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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Final issue was published Sep 2021
Minimalistic style helps readers to focus on the “stories”
Created by Adeline Media – Owned by Iceberg Press which consists of only 4 people
Strong feminist perspective – Can be seen throughout the entirety of the magazine
100k on social media
25k readers per issue
average age of reader – 27
The model on the front of oh comely is wearing non-revealing clothing which goes against Laura Mulvey’s Male Gaze theory.
Words such as power, wisdom and strong are used which correspond with the model on the front of the magazine and also show the magazine’s message.
Absence of representation of men throughout the magazine show that women take the priority in this magazine
Iceberg Press is an independent media company that has a more niche audience – committed to print over other forms of media
Focused on women as artists, entrepreneurs, athletes and musicians and female empowerment
Stuart Hall reception theory: Dominated, Negotiated, Oppositional
pg. 54 Deanna Rogers is seen in a spotlight which connotes importance and that she is in the limelight as apposed to a man. The article
facts:
WHO
Iceberg press
SAYS WHAT
Oh Comely constructs a representation of femininity with its focus on creativity and quirkiness. The focus is on women as artists, entrepreneurs, athletes and musicians and female empowerment is a major theme. The absence of men as part of the representation of masculinity in Oh Comely magazine.
CHANNEL
print through lifestyle magazine
TO WHOM
affluent young women
WITH WHAT EFFECT
10,000 average buys per issue
(3,000 paid subscriptions)
Two step flow of communication
Oh Comely’s decision to represent lesser-known individuals means that the two step flow of communication is not as evident. With fans of Oh Comely having to actively seek the magazine out rather than buying because their favourite actor is featured.
Semiotics
Representation – diverse. Features various genders, races, sexualities, and skills.
front cover
Icon –
Indexical link –
Narrative –
Print Language –
Stuart Hall –
the averages age of 27 · 98% female readers ABC1 demographic
ABC1 – a consumer from one of the three higher social and economic groups, which consist of people who have more education and better-paid jobs than those in other groups:
Semiotics
Dominant Signifier – (iconic) fashion model
Masthead – the adjective “comely” means attractive and pleasing, but it also denotes sophistication and conformity, becoming a celebration of feminine beauty without reducing women to objects used to satisfy the male gaze.
Narrative
non-hegemonic model, anchored by power and poise
Challenging Social and Cultural Contexts
Many of the women featured within the magazine take a radical stance on the representation of women as they are not being sexualised and do not play into the male gaze.
It doesn’t use the male gaze and showcase the female body. Instead they use a direct gaze to feature women in a different model other than the sexualised images other companies use with the male gaze.
The focus is on women as artists, entrepreneurs, athletes and musicians and female empowerment is a major theme.
Theory’s and theorists:
Laura Mulvey – Male Gaze:
Stuart hall – Reception theory (Dominant, negotiated, opposition )
Bell hooks – Feminist theory
Van Zoonen – Feminism and patriarchal theory
Judith Butler – Gender Performativity
The CSP Oh Comely has changed its name to Oh. The update on the magazine’s website states: ‘Oh is a reimagination of Oh Comely magazine and is still a place to meet new people, hear their stories and hopefully leave you looking at life a little differently. And every issue will still have beautiful photography and illustration at its heart’.
This is an in-depth CSP and needs to be studied with reference to all four elements of the Theoretical Framework (Language, Representation, Industries, Audience) and all relevant contexts.
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
Print: Magazine (Independent). Oh Comely is an alternative magazine, aimed at a niche audience. The front pages and extracts from issue 35 must be studied are shown the pages following this information. You will also need to study the magazine in relation to Media Industries
and Media Audiences. This means looking beyond the specific edition to consider issues of ownership, production, funding, technologies and regulation (Media Industries) and targeting, marketing, sales and readership, audience interpretation, fulfilment, uses and gratifications ideas and theories (Media Audiences).
https://www.icebergpress.co.uk/our-story
https://twitter.com/icebergpressuk?lang=en
Semiotics:
Dominant signfier – Vin Diesal
Dominant ideology – body image
Selective Representation – big, dominant, muscular (predominantly) white men
Iconic sign: The bold text tells you what you can find inside this magazine issue. It all relates to losing weight fast
Icon – picture of Vin Diesel
indexical signs: sweat = worked out
symbolic sign: The magazine’s colour theme is mostly blue which is seen as a stereotypical colour for men, influencing them to buy the magazine. Big bold texts all about losing weight “demolishing junk food cravings” and “Blast body fat”. The dominant signifier, Vin Diesel, is positioned in the middle showing off his muscles.
By choosing to represent big, dominant, muscular (predominantly) white men, Men’s Health has a reactionary representation. It adheres to the male gaze, and stereotypes people have. Vin Diesel is a pretty good representation of what society thinks men should look like… not what men actually look like. additionally, Vin Diesal’s ‘cool man’ persona (calm, in control, cool, strong) also plays into stereotypes of the way that men should act.
Use of capital letters – exclamation points – colours – dialogue “true grit” – all appeal to men
The use of the traditional boy colour, blue, further reinforces this.
Lasswell’s model applied to Men’s Health:
sender: Men’s Health is one of the largest health magazines on the market – directed at men – made by men for men
says what: wants to push healthy eating and gym workouts. It is aimed at men who want to gain muscle and lose fat.
what channel: through print – and also through the website (online)
to whom: Educated men with families, who spend big on travel, style, sports/gym, personal grooming, and live an active + adventurous life.
what effect: 9m print audience. 16.5 mill social followers.
89,000 average buys per issue
(66,000 paid subscriptions)
Two-step flow of communication
Vin Diesel is an opinion leader, who people actively follow. People will be more likely to buy certain products etc. if they know that an opinion leader such as Vin Diesel supports it.
Uses and Gratifications
Self-esteem – page 13 is aimed at improving readers’ self-esteem through getting back in shape and improving fashion style.
Men’s health is owned by Hearst (founded in 1887) who owns 40 different companies, making them a conglomerate.
Stuart hall
– Hall provides a framework for decoding messages:
1: Accept the dominant message
2: negotiate the dominant message
3: reject the dominant message
George Gerbner’s Cultivation Theory states that people who consume media often are more susceptible to the messages in said media
Two-step flow of communication
Vin Diesel is an opinion leader, who people actively follow. People will be more likely to buy certain products etc. if they know that an opinion leader such as Vin Diesel supports it.
Uses and Gratifications
Self-esteem – page 13 is aimed at improving readers’ self-esteem through getting back in shape and improving fashion style.
Essay draft
Men’s Health does not challenge the social and cultural contexts in which it was created. Instead, it takes a reactionary stance. This is telling when you look at the dominant signifier on the front page, Vin Diesel, who is standing in a dominant stance, which emphasises his size and muscle. Through choosing Vin Diesel as the face of their magazine, Men’s Health is subtly suggesting to its audience that he is the standard for what a man should look like and that all men should strive to be as strong, dominant, and muscular as him. The use of photoshop and Vin’s oiled-up muscles further accentuates this unrealistic body standard which is being set for men. One way they have altered the image is by clearly increasing the contrast, in an effort to further define his already-defined muscles. This is similar to