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.