Lara Croft can be seen as a reactionary sign that is negatively impacting the female gender as it is agrees with the dominant ideology of how women should be represented as a whole. They have done this by over sexualising her, giving her bigger breast and a bigger bum whilst also giving her a small waist. However, there are some counter type symbolism such as having big muscles. This goes against the dominant ideology as women aren’t usually seen with big muscles in the gaming industry which shows that the designers know women work hard and are trying to embrace it in video games. This can be seen as biased as it isn’t only men that over sexualise female characters, Mari Shimuzaki designed Bayonetta and purposely made her look the way she does because she wanted her to look feminine and have that quality which arguably should be shown because it represents women in gaming. If an intended female character looked like a male, no one would like it or have intention to buy the game as it’s not showing enough feminine quality to be female. Because the gaming industry is heavily male dominanted, the designers of Lara Croft the wanted her to appeal to the male audience so they would buy it, because if they used a fat lady as the main character the target or implied audience would be confused and therefore not buy the game. This means that the decision to over sexualise her was conscious however it was also used as a means to sell their product so they can make money to make profits because the gaming industry is male dominated and not to objectify women as their main goal. A main problem with the magazine is that it depicts an unrealistic view on gender, one of which that can’t be achieved as it’s perfect. This is because she’s skinny to the bone but she also has huge muscles, her knees are also tiny which in real life she wouldn’t be able to stand as they wouldn’t be able to support her body weight.

Mens health represents the male gender in a positive and a negative way. This is because it shows a man with huge muscles which is a way to a healthy life which is for the dominant ideology for what men should look like, on the other hand it is somewhat unrealistic as not all men look like this. This can be inaccurate as they wouldn’t want to show a fat man on a fitness magazine because it wouldn’t make much sense. and then wouldn’t sell. The magazine is trying to promote a healthy life style and showing that a man should look like this and if he doesn’t, he is not a man. However, this can be seen as one big misinterpretation as the magazine does state it’s mens fitness and not all average men. The magazine company is using the front cover as a marketing scheme so they can sell a product and if the audience buys the product, they will also look in this particular way. This can leave some men feeling insecure about themselves which whilst can be motivation for change, it can also be a step down in confidence. The main goal of the magazine isn’t to make men feel insecure but to instead feel motivated so the company can make money as that is all what most companies want.

Both magazine covers taken into account, show gender identity negatively as they want show what each gender should look like in their eyes. A problem with this is that the magazines are based on two completely separate categories of video games and health snd safety, this means that they both may think differently of what gender stereotypes are. For example, A fitness Magazine will show what a female of fitness should look like to them which will be different to what a female gaming character will look like in a video game. This is a reason why the chosen magazine covers can be biased and inaccurate as a specific agenda is trying to be pushed.

In this essay I will argue and explore that Tomb Raider and Men’s Health represent gender negatively as a whole. I will use the tomb raider’s games cover, a video from feminist frequency and an article from Lauren Hall. For Men’s Health I will use the pages given to make a fair judgement.

Tomb raider represents gender stereotypes negatively, Lara croft is seen to be extremely sexualised in order to appeal towards straight male video gamers. Not only is her clothing sexualised by wearing small shorts and a tight-fitting top, the way the camera angle is place it makes her butt be the centre piece to the game (feminist frequency). This objectifies the role of women and makes players of the game view her as a sex symbol compared to a character they could sympathise with. This is reactionary as in today’s society it is sadly normal for mainstream women role models to be over sexualised in order for them to be successful, this gives a negative connotation to the audience as they might see an image of Lara Croft and believe that she is what all women should be like. It also makes males fantasise about the role of women which could have a negative effect as in reality its offensive to view real humans as object, especially as her figure is so unrealistic it wouldn’t even be possible for her to walk if she was a real human.  However, the whole idea of her being a role model who is a girl is radical compared to the rest of the gaming industry. Sadly, in the gaming industry there aren’t enough female lead characters as they are usually all males. This challenges dominant ideology as it goes against the norm, this does give young girls a role model who is actually a women who is shown to do a mans job by fighting off monsters and exploring tombs but it is sad that the creators have felt they had to over sexualise her in order to sell games. 

Men’s Health represents gender negatively too, the magazine focuses on men’s fitness and the male bravado of being muscular. Despite the obvious good the magazine does by promoting a healthy lifestyle it does have it draws backs. Mainly being that it creates an image of the way all men ‘should’ look like, this then put male under immense pressure to look a certain way. Much like the issues with Lara Croft in Tomb Raider as it paints an unrealistic image of gender. The text is reactionary as it follows the dominant ideology that men should be big and strong in order to fight and protect. We can see this in the front cover where Vin Diesel is flexing his muscles in an unnatural way in order to seem dominant. However, the magazine does show a countertype to a stereotype of elderly men. An article about a 69-year-old man who runs marathons, this is a radical text as it challenges common belief that all older men sit around all day and don’t do any exercise. Overall the magazine is responsible for insecurities in some males and the image they create isn’t true to real life and could be seen as a negative role model. 

Both Tomb Raider and Men’s Health give a negative effect on younger more impressional people due to the nature of there characters, if gives a false representation of true gender and reality. Which is such a shame as they could potentially serve and great role models for future generations if there were marketed differently.