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.

The magazine tomb raider represents women through the character of Lara Croft as strong powerful woman being radical against the stereotypical woman, however she is also sexualised due to how she is positioned on the cover objectifying women in order to appeal to the straight male target audience. The men’s health magazine presents the idea of strength and masculinity making the perfect man a creates the idea that that’s what makes a man healthy. 

“Men’s health” magazine have presented men through the lexical fields of Strength and Fitness as audience positioning of the dominant ideology that the stereotypical “perfect man” being strong, fit and masculine. For example, one of the headlines used by the magazine is “demolish junk food cravings” creating the idea that having junk food cravings is a less masculine trait. The magazine does this in order to intis ether target audience of men to read the magazine in order to stop having junk food craving and become the “perfect man” and therefore read the magazine.  The magazine also includes an article focusing on a 69-year-old athlete Phillip Howells, in this article they explain his accomplishments and training to success, this further empathises the idea that men fitness and strength makes you the best man you can be and by include and article of an older man also makes the reader feel as if this is something then could do and need to do in order to become the stereotypical perfect male and emphasise the expectation. However, this contributes to toxic masculinity and can affect the confident of men cause insecurity if they not live up to the life style of Philip Howells or look like vin Diesel.  They Have positioned the dominate signifier of vin diesel a strong, muscly man centrally on the page with his arms exaggerated using selective representation to convey the dominate ideology and therefore try and gain reader attention. I believe the magazine is reactionary due to the fact it follows the stereotypical masculine man, which negatively sets the unrealistic high standard for men too aspire to and causes toxic masculinity into believing that looking like vin diesel is what makes you a better man. 

Tomb radar similarly does this by having there dominate signifier of Lara croft designed to be overly sexualised and positioned at an angle to emphasise her body. This is radical as women are often objectified in the media and made to be oversexualised in order to appeal to the straight male. Much like how Men’s health creates the idea of the perfect man and creates unrealistic expectations, tomb radar does this for women and how creates the idea that looking like Lara croft on the cover of the games is what is attractive. The character is also used to represent strong women and includes images on the back of Lara Croft fighting, this is radical to the stereotype of a women being the damsel in distress and Men being the fighters or hero’s. By opposing this stereotype, it empowers women and creates the audience positioning the women can be the fighters/hero’s themselves, however by having Lara croft be an overly sexualised character still reiterated the idea that in order to be a strong omen you have to look a certain way.  

In conclusion both Tomb Raider and Men’s health create unrealistic expectations for what makes males or females the best they can be. Whereas Tomb raider partly is reactionary going against the stereotypes of women being the damsel in destress and instead presents Lara croft and the fighter herself it still oversexualises women and creates and unrealistic expectations of how strong independent women look. Men’s Health similarly does this creating the idea that a healthy or perfect man is someone who is fit and strong and looks like vin diesel on the cover, this similarly creates the idea that in order to be a good man you need to look as certain way much like tomb raider conveys the idea that you have to look a certain way to be strong and independent. 

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.