Tomb Raider: Anniversary and Men’s Health magazine, two extremely popular and influential media products, represent the concept of gender in interesting and contrasting ways. In this essay, I will explore the representation of gender throughout the two products, as well as the meaning of the term ‘gender’ itself, and come to a conclusion as to the radical or reactionary nature of the two texts.

To understand gender, we must first define it – and that itself is something you could write a whole essay on. Merriam-Webster defines gender as “the behavioral, cultural, or psychological traits typically associated with one sex” – i.e., the things we do, say, wear and think that make us identifiable as a man, woman, or any other gender role prevalent in a given culture. Both of the texts, trapped as they are in a cultural framework dominated by liberalism, largely represent gender according to liberal norms – men and women are commodified, sexualised and encouraged to see themselves as physically and socially lacking. This trend is dominant across both CSPs, with few exceptions.

The representation of gender in Men’s Health and Tomb Raider: Anniversary is different insofar that the two products essentially deal with different subject matter – Men’s Health obviously deals with males, whereas TR’s female protagonist leads to a larger focus on the representation of women. Both, however, are ultimately aimed at men – and this is apparent in the way that Tomb Raider represents the female form and deals with stereotypes about women. Lara, Tomb Raider’s main character, is nothing if not a sex symbol – the size of her breasts has been a cornerstone of the debate about women in video games for over two decades, and Anniversary doesn’t pull any punches in this regard. Anniversary’s front cover shows Lara posing side-on, with her large breasts, short shorts and smug facial expression clearly visible – she holds two pistols, symbolising her power as an independent heroine. The presentation of Lara as independent and able to protect herself is easily interpreted as a radical representation, but this isn’t the right way of looking at it – Lara’s guns, the images on the back cover of her shooting at dinosaurs and running along walls, the very representation of Lara as violent and powerful, serves to crown her sexualisation and further titillate the text’s assumed male audience. In peak liberal form, Lara’s own power simply serves to further her representation as a sex object – she’s the hot mercenary lady with giant breasts who kills people without a second thought, the perfect counterpoint to the sort of sterile basement nerd who played videogames in 1996, with the obvious implication being that she is sexually dominant and probably gets a lot of action. This is hardly a radical representation of the female form – it’s less revolutionary feminism and more reactionary liberalism, bound up in the same philosophy of ‘empowerment’ that sees supposed radicals defending institutions like prostitution; and it’s just as vile and embarrassing.

Men’s Health chooses to deal with gender in a slightly more nuanced way, though it isn’t really any better. Page 101’s discussion of an older man’s struggle against his own degenerate lifestyle is actually rather inspiring – it’s a thoroughly interesting representation that deals with ageing in an extremely mature way, and serves to demonstrate that old age is not an excuse when it comes to keeping fit. The representation of Philip Howells, a not-particularly-attractive 69-year-old man, as a kind of fitness hero is really rather radical in its orientation towards the old. The magazine’s front cover is decidedly less impressive, plastered as it is with slogans such as “BLAST BODY FAT!” and “DOUBLE YOUR METABOLISM!”, as well as a rather large image of a muscled Vin Diesel showing off his gains for all to see. Liberalism’s sexualisation of everyone and everything strikes again – Diesel’s large arms, his big muscles, his aggressive straight-on pose and his no-nonsense facial expression are a clear demonstration of the fact that he is being represented as an idealised ‘sexy man’ for you to emulate. The aforementioned slogans capitalise on your own sense of inadequacy, your own feeling of lacking manhood, and present you with quick fixes that will supposedly help you achieve the ‘sexy man’ body – this is obviously not achievable for any normal person, and that very fact is what keeps you feeling inadequate, keeps you buying copies of Men’s Health, and, ultimately, keeps paying for William Randolph Hearst III’s ever-expanding collection of atrocious ties (which is, of course, what this is actually about). This is, somehow, an even less thoughtful representation of ideas around gender than in Tomb Raider.

Neither of these texts could be described as radical in any meaningful way, save for a small section of Men’s Health magazine. The producers of both products are seemingly all in thrall to liberalism’s degenerate cult of sex worship, and are thoroughly reactionary in their political and cultural orientation.

In this essay I will discuss and explore how gender is represented through dominant ideology in males. After identifying how gender is represented in these two media sources, I will conclude with how they can make the main images appear either radical or reactionary to modern day life. I will consider the use of different audience and production theories in both Men’s Health magazine and Tomb Raider. 

The front cover of Tomb Raider presents gender stereotypes negatively by featuring Lara Croft extremely sexualised to appeal to the intended male audience. She appears multiple times on the cover to show that she is the convention with the most importance. Lara Croft is presented sexualised by her tight fitted top and small shorts, not only this but the camera angle is intentionally pointed directly central to her butt. This reactionary game supports the negative gender stereotypes by objectifying women as making the audience view women as sex symbols rather then an average games character that they see themselves as. As well as this, in the cover Lara Croft is positioned in an awkward twisted position to exaggerate her breasts and butt. Her body in the front cover is so morphed it looks like an unrealistic version of a body. This has manipulated the audience into thinking this is normal which has been accepted by the dominant ideology. However, Tomb Raider could be seen as radical through the use of Lara Croft slaying monsters and carrying guns. This could also present Lara as a strong independent woman as usually the lead character is a male. This then presents Lara Croft as being a role model. The colours in the background are masculine feature further demonstrating that Tomb raider is aimed at males, the black and red connate danger which Lara is brave enough to face due to her power implied.

Gender is also presented negatively in the Men’s Health magazine through the iconic model Vin Diesel. Firstly, the audience will feel more inclined to pick up a magazine of a well known celebrity.  Throughout the magazine, the print language is about men’s fitness and heath which supports the dominant ideology which is men’s health and fitness. Plugs are used on the front cover to promote healthy life style and can be seen as men helping other men to achieve the perfect body. The large print front ‘BLAST BODY FAT’ is presented in capital letters to stand out from the rest of the magazine. The dominant signifier in the men’s health magazine, Vin Diesel, is positioned confidently flexing his muscles. This is radical because this is an unrealistic image of what an average man looks like. 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 social expectations. However his strength is presented through the size of his muscly arms which differentiates from the idea that Lara had to be designed holding weaponry to even connote the idea of strength. This then leads to the intended target audience which is males this time it is for men to perceive in an inspirational sight instead of a sexual one. 

In conclusion in both Tomb raider and the Men’s Health magazine, the main representation is heavily focused on gender stereotypes. If I compare these two magazines, they both give of certain stereotypes of a male and female body. Yet, whilst Tomb Raider is based around a fictional character and gives more subtle view points over how a women’s body should be, Men’s Health magazine promotes the muscular and toned body of a celebrity on its front cover, which will attract people as they will view the dominant signifier in an inspirational manner rather then a sexual one.