Tomb Rider and Men’s Health Magazine are both clear examples of how sexualisation is used by companies to attract a specific audience. Sexualisation is used by these brands to increase their audience and spread their influence to a range of different people.  

In the Lara Croft front cover, Lara Croft is shown as the dominant signifier, on the front cover, Lara Croft is positioned in a manner that distinctly shows off her assets which can be easily seen by any viewer. This positioning of Lara Croft is a clear example of the sexualisation used by the brand to attract a large male audience to the game. On the front cover the brand misrepresent Lara Croft by implying that the game is focused on her features rather than her characteristics and knowledge. Lara Croft is also wearing short clothes on the front cover, this is used to show off her features more as her clothes seem to be tight and small. On the back cover of the Lara Croft game there is a paradigm of using angles which evidently show off her assets from behind and in front which objectifies Lara Croft, this misuse of gameplay shots is used to intrigue male audiences by suggesting that the game concentrates on Lara Croft’s exaggerated features, this then creates a negative stereotype for female characters in video games.  

In the Men’s Health Magazine front cover, the celebrity Vin Diesel is shown as the dominant signifier, Vin Diesel is used for this front cover as he is of a muscular build and tends to keep fit and healthy, this links with the gender stereotype that men should be strong and muscular to be a “real man”. The front cover of the magazine is filled with significations that men should improve their diets and build on their muscle. In Men’s Health Magazine paradigms of muscle growth and weight loss are used to support the idea of influencing men to get stronger and be more physically attractive. The men’s health magazine does challenge male stereotypes slightly as it includes ”slay winter blues” which links to mental illness and depression which is a leading cause of death for males under the age of 50. On the back cover of the Men’s Health Magazine it shows its content, this page includes activities and fitness that men should follow, this implies that men should be more active and fit which is a misrepresentation of what a man should be.  

The Men’s Health Magazine differs from Lara Croft as on the Lara Croft front cover she is objectified and sexualised to attract a male audience whereas Vin Diesel is used as a stereotype to influence its male audience. The Lara Croft game is a better example of a radical text as it challenges the negative stereotype of women being “the damsel in distress” and instead makes her an intelligent and action-packed character who explores ancient sites. The Men’s Health Magazine is an example of a reactionary text as it supports the ideology that men must be physically fit and healthy.  

The Men’s Health Magazine which uses Philip Howells challenges male stereotypes by including an older male as the dominant signifier, which is a clear counter type, this can be seen as a radical text as it challenges the idea of being young and muscular. This cover also does not include any techniques and activities to build muscles, instead it gives the audience insight into how Phillip Howells has remained healthy at his age which can influence males to be more active. 

Both Men’s Health Magazine and Lara Croft appeal to a male audience through the use of different techniques. In the Men’s Health Magazine male stereotypes are used to influence male audience members to be more sport involved and muscular whereas Lara Croft is sexualised and objectified to falsely attract a male audience to the game. However both Lara croft and Men’s Health Magazine have changed their covers and motives by using other techniques to widen their audience, for example Lara Croft no longer has exaggerated features, the brand expand their audience now by improving the narrative and quality of their games, Men’s Health Magazine now include guidance and support for mental illness and have changed their dominant signifier to less stereotypical men.  

Both Men’s Health Magazine and Lara Croft used stereotypes to intrigue their male audience to improve their profit. However, both Lara Croft and Men’s Health Magazine now use different strategies to attract their audience. 

The ideology behind my front cover was to create a video game magazine cover that showed off new and upcoming games. On my front cover the game I used was a new football game called FIFO. I tried to make my magazine resemble PC Gamer and Games TM’s front covers by using a series of techniques.  

My target audience for my magazine is young boys who are interested in new upcoming video games, this ranges from the age of 8 to 21. Young boys who are interested in new upcoming games can read the magazine to learn more about their release dates and what they will include. If young gamers would like to have a better insight into how good future games are going to be and what to look forward to, this magazine would be perfect for them.  

The magazine includes information about games that will be coming out in the year. This information includes the games release date, their ratings and reviews from critics who have played the game early and features that the developers have announced will be included in the game.  

I decided to use the title “PressPlay” as it resembles gaming consoles and how you have usually press a button to start the game. I thought this was the best title to use as people who see the magazine will easily be able to identify that the magazine is for video games just by looking at the title. 

The use of language in my games magazine will be basic as the age range for my games magazine is vast. Using basic language will make it easy to read for anyone who is interested in video games. 

Compare the representation of gender in both Men’s Health and Tomb Raider

In this essay I’m going to be exploring the ways in which gender is presented in both Men’s Health and Tomb Raider. In some ways the two are  similar as they both portray the dominant signifiers as being strong, however Tomb Raider is presenting a female in this way whereas Men’s Health is showing a male. Both can be seen as radical and reactionary texts for different reasons which I will explore in depth further on, as well as other details. 

Firstly, both articles show negative stereotypes. In ‘men’s health’ the dominant signifier is shown with extremely large muscles which is not achievable for a large proportion of people. A similar situation for ‘tomb raider’ where the staple of the cover – Lara Croft – is shown with an exaggerated chest and bum. These are both unrealistic versions of the male and female figure. It also connotes how both genders should behave; in men’s health phrases such as ‘blast body fat’ and ‘demolish junk food cravings’ suggest that males should be trying to build muscle and increase strength. As for tomb raider, the guns and the shield looking object in the background connotes that women should also be strong and powerful. 

Secondly, still staying on the topic of stereotyping,  the stereotype that men should be fit and athletic which is reinforced in this magazine can be seen as reactionary. The magazine denotes that men’s goals should be to get rid of body fat and have huge muscles. However, it can be viewed as radical as of the male stereotype changing in recent years and it is accepted that all men don’t fit this, which is why this controversially could be seen as radical. As for tomb raider, is can be argued that lara croft is made to fit the stereotype of what an ‘attractive’ woman should look like therefore being reactionary. However female stereotypes have also changed and being attractive does not always mean having big boobs and bum. This suggests that it can be viewed as radical

Thirdly, Lara croft is oversexualized whereas the men in men’s health have not, which is common for most products that have a male dominated target audience.  Lara has been oversexualized with clothing and the stance she has taken on. She has been positioned in an uncomfortable way to make sure her chest and bum are both on show. The amount of skin she has on show from her short shorts and sleeveless shirt adds to the idea that she is a sexual object . In the images on the back of tomb raider lara’s entire body is in the frame which suggests that they are objectifying her which is unlike men’s health where the men are mostly covered up and standing in a position that don’t show them off.