against Chelsea, where he faced a large amount of racial abuse. This sparked his passion for fighting against racism, and this magazine was published in August 2019, which was the apotheosis of his advocacy. GQ have done this highlight how Sterling's public image has changed. This variety of different interpretations of the anchorage text creates an overall multitude of meanings.

The image creates a dichotomy between good and evil. In the picture, he has black wings and clothing, utilising symbolism. This symbolises the darkness and evil that his profile was built up to be, prior to his awakening to the world of racism in football, and his fight against it. 

Friday 13th December

Assessment Improvement

Do Now

1. Tell you about the content in the magazine

2. To interest and appeal to a certain audience

3. Racism

4. Beneath the subject

5. Something you would expect to see in a certain genre

Mise-en-scene - Clothes, hair, makeup, setting, lighting, non verbal codes

Written code, anything written

Gesture codes, body language

Symbolic code - a colour that symbolises something else

Narrative, the story

Colour palette, colours used

The main image shows Sterling with confident gesture codes (e.g. serious face, wide stance) in a low angle shot, and the mise-en-scene is primarily black.

The main image shows Sterling with confident gesture codes (e.g. serious face, wide stance), which connotes authority. Another aspect that suggests this, is the use of a low angle shot, implying that he has 'power'. The use of the primarily black mise-en-scene, suggests darkness/evil. However, considering Raheem Sterling's place in the media, it may be used to juxtapose it with his good intentions.

GQ communicates the meaning of Raheem Sterling being a saviour through the use of the language. In the anchorage text, it states, “Guardian Angel”. Explicitly, it links to his wings, and how physically he is represented as an angel. However, the use of the adjective, “Guardian” , may suggest to how he has helped to fight against racism in football, and the media, in years building up to the magazine being published. This also links to the main cover line, “How Raheem Sterling saved football from itself”. This is a metaphor for how prior to his fight against racist behaviour, football’s community was corrupted by discrimination and prejudice. However, with him being a ‘Guardian Angel’, he acts a saviour for not just the sport, but the community too. Following racial abuse against him, he decided to rise up against the problem, and now helps others facing the same problems. GQ have presented him as a saviour, to not only link him to the religion, but also to emphasise the effort and journey he has put in and taken. For the GQ readership (middle aged, wealthy men), they are exposed to the deeds that Sterling has done, and learn about how he is a prominent advocate in the fight against racism in football. 

Friday 20th December

Raheem Sterling GQ

Do Now

1. Is a symbol for

2. Angelic, powerful, superhuman

3. Middle-aged sophisticated men

4. To appeal to an audience

5. Something you'd expect to see in a certain type of magazine

The cover gives the message that males all have a strong build and are mainly serious (due to his physique as a footballer and his stern-looking expression)

His stern expression, his muscles, the black clothing connoting power and his tattoos all show masculinity.

The cover lines focus on masculine topics such as politics and current affairs.

Him having tattoos and a gold chain on his neck are gender stereotypes

No stereotypes are being challenged

The cover gives the message that all black people have ill intentions (the connotations of black clothing and tattoos). However, the other features of the magazine negates this.

His black clothing, tattoos and stern expression all link to negativity, which are common when referring to black people (mainly in the past)

Represented like a role model

Unusual for GQ, opposes stereotypes

Friday 10th January

CASE STUDY 2: Malala Yousafzai VOGUE

Do Now

1. Fashion

2. Middle-Aged Sophisticated Women

3. Conde Nast

4. To grab the attention of a potential buyer

5. Slim body, perfect teeth, luscious hair, pretty, woman

Lo: To explore the context & cover star for case study 2.

In the covers, they present a new approach towards diversity. In the past, Vogue rarely had male cover stars; or cover stars who were not white. Whereas these covers try to oppose this, by including a male (wearing a dress) and black cover star. This tells us that Vogue's more modern priorities are to focus on inclusivity and the genre.

Malala Yousafzai:

• She's an advocate for education and gender equality
• Her father made sure she had equal opportunities
• Malala became and activist through her anonymous blog
• Malala stopped being an anonymous, despite the dangers
• The Taliban tried to assassinate Malala in 2012
• Malala was the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize
• Malala continued her education in UK
• Malala has a day named after her
• Malala established an education fund with her father
• Malala is an author
• Malala is named after an Afghan poet and warrior
• Malala's Muslim faith is important to her
• Benazir Bhutto, Pakistan's first female prime minister inspired Malala
• Malala had a movie made about her

Malala Yousafzai is a female education activist of Pakistani origin. By 2012, Malala was speaking more openly about the right to education, making the Taliban consider her a threat to their power. This ended in two Taliban members shooting the 15 year old on her bus returning from school, in which she survived. Malala mainly fights for girl's education. In July 2021, British and American troops were planning to leave Afghanistan for good. This sparked Malala's concern about the physical safety of girls and women in Afghanistan and access to education and freedom to work. This caused her to express these feelings in a several interviews.

