- “published without the financial support of a large corporation or institution in which the makers control publication and distribution…“independent”
- Iceberg Press: an independent publisher – Oh Comely and The Simple Things
- Iceberg press set up Oh Comely in order to bridge the gap between the more mainstream magazines and the vibrant and innovative content of independent magazines
- Iceberg Press (they are strictly print)
- Average age of readers is 27, 98% young female readers
- A high social class because the magazine is £5 which is quite expensive for a magazine
- Sold through independents, WHSmith and international outlets
- Oh Comely claims that their magazine ” is a breath of fresh air for a creative audience desperate to find something that speaks to them directly in an accessible, intelligent and interesting voice.”
- Oh Comely is the work of Liz, Dani, Rosanna, Gemma and Beth
- Launched 2010, September 10th
Social and Cultural implications
Oh Comely is part of a development in lifestyle and environmental movements of the early twenty first century which rebrand consumerism as an ethical movement. Its representation of femininity reflects an aspect of the feminist movement which celebrates authenticity and empowerment.
Media language
Semiotics – The dominant signifier in this image is very clear as we can see the female presented in the centre of the image in a medium shot suggesting that they are not sexualising her as she is wearing light make up and unrevealing clothes. This could suggest how the ideology of the world should function and women should be seen as powerful and be seen as leadership that would influence our behaviours and actions. The pose of the dominant signifier explains how the anchorage in this cover is the text based feature such as the header ‘oh comely’ which annotates the meaning of an attractive person.
Narrative and Genre
Steve Neal – He argues that genre is labelled and create a narrative image for a media product, as genre is presented to show pleasure to their audience. Steve Neal says that genre is crafted to create an appeal for specific audience segments. As we can see in ‘oh comely’ there is an iconography that refers to mise en scene expectations as well as camera and editing styles that convey their audience to worlds that are escapist. Audience’s gain enjoyment from identifying moments that de4epart from those expectations. Neale argues, provide moments of audience pleasure or deliver products that have unique selling points such as on page 57 there is a quote by ‘Amali De Alwis’ that says “why aren’t there more women in tech? It shouldn’t just be a boy’s club”, that suggests representational effects where genre might be recognisable through the application of gender specific representations.
Structuralism
Levi-Strauss – He suggests that humans naturally explain the world in terms of oppositions is a structuralist argument. He proposes how humans encode and decode the world using universally shared principles. He also says that genres and forms are popular within the contemporary media landscape explain how oh comely is targeting specific individuals by creating genre based oppositions that could lead to more profit.
Narratology
Todorov – He explains how narratives are significations even though the construction of that reality is symbolic – offering us a version of the world that is ordered by the ethical, moral or ideological viewpoints of text’s author. In ‘oh comely’ we can see many different ideological viewpoints of a varies of different women that have been portrayed to suggest the reality of narrative lies in the way that characters or the worlds inhabit are transformed at the end of a story.
Media Representation
Looking at the construction of being male and female. It is about civil rights and focused on issues of equality and discrimination.
Stuart Hall – Stereotypes are mostly found where there are huge social inequalities. They exclude and demonise groups in a manner that both reflects and reinforces social hierarchies. ‘Oh comely’ can be linked to this theorist as media representation focuses on power and they are trying to portray our views of the wider world where women can be given the opportunity to do many things rather than in the second wave feminism where civil rights where focused on issues on equality and discrimination.
Bell Hooks – His theory is to give a voice to invisible social groups where he wants to outline economic oppression that draws attention to the huge wealth gap that exists between privileged white groups and the rest of society as well as drawing attention to the privileges that economic power generates for those groups. This refers to ‘oh comely’ as they are seeking out audiences to construct positive as well as critical effects. They are creating social diversity and giving voice to the social groups that have been marginalised by white male power.
Judith Butler – Butler talks about how gender is not stable but is constructed through repeated actions that reinforce our identities. For example in ‘oh comely’ the act of wearing makeup is an illusion that we have a seamless and permanent male or female identity. Thinks leads on to the fact that behaviours work as learned micro performances and signal our identity to ourselves and to others.
Media Industries
Oh comely is an independent magazine published by Iceberg Press, a small London publisher which publishes only one other title. It is an independent media company, that suggests new technology that small companies can also use the internet to communicate and target audiences. Iceberg’s branding includes a commitment a print over other media forms.