In this essay, I am going to compare the representation of gender in Tomb Raider to the men’s health magazine. In order to do this, firstly I am going to compare the dominant signifiers and how they have been manipulated to present a certain ideology; secondly, I am going to talk about how the game’s front and back covers and magazine compare against stereotypes / counter-types. 

In both Tomb Raider and the Men’s health magazine, the dominant signifier (iconic signs), on the front covers are the stereotypical image of what the media has manipulated their audience to believe is ‘normal’, which has been accepted as the dominant ideology of how men and women should be represented, and how they should look in real life. These dominant signifiers (Lara croft, and the man), have been manipulated to appeal to a certain audience, for example in Tomb Raider, Lara croft has been overly sexualised by the creators of the game, in order to appeal to the dominant section of the gaming industry, which is male gamers. They did this by making her breasts and butt the focus of the games cover by putting the leading lines (the title) in between these features of the female body, they also made her stand in a twisted position to accentuate these features. This emphasis is also shown in the images of the gameplay on the back cover where Lara’s breasts or butt are the focus of the shot. You could argue that this makes tomb raider a radical text because she has been positioned in a way that looks unnatural. This could be supported by the fact that in video games, women are usually represented as the characters that need saving by the heroic man, whereas in Tomb raider Lara croft is presented as a strong, independent woman who can fight for herself. Furthermore, this point can be supported by the blog about how Lara has evolved which states that Lara knows how to use more guns than most military personnel. However, this could also make it a reactionary text, because if this were to occur repeatedly, then this would become the dominant ideology of what a woman should be like.  

Similarly, the dominant signifier in the men’s health magazine (the man), has been presented as a strong and muscly man who is standing in a confident position, in a way that makes the audience focus on the muscles. This is a radical text because most men don’t look like that in real life, so this is an inaccurate representation of the typical male body This could also make people feel insecure about the way they look due to the manipulation of the media and the effect it has on how people view themselves in terms of identity and gender. The man on this front cover isn’t in a twisted position like Lara croft is in Tomb Raider, instead he’s in a forward stance that shows dominance and strength. 

In terms of stereotypes, gender is represented differently in Tomb Raider and the men’s health magazine. In Tomb Raider Lara croft is presented as a counter-type that challenges the ideology that women aren’t as strong as men and that they need men in order to survive. However, in Tomb Raider this isn’t the case, Lara croft is presented as a strong woman who isn’t afraid to roam the tomb alone, and by looking at the front cover and the T-Rex on the back cover, you can assume that she’s fierce and will confidently pull the trigger to kill. On the other hand, in the men’s health magazine, gender is represented as a stereotypical man, who’s dominant and doesn’t need anyone to tell him what to do. On page 17 of the magazine there’s an arrow which points to the man’s biceps which says, ‘one to aspire to’, this shows the media further manipulating the intended audience to become a stereotypical man, and putting them in a place where they feel insecure about themselves and manipulates them into wanting to look like the cover (audience positioning).       

To conclude, in both Tomb Raider and the men’s health magazine, gender is represented as an ideology of what is the ‘right’ way to look for both males and females. This is presented as a negative stereotype because it places the audience / receivers of the media in a position where they feel insecure about how they look and feel like they need to look a certain way to be accepted by society. This is an example of Constructed Reality. Both show a sense of hegemony because games developers are predominantly male, and in the magazine the males are presented as being strong and confident.