Friday 17th January

Malala Yousafzai Media Language Analysis

Do Now

1. Being an education activist and being shot

2. British and American troops were planning to leave Afghanistan

3. ABC1

4. No

5. No

Masthead

Vogue's masthead uses a serif font, which connotes sophistication and maturity. Vogue means the fashion or style of a particular time. The block capitals connote the importance of the 'well known' brand, and establishes it's authority among other magazines. 

Since the main image is a mid-shot of her, the focus is more on her face, therefore making the masthead cover more of her face, if it was under, it would be unrecognisable. The silver colour suggests sophistication once more, due to the links with silver jewellery, tupperware and overall glamour and 'showing off', which links back to VOGUE's focus on expensive fashion and lifestyle. The colour is also used in the cover lines to further establish this point. The silver connotations to 2nd place, may suggest that Malala is the main focus, or the 'winner'. Nobel Peace Prize???

Anchorage Text

The brightest text on the cover is "Malala", which relates to her pure intentions and hopes towards education and gender equality. 'Survivor, Activist, Legend', creates a hierarchy of her titles, and considering that "Survivor" is already a heavy title (and sitting and the bottom), it emphasises her achievements. The main cover line shows her importance, because it describes her life as 'extraordinary', and if VOGUE is stating this, along with the list of her titles given by others, her prior experiences must have built her up to a large importance and status.

Layout

The design follows typical magazine cover conventions. When we look at it, we are instantly drawn to her face (eyes) due to our human instinct of eye contact with someone when talking to them. The Z-shape helps this, as you cross over her faces when reading. 

Coverlines

The cover lines all follow a serif font, with the same colour and font type. It uses a serif font, in order to cement the idea of sophistication and maturity once more. However, with the cover lines, it helps to build on the more vague maturity aspect, by focussing on topics such as dating, boxing, fashion and beauty. The fashion, beauty and dating are linked to the majority of the audience being female. However, this is opposed by the topic of boxing coming into play. The coverlines use alliteration ('Love After Lockdown') and metaphor ('The Shape Of Now') in order to emphasise the topic it's presenting and to 'reel in' potential buyers. 

Image

A mid-close up shot has been used in order to place the emphasis on her face. This is done because she's such a famous and influential figure, and considering her goodness and pure intentions, she's a person you'd want to be prominent on your cover. The red colour can connote courage, and alongside 'Survivor, activist, legend', her experiences and 'courage' throughout her life is heavily focussed on. Considering the focus being on most models body in VOGUE covers, this one stands out, because her 'body' seems to blend into the background. This makes her come across as a modest person, who's focus isn't on herself, but what she stands for. 

Friday 24th January

Do Now

1. Z-shape

2. A boxer

3. Mid shot Medium close-up

4. Direct address

5. Courage, bravery, boldness

Analyse the cover for how media language has been used to create different meanings. You could mention: Main image, Anchorage, Cover lines and layout

Vogue uses the masthead in order to emphasise Malala Yousafzai's importance in society. Firstly, the masthead utilises a serif font and block capitals. Despite only being written codes, the overall atmosphere and connotations of these aspects also can have symbolic codes. The serif font tends to connote sophistication and authority, therefore having implications that Malala has these assets. However, the block capitals focus more on the Vogue brand, and is used to link to it's popularity and 'authority' among other fashion magazines. Another part of the masthead that connotes Malala's importance is the colour. The colour palette used in the cover (white/silver for text) suggests sophistication once more, with ties to jewellery, expensive tupperware and overall glamour. This sense of 'showing off' that is created, links back to Vogue's focus on expensive fashion and lifestyle. The silver colour is also used to connote second place, implying that in the cover, Vogue has less importance than Malala, the 'winner'.

