This essay will compare the differences and similarities between the Tomb Raider game cover and the Men’s Health magazine cover in relation to gender representation. I believe that Men’s Health is an example of a reactionary text because it conforms to the dominant idea that men should look and be a certain way. On the other hand, Tomb Raider is an example of both a reactionary and a radical text. This is because the way that Lara croft has been presented both supports and challenges the dominant ideology of the image of a woman. Her ‘manly’ personality and style of being an explorer challenges the view that women are not normally this way, however, this is majorly contradicted in the way that Lara Croft has been depicted.
In both Tomb Raider and Men’s Health Magazine the creators have used selective representation in their covers and pages of their product. They have both done this because they want to put a specific idea into their audience’s heads. This is a popular technique that lots of people in positions of power use, in order to appeal to their target audience and influence them in a certain way. For example, the iconic sign on the front of the men’s health magazine of Vin Diesel, has been presented in a way that could make a man believe that he should look that way. Lots of the text on the cover is referring to health and the importance of losing weight and looking good. Although it has not been explicitly said, the intention is to make a man believe that if he follows these regimes and aims to physically look like this, then he will become more attractive to women and will be happier. The producers have done this so that the receivers buy the magazine with the intentions of eventually looking like him. I would argue that this is a reactionary text because it is supporting the dominant ideology and conforming to the common idea of the way a man should be.
In comparison, I would argue that Tomb Raider is both a radical and reactionary text because of the way Lara Croft has been presented. The image of Lara Croft is an iconic sign, as the aim was for her to resemble a real human. She has been presented through constructed reality as she has been presented as what looks like a female human, but the way in which she has been animated to have over the top and unrealistic sized features, makes her less like a real representation of a human, and more like a misrepresentation. Players of the game will begin to think that this is how all women look, and therefore will be conforming to the dominant ideology.
On the cover of Men’s Health magazine, the colour blue has been chosen for the font on the front cover and is a main theme colour throughout the magazine. This is a colour that is typically associated with male products and generally anything male. This supports the idea that the Men’s Health magazine is a radical text as they are supporting the old-fashioned views of male stereotypes when it comes to appearance and colour palettes. If the magazine had used pink on the front of their cover, in general, the male market that the producers are trying to attract would not be interested. This is something that has been instilled into our minds from young ages, due to selective representation that people in power have used through the media and advertising.
The dominant signifier in both texts is the characters shown on both and their influence on the receivers and so, to conclude, even though both texts are very different, they are similar in many ways as they both have aspects of being a radical text, however, Tomb Raider has more examples of being a radical text.