Paper 2 CSP:
Page 1:

Semiotics:

1. Dominant signifier being Vin Diesel, we know this because he is the main focus within the first page, being the biggest and most outward object on the page.
2. The title “Men’s Health” being indexical to men’s health and the gender performance of the male gender.
3. The page is reactionary, supporting the typical view of strong, independent men.
4. The syntagm of men’s gender performance and what men should be like. This suggestion is that men should be fit and strong with muscular developments. “Lose 8kg fast”, “127 ways to build a stronger core” “103 shortcuts to t-shirt arms”
5. The title and Vin Diesel in the magazine provide anchorage that the magazine is targeted and made for men.

Representation:

1. Gender is represented through the magazines choice of colours, the colour being an aggressive dark blue which can represent masculinity.
2. The sub-title “Get Back in Shape Special” represents men and the typical stereotype that men are fit and strong.
3. The model used (Vin Diesel) supports and promotes the idea of gender as a performance and fits the heterosexual gaze.
4. The constructed identity of a typical man is represented on the front page, but also other pages. Firstly, Vin Diesel is seen to represent the typical male, being strong, fit and have a aggressive, alpha stance.
   
   
   Lazarfelds idea within men’s health:
   Vin Diesel represents the idea of a strong and fit man, therefore his supporters or followers are going to buy the magazine and follow its tips to try and end up looking like him, because its his idea and his opinion that says you should be fit and active, that’s why he is also fit and active himself.
   
   On page 6 -7 Gerard Butler can be seen as a model for the Boss aftershave “Intense”, the idea is that his supporters and people who follow him will look at this advert and think “he’s cool and he’s wearing that aftershave, so i should buy it to be cool like him”
   
   Page 2:
   

Semiotics:

1. Icon – Vin diesel photograph in the bottom left
2. Dominant signifier being the editors letter positioned in the bottom right, talking about new years resolutions.
3. Anchorage being each photo posted with the page number it correlates to.
4. The picture of Vin Diesel creates the strong male ideology.

Representation:

1. The constructed identity of the Male gender is represented here through the selection and combination of images of vin diesel along with pictures of the other pages, some of these pages contain weights or running shoes, implying the stereotype of how men are fit and strong.
2. The individual identity of different types of men, being the strong man (Vin Diesel) down the bottom left, the old man in the middle (True Grit) and the cool man also in the middle (Page 125).

The school of life released a video called how to be a man, while this is not an academic theory, it nevertheless presents two versions of masculinity, the warm man and the cool man. It is possible to identify these two versions in men’s health thus supporting David Gauntlets notion of Fluid, negotiated, constructive identity. For example, on page 125 you can see a calm and collected man who isn’t ridiculously built up and fit, however he is positioned to be inspirational and confident. This is the representation of the “Warm Man” who knows his anxiety’s and flaws, but makes the most of what he has and stays as he is, calm and relaxed. However on page 2, within the advert for Dolce and Gabbana, the male within that photo is seen to be strong and fit, fitting the typical constructed identity of a cool man. He’s holding a woman, and shirtless in the middle of the snowy cold Alpes, but he doesn’t care, he’s calm and relaxed, and confident within himself.

Media Industries (And Audiences)

Men’s health is owned by a company called “Hearst” which has business in the UK and US, it’s mainly based in New York and started after the Founder William Randolph Hearst took over his fathers newspaper, the “San Francisco Analyser”
Hearst is a media conglomerate owning 7 different companies,
Fitch Ratings – A Market analysis company
First Database – A pharmaceutical company
Hearst Television – Owns 34 different television channels.
A-E Networks – Multinational joint broadcasting company between Disney and Hearst.

Men’s health reaches on average 89,111 people in one year, this is through majority paid subscriptions to the magazine. However, per month in the UK it is seen that it reaches 708 men aged 15+ (study made from April 2019 to March 2020) which fits the targeted demographic group.

Hearst not only has men’s health, they also have woman’s health. Along with 10 other woman focused magazines, however only 1 for men.

Woman’s health reaches on average 96,350 people in one year, which is 7,239 more than men’s health. with 65,000 of them being monthly subscriptions which is 1000 less than men’s health. This supports the idea that the media conglomerate of Hearst is supporting and creating content for both genders and many different beliefs to maximise profits and followers.

Stuart hall in “Men’s Health”:

Here we can see the creators idea that weightless, nutrition, health, fitness, style and muscle are the main things in your life to focus and produce upon. I could see how health fanatics and body building see that and agree with it because that the way they are and that’s what they focus on the most, however to someone like me I can agree that all of those things are very important but it shouldn’t be the be all and end all of your life, you should be with your family and friends, and focus on relationships rather than everything being for yourself and impressing others, however I can also see how someone who is unhealthy, sits at home eating takeaways constantly and is over weight would look at this page and completely disagree with it and continue on with their ideas of life rather than re-considering with these.