As well as this quantitative method a qualitative content analyses was carried out on 25% of the sample. The reason for the reduction in sample size for this area of the project is qualitative methods are very time consuming are not appropriate for vast amounts of data. However I believe a qualitative approach will add validity and rigour to the findings. A qualitative method is from the constructionist school of thought, it focuses on meanings and associations interpreted from the sample. The research will be kept transparent so the findings will be explicit for the reader to see and evaluate themselves.
With previous research as a reference this project will examine modern representations of gender. These representations will be found in a men’s magazine and will be selected randomly. With this sample questions such as how are females represented to a male audience? What pictures of males are included and why? Which gender representations dominant this audience and why? Will be answered and analysed to produce findings which ultimately will provide information to investigate the different representations of the genders in GQ magazine. The project will be based around photos, sketches or pictures that represent either men or women each one making up a single unit of analyses. In these images men and women will be objectified visually and for the purpose of this project these are the only representations that will be of interest.
Method
Before the main study some pilot work was conducted. This involved a sample of several magazines all aimed at a young audience but not all aimed at the same gender being viewed and considered. Once a variety of options had been considered it became apparent that a women’s magazine really didn’t contain substantial amounts of male images to conduct a valid study from. Although men were included often they were there in a background role, to the main feature of a female dominated article a sample made entirely of such images would not provide a useful sample, it would simple point to just one outcome.
GQ magazine was selected for the main study, between ten and fifteen examples of male and female representations were required for the sample. To achieve this I felt it would be necessary to use at least three issues so April, May and June’s issues were used. Sifting through the magazine and removing any article that featured an image of either a man or women was removed. This resulted in a wealth of information over fifty images for each gender. To narrow this down to something manageable every fourth image was selected, resulting in twelve images for each gender a sample of twenty four in total.
Once a sample had been obtained a coding frame was required so an analysis could begin. Using four images from each sample to create a frame I removed every third article. At this stage of the analysis it is easy to introduce experimenter bias, I could have chosen the articles that would have allowed me to create the frame I wanted and so the overall results that I wanted. However such behaviours would not create a valid and worth while study, so measures were implemented to remove this potential bias. Every image in the sample was placed in a sealed non transparent envelope and placed in a pile, then every third article was removed from the sample, once four male and four female images had been taken out they were removed from the envelopes and the construction of a coding frame began.
The coding frame required would need to allow units of visual images to be allocated to a category which then allows for the frequency to be counted and its importance recognised by the number of times it appears. As this project is looking at the representations of genders in contemporary media the categories were designed to allocate material in such a way that its representation is apparent. For example one category was images of people represented as heroic, risk takers and athletic any image fitting in to this will be giving representations of people undertaking activities that produce these connotations, an example could be somebody rock climbing. A full list of the categories and there meanings is in appendix 1A.
With the coding frame in place the twenty four images were categorised, into the seven categories that had been developed. The number of entries into each is listed in appendix 1B. With this part of the analysis complete a qualitative technique could begin, this involved counting the number of times an image occurred and representing it visually in this case a pie chart. (Appendix 1Bi). With this complete detection of patterns of data is apparent as the pie chart clearly indicates.
As well as this method some qualitative analysis has been included. The sample was greatly reduced down to 25% of the original sample, this was done by removing every third article from the male sample and the same from the female resulting in four female and four male images a total of eight. For this section of analysis I am interested mainly in the interpretation that is derived from the data. The research aim in this area is to look for associations, meanings, and themes conveyed in the sample. Where as with quantitative data a clear concise methodology can be given the qualitative research doesn’t lend itself to such straight forward descriptions of methodological content.
To get the information provided into a logical system I viewed the sample and made notes of the meanings I saw in the images, as well as recurring themes. This form of analysis is extremely time consuming, and so calls for a small sample however once the themes have been extracted and meanings derived from this it gives a greater depth of analysis than a qualitative study could do along, this being the reason for combing the two approaches.
All research for this project has been conducted solely by the experimenter, with no other research participants. The decision to conduct the research along meant that no other people could have been adversely affected and so ethical considerations were few. However ethically the choice of material used had to be made. It would not have been appropriate to have used material that featured vulnerable or young parties that perhaps didn’t consent to themselves being photographed, nor would magazines featuring pornographic images.