Vogue uses the main image in order to place emphasis on Malala's past. Firstly, a medium close-up shot has been used to focus the importance of her face, explicitly placing her as the main subject. This has been done, due to her prior fame already. Considering that she is a famous and influential figure, with a history of acts motivated by her good and pure intentions, she creates a public image for herself that Vogue (which is already an extremely large brand) would want to have on their magazine cover. The red colour palette used on both her clothing and the background, connotes and links to her courage. This is further expanded upon by being place alongside 'Survivor, activist, legend', and my points of the emphasis on her history. However the colour may also have been used in both the clothes and the background to blend with each other, not placing the emphasis on her body, like many other Vogue models, but her character.

Vogue uses the anchorage text in order to highlight the importance of her mindset and beliefs. Firstly, the bold, white colour used on 'Malala', seems to be the brightest on the cover. This is done to relate to her pure intentions and her hopes and strives towards education and gender equality. Underneath this, it states 'Survivor, activist, legend' , which almost creates a hierarchy of her titles; and considering that surviving being shot in the head is at the bottom of this 'hierarchy', her achievements fuelled by her mindset and beliefs are emphasises. The main cover line also suggests this by describing her life as 'extraordinary'. Considering that Vogue has used these adjectives to describe her, 'Survivor, activist, legend', 'extraordinary', her prior experiences through advocation and 'courage', has built her up to a high enough level of status for her beliefs to be acknowledged and respected, even by Vogue.

Vogue uses the cover lines to highlight their audience's maturity. Firstly, all of the cover lines follow a serif font, with the same colour and font type. It uses a serif font to cement the idea of Vogue's atmosphere of sophistication and maturity. However with the lexus, the maturity aspect is further built on by focusing on topics such as 'fighting', 'love' and 'beauty'.

Friday 31st January

Malala Yousafzai Representation

Do Now

1. The way something is presented How the media chooses to re-present the world to us

2. Positive or negative

3. Muslim

4. No

5. Courage and bravery 

In the past, Muslims have been represented as terrorists, people lacking humour, not members of LGBTQ+ and without disabilities.

Diversity - the practice or quality of including or involving people from a range of different social and ethnic backgrounds and of different genders, sexual orientation, etc.

In terms of ethnicity, the Vogue cover shows diversity as it has a range of stars mentioned, of different ethnicities. For example, Anthony Joshua has some Nigerian background, opposing Vogue's previous negligence to diversity. 

Explain how both gender and ethnicity have been represented on this cover.

In the cover, gender and ethnicity have been represented as diverse. For example, gender, in the cover, is completely juxtaposed against it's stereotypes. Considering the use of red symbolising courage, it goes against the damsel in distress stereotypes that tend to be prominent in the media. The main cover star, Malala Yousafzai, also helps to build upon this, as her past in activism presents the power and influence that females can have. The cover lines also support this through mentions to 'Fighting' and 'Anthony Joshua', both interests that tend to be considering manly interests. Having Anthony Joshua mentioned in the content of the magazine, also may be an easing process into including more male cover stars into their magazine covers. However, Vogue's traditional values are followed through the use of a female cover star, and the majority of the cover lines explicitly targeted towards females (Love After Lockdown, The Shape of Now which is fashion and Vogue's guide to summer beauty). This shows that Vogue has strived to be more inclusive, but still have more efforts to go in order to maintain an equal, yet more female focused magazine. 

Ethnicity is also diverse in the cover. Relating back to Anthony Joshua, along with Malala Yousafzai and Jourdan Dunn, they all have unique backgrounds, which tends to not follow Vogue's traditional cover stars and focuses. These famous figures help to build upon the diversity that is needed for Vogue to appeal to a wider audience. This also helps in an overall progression from a prejudiced society to a fully equal one. 

Friday 7th February

Malala Yousafzai Comparing

Do Now

1. Diversity

2. Fighting Talk

3. Courageous

4. Influential

5. As terrorists

Similarities

• Uses red to connote courage and power
• Both use feminine gesture codes
• Have non-stereotypical cover lines
• Both women
• Both star vehicles not follow Vogue stereotypical ethnicity
• Both in modest clothing
• Both use direct address

Differences

• Different ethnicities
• Different focuses in the cover lines
• Different shot type used
• Different masthead colour
• Masthead over Malala, Masthead under Lizzo

The similar representation with the Malala cover and the 'My Choice' cover are similar in the non-stereotypical religious and ethnic models.

The different representation with the Sterling and the Logan Brown cover, is that Sterling is focused on stereotypical male aspects of life (football) and the other one focuses on stereotypically female aspects of life (pregnancy).

