The image of the young girl is meant to identify with today’s typical young female, however being that she is a model she hasn’t a blemish on her skin and a figure society likes to think of as being perfect. However the way she is positioned and the pose which she has taken, leads us to think of her as a shy, innocent girl, but as she is baring some flesh that she also has a lot of sexual promiscuity surrounding her.
The ideology behind the concept of female identity is that we are assumed to all think the same and act in the same way, however this isn’t the case. What may work for one individual may not be the same for another. Magazines such as more use variations to embark on their audiences, as they know no two girls are the same.
This is what makes ‘More’ work as a winning formula for a young women’s magazine, as it doesn’t stereotype its audience and allows them to choose what feels right for them, as some readers may be oppositional.
From cover alone you get a rough idea to what the typical issues brought up in the magazine are like, for instance the sub-heading for one article, which is sure to attract readers is:
“Million Dollar Sex
Do it like the filthy rich”
No matter what gender you are sex always becomes a selling point for any market, as it has always been a subject which most people deem as dangerous ground but with pleasurable rewards.
The feature article for this sub-heading however is located near to the end of the magazine as an attempt to make the reading look through the whole magazine, before finally reaching their desired page. Going back to the idea that the magazine makes sexually references, the idea of waiting till the end can also be said for sexually acts, whereby the best part leads up to the main explosion.
Other images which identify it, as a female magazine is the amount of semi-nude men, which unlike male magazines replace the semi-nude women, quite often seen. Unlike any other magazine, more is one of the first magazines for a woman that has a nude centrefold of a male model, done very sensitively and as not to cause too much embarrassment to others.
To men this is seen as degrading, but as a double-standard females are told to tolerate it from them as well as from tabloid newspapers, who all seem to share the same beliefs and representations of a women.
Which brings us promptly onto male audiences and the ideas and values shared within a magazine aimed directly at men.
I have chosen a copy of the recent ‘MAXIM’ magazine, which bases most of its content on the world cup, which is due to start next month, foot-ball being another topic all men like to think they love and share as a pastime.
If we take into consideration the representation of what men gain and interpret from the media, we can see an almost similar pattern to that of woman’s perception of society, with a few masculine charms to boot.
Take the title ‘Maxim’; in order to gain the attention of a man, advertisers and the media have come to understand that objects, which state they are ‘BIG’, attract men.
‘The idea that big is better to men goes back to advertising from past decades, and allows them to feel superior over females.’ Raymond Williams, ‘advertising the magic system’, 1996
Other forms which establish their superiority over women is their need for scientific jargon, to prove to women (and sometime themselves) that they are the more intelligent of the two genders. Other male magazines tend to use abbreviated terms for titles or objects, which connote authority, such as ‘FHM’, ‘GQ’ or even ‘MAX POWER’. These titles connote the idea of periodic and scientifically symbols or even macho representations such as G.I Joe. Max Power being a prime example of the bigger is better theory shared by a majority of males.
In which case all the titles connote the idea that by reading these magazines they will fundamentally gain enjoyment and authority as well as establishing the male gender as the more dominant of the two.
The placing of the title also suggests that what men really want from a magazine is what the media has always believed to be true; Sexually portrayed, attractive young women spread across the front cover, regardless if the title can be seen or not, is always more likely to sell to a male audience rather than another male being shown.
The actress Tara Reid is the focus point of the front page and draws the reader in, due to her seductive pose. She is inviting but yet still shows sign of vulnerability and innocents as her ensemble of clothing is of very lacy and more to the point of white fabric, white connoting all that is good and untouched by others.
The tag line also insinuates that the article containing her will also be of great interest to a male audience as it is sexually oriented and suggests phallic implications.
This has been chosen to suit what is speculated to be the needs of today’s man, which is the chance to be the more dominant of genders and who is capable of giving women security. This ideology and belief has now been shifted, as women today are more than capable of dealing with life much better on their own without a man.
Men are also more aware of how women like to be seen as equal to them, and some are very open to this change while others prefer to remain in the past and continue to view women as docile individuals.
The cover of ‘Maxim’ doesn’t encourage today’s changes in genders, which suggest this is how they maintain an audience of male chauvinists, or at least to gain their attention. Within the actually magazine stories and articles are very similar to those found in female magazines but obviously aimed at a male audience. It’s very refreshing to see that the barriers between the two sexes are very alike, in terms of language used and design.
The typical ‘hard’ image of what men perceive to be has in some ways become more softer and less aggressive, showing that the new man of the twenty-first century can also adapt to new ideas, and that the gap between the two genders draws closer with each generation.
Obviously certain aspects of the magazine must be deemed just for a man, or at least of more interest to a man than to a women, for instance an article which expressed ways in which police officers captured and tormented their prisoners, showed images of guns and military dressed young men with vicious blood thirsty dogs barking at the prisoners. The overall affect of the images were very crude and somewhat inhumane, but for some men the idea of human destruction and war will always be of interest to them, for reasons which still hold questions as to why?
Overall the identification of this magazine being targeted at a male audience can be said to be true, due to the following aspects:
- A Semi- nude female (preferably blond) will be spread across the front page, more identifiable if the female is already well known.
- The title expresses a large quantity as mentioned by theorist Raymond Williams that men are prone to the idea that ‘Big is always better’
- Sub-headings denote issues, which contain those related to sport, especially as the world cup is due to start.
- And current affair issues which reflect destruction and chaos from around the world whereas with a female magazine the current affairs brought up are mostly directed at individuals who are form the world of showbiz or contain humour.
In terms of the last point, female magazines such as ‘MORE!’ tend not to dramatise or even discuss issues which reflect those found on the news unless it is of relevance to their British, female audiences. This in some ways might be because they still fear that women are quite frail and are more prone to show emotion to such topics. Hence defeating the object of a magazine being a medium of entertainment, if the issues raised are of a more serious nature.
This is where the difference between magazine journalism and that of newspaper journalism lies. As Newspaper writing is aimed at various individuals and not to one set gender or age group it allows for news and entertainment of both kinds to be expressed without the fear of upsetting anyone, as this is what it is set out to do.
Magazines such as MORE, are what give female audiences a break from reality and allow them to indulge into the world of gossip and fame. A belief shared by most people, in particularly men, that women enjoy gossip. Mary Crawford states that gossip allows women to communicate with their peers and gives them a sense of comfort; being allowed to know what other people are doing from another world, which in turn is very different to that of their own gives them satisfaction and enjoyment.
In conclusion what I have noticed within my brief analysis is that although times have changed male magazines still seem more relatable to today’s society and contain more in-depth issues which a lot of female magazines fear to tread on.
However this may only be the start, barriers have already started to break between the two genders and with time these barriers may cease to exist. As women are now given more sexual freedom and social changes have taken place in terms of media influences (for instance commercials now cater for all genders and represent them as equal to men).
A lot more of society now embrace the new feminist women and single mothers and radical changes have taken place in order to have reach this state as well as changes from men and their somewhat narcissistic attitudes.
A quote, which most women of today’s society can now identify with would be that of Charles Fourier in 1808, which said stated that
‘The extension of women’s rights is the basic of all social change.’
In other words allow women to live the way in which they choose and not condemn them for it and changes within the sexes will be made for the better.
Bibliography
Crawford, M ‘Talking difference: on Gender and Language’, Sage 1995
Fourier C, ‘ Theories of the forth Movement, 1880
Martin, M, ‘Ways of reading’, language and gender, 2000
Williams, R. (1980/1996) ‘Advertising the Magic System’, Media Studies: A Reader