Findings and Analysis
The combination of qualitative and quantitative content analysis has revealed many representations within the data set. Two themes have been dominant throughout both styles of research those being firstly women have been represented in a sexual manner through out the sample, in fact 75% of the images featuring women were of a sexual nature whereas there were no male images in this category. The second dominant theme is that males have been represented in an athletic and heroic manner more times than they have been represented in any other way. (For a full break down of allocation of units refer to appendix 1B.)
The revelation women being represented as sexual and subservient is in direct opposition to the dominant representation of men. It is clear to see in appendix 3F an image showing a male racing driving taking part in a dangerous sport, and then celebrating his win, women have no athletic representation at all, they are in fact shown but in a small shot in the corner having no contact with the racing, it is an area they have no inclusion in and the article makes reference to the numbers of beautiful women and powerful men. Social constructionist theory would suggest that seeing this article hasn’t just formed this attitude. It suggests a particular belief or attitude is held and the social representation has been formed around the existing attitude and the data itself. So do the media really give us ideas and influences do we already hold this aspect and use this knowledge to put together a representation that allows us to communicate throughout a social group? (Moscovici 1984)
As has been mentioned above the dominant male representation is of men behaving in an athletic and heroic depiction. Apart from this the analysis has revealed that males fall into a much broader set of representations than do women. Across seven categories male images appeared in all but one. This discovery alone would suggest that the media, in particular GQ magazine sees men as having a more diverse purpose across society than do females. If these are widely shared representations then there could be an underlying representation across our western culture that puts men and women in opposition between one and other. The only category that males have not been placed in is in fact the category that the majority of female images fall into, refer to appendix 1 C and 1 D. Not one single male image was placed into the sexual imagery category while 9 female images were in this category. So has a subtle shared representation of the sexes caused an opposition between the sexes within the media, is it the case that we would never expect a male image to appear in this category and that it’s normal to see a female image placed here. (Herzlich 1973) Appendices 2 A - 2 E, 2 G- 2 H, 2 K – 2L for the female images in the sexual imagery category.
The powerful and responsible category contains 2 female images and 3 male images interestingly there is not a large gulf between the frequencies in this category as there is in the sexual imagery category. If theories suggested by Herzlichs are correct and that we have norms, we would expect different genders to be placed into certain categories what does it mean that perhaps the most respectable of the categories has men and women represented, especially as these images are taken from a male focused magazine. The two images of females depicted in a powerful position differ greatly, the first appendix 2 F shows a soldier, sportswomen, politician and model all with different careers and responsibilities and greater levels of power. These women are all shown in their professional capacities represented in their jobs. Not one of them is doing anything different from what they are known for and demonstrating the power they have. This image mirrors representations we hold about men in responsible jobs, a picture of a sports women celebrating her new world record and a politician in formal dress appearing stern, if men had achieved the same this is how they would be represented. This could explain the frequency of female images represented in such a way even to a male audience, by showing them as men are shown when they hold responsibility, it allows the reader to still use familiar representations to evaluate this new information without causing confusion.
The second image (appendix 2 J) shows a marked contrast with the image in appendix 2 F. It shows an actress take an intimidating pose asserting aggression and power with hands on hips and eyes into the camera. This image could quite easily have fallen into other categories, such as fashionable and stylish. However the power and self confidence that an eye to eye glare gives off has elevated her to this category. An audience although will not be looking to representations of powerful males to understand this representation but perhaps will have difficulty defining its place and will instead look to the meanings within the image to define it.
Only one other category has a combination of female and male entries that is fashion conscious and stylish. One may assume that more females would be in this category however from the sample 2 male and 1 female were allocated there. One appendix 3 C shows a football player outside of his normal position as sportsman but looking pensive with carefully selected clothing and perfect hair. This representation gives connotations of him as more intelligent than he is usually shown evident in his posture in the first page of the article. He is in a sitting position head bowed, looking thoughtful. This first image has been shot in black and white, this gives it more integrity, a lack of colour leaves you to see what is really present and not be distracted by colours this is likely why it was selected to be used first so the reader would have this impression of him from the start. Refer to appendix 4 B for further explorations and interpretations into the data.