Friday 14th February

Malala Yousafzai 25 Mark Question

Do Now

1. Similarities and differences

2. Give your opinion

3. 4-5

4. A seen one Either the GQ or Vogue cover

5. Representation and something else Media language

Similarities: Female star vehicles, portrayed as powerful, both just use their first names, implications that we should know who they are, both have cover lines mentioning clothing, 

Difference: Religion, bodies portrayed differently, different focuses, different priorities, representation, camera shot, stereotypical cover lines in one, not in the other, colour palette, model stereotypes, masthead priority, more cover lines in Kim cover, less focus on her.

More differences.

The representations of gender in these covers, overall show more differences than similarities. 

In the Vogue magazine, Malala's religion is a large part of both her character and the priorities of the cover in general. Whereas in the Elle cover, there is no clear indication of Kim's religion, nor does religion relate to the aim of the magazine. In the main image of the Vogue magazine,  Malala has much less skin shown than the Elle cover, this may suggest and or link to the lack of religious values within the Elle cover; while also keeping the traditional audience of Elle engaged with the magazine's content. With the Vogue cover, the focus seems to be on Malala as a person, and her achievements, which can be seen through 'Survivor, activist, legend' and the editor's note describing her importance in the cover. Whereas the Elle cover seems to focus on Kim's body, in a sexualised manner, in order to appeal to the conventions of the type of magazine. The amount of cover lines on the Elle cover, opposed to the Vogue cover, also suggests that the priority is not on the star vehicle. This shows a difference in the representation of gender on the cover, suggesting that Malala is focused on her values and Kim is focused on her appearance; which is a female-orientated stereotype.

In the Vogue magazine, confidence is presented in a different way to the Elle cover. In the Elle cover, a medium-long shot is used, whereas a mid-close up is used for the Vogue cover. The Elle cover uses this type of shot, in order to have as much of her body presented in the cover, without the image seeming too far away. On her legs, the majority of skin is exposed, proving the use of the shot. This suggests that she is confident, but not through her moral code or values, but through her body; which is also stereotypical for a slim, white woman to be on fashion magazine covers. Whereas in the Vogue cover, the mid-close up is used to put emphasis on both her face, and her hands. The gesture codes used on her hands, has connotations of serenity, but also confidence, as she has nothing to prove. Her facial expressions also suggests this. However, alongside the red colour palette suggesting courage, confidence about he beliefs is implied. This shows a difference on the representation of gender on the cover, suggesting that Kim's confidence comes from her 'ideal' body, whereas Malala's comes from her peace of mind.

In the Vogue magazine, some of the cover lines focus on opposing stereotypes. Whereas in Elle cover, feminine topics such as fashion and TV are focused on, which tends to follow not just women's fashion magazines, but women's magazines in general. (e.g. The Easy Leather Trouser, Elle meets Eddie Redmayne). The Vogue cover specifically does this through the cover line, 'Fighting Talk', which focuses on 'Anthony Joshua', which are both topics not usually linked towards women's fashion. However, this is balanced out by Jourdan Dunn's name being placed next to his; implying that women are still the focal point of the magazine. On the other hand, both covers do have an emphasis on fashion throughout the cover lines, which dampens the effect of opposing the stereotypes in the Vogue cover, but also is understandable, as Vogue and Elle are fashion magazines and need to stay true to their conventions in order to keep the genre cemented into their brand. This shows a difference in the representation of gender on the covers, suggesting that Vogue are rewriting their history by branching away from stereotypes, whereas Elle are not.

In both magazines, both star vehicles are female. This follows stereotypes and conventions of a women's fashion magazine. However, considering the previous points made, both covers create an aura of confidence and independence; this juxtaposes itself with the stereotypical cover stars. It does this through the cover lines, with the Elle cover simply stating, 'Confidence', whereas the Vogue cover does this more implicitly through 'extraordinary life' and 'legend'. Both covers also utilise the main image to suggest this, through the direct address from Malala, and the glow and hair from Kim. Both magazines show similarity on the representation of gender on specifically women's fashion magazines through female cover stars, but also creates a dichotomy with this through their stereotypically-opposed views of confident women.

The covers overall show a variety of differences, that changes the inferences that the audience get when viewing them. However, they both combat stereotypes to a level, by following feminist values (e.g. confidence, power and achievement).

25 MARK COMPARISON Q: 23/25
WWW: you’ve clearly identified differences and analysed them with examples to support. Be careful that you don’t go off track – keep to the question and focus on gender rep.
EBI: mention magazine CONVENTIONS to support your ideas
TARGET 2: Link to magazine conventions

DIRT: Refer to conventions in your comparison