Discussion
With all data and analysis in place (refer to appendices) the final results have been inline with the initial assumptions held before research began. It is logical to assume that any sexual images featured in a magazine aimed at a heterosexual male audience would be of females. Equally you could predict that sexual images of males would be absent. Also unsurprising is that the findings have demonstrated that men’s magazines feature high volumes of representations of males conducting excitement and sporting exploits. Indeed these findings are in line with established psychologist such as Moscovici who stated that the images will not create are representations merely play on the opinions we already have, so of course anything in the data will have been viewed with familiar attitudes. While many of the male representations are not surprising one female one in particular was that is the proportion of females shown as powerful, responsible and in charge. Before viewing the articles preconceptions were that women wouldn’t be present in are large frequency and when they are it was likely to be in way that would be appealing to men in images with sexual connotations. However the data showed surprising results and positive images of women represented in powerful positions.
Previous research conducted by Herzlich based on French peoples perceptions of health and illness produced results that in part are concurrent with results found in this project. This study found that people’s perception of the countryside was one of health and vitality and advertisers took advantage of this by advertising their products with this backdrop. In the same way the magazine audience would have perceptions of the genders and how they should be seen before they have read it. In contrast to this research some of the findings contradict this research an example being how women in power have been presented in some incidents. A possible explanation for this discrepancy is the mass difference in the subject matter in one case representation of the countryside and on the other representations men and women. As well as this the Herzlich study has been conducted in France where as the data in this study has been viewed with British ideas and attitudes. Equally the data set used will have caused different results and a discrepancy with Herzlich work. The data in this project has used contemporary images, themes and source, a complete contrast with a French countryside and people’s perceptions of their health.
A combination of qualitative and quantitative analysis has produced concurrent themes however more in depth themes and representations are able to be formed with a qualitative analysis. (Refer to appendix 4 A for details of data used under qualitative analysis) Quantitative results are useful to see trends and percentages of data within each category, it also allows data to be put into a visual form (appendix 1 C-D) allowing quick reference to be made and quickly identify what is and isn’t present. The quanlitativ4e analysis gives further description of the trend already identified, however often on a reduced sample to prevent masses of information being produced. When both sets of information are combined and presented as holistic findings it gives the research greater weight and provides an instance explanation for trends that have been identified. Each prospective has its positive and negative components, quantitative data if used alone will give summarised details of ratios, trends and percentages without providing an explanation of what importance these trends have why these representation occur and specifics of what it is in the data that shows this is the case. However on a positive note this perspective allows for quick trends to be identified and some form of graphical support aid to be used. On the other hand quantitative findings provide essential written accounts to be produced and descriptions of what aspects of the data contribute to this and how these conclusions were reached. Negatively qualitative findings can be difficult to synthesise and very time consuming.
If I had the opportunity to replicate this study modification would be put in place. The validity of the findings could be increased if the sample was increased as it was twelve images of each sex were included a complete sample of twenty. This meant that once the coding frame had been created with seven essential categories it was inevitable that if more than two images from the same gender set fell into one category then they would be completely un-represented in another. This in fact happened in this study where females were only represented in three of the seven categories. I would hope that with an increase sample and increased time both genders could have at least minimal representation throughout the study. Validity could be increased further if a more rigorous coding frame could be constructed to bring out deeply underlying and hidden representations, between ten and twelve categories with a sample of fifty would allow for greater reliability and transparency.
The representations detected in this work are evident throughout society, for example women being pictured in a sexual way are used to sell everything from beer (2005 Fosters bill board campaign) to shampoo (2005 Herbal essences TV commercial). Men are quite often shown as the antithesis to this as being macho and dangerous, equally men are thought of in this way in every day life for example ‘women and children first’ something still in place for procedures during emergency exists. This behaviour gives the impression men can cope with a dangerous situation better and it’s easy with females out of the way. The trends identified in this work fit it in with social ideologies that are held within western culture. We expect little boys to be interested in ports and playing rough, perhaps why men are commonly represented in athletic ways. The findings show that men were represented in parts are wealthy and business like or intelligent. Not one female was represented in this way, this does not conflict with how we are structured as a culture, females are not often shown in the media and successful and wealthy, even in something as trivial as a TV soap how often are female characters shown in such a light. They are not as it would go against many cultural norms we already hold, it would appear unrealistic.
To conclude the findings have predominantly supported historical psychological findings, while refuting small aspects of research that which has gone against traditional ideas held about gender and its representations. The findings do follow western ideologies and support literature by Herzlich and Moscovici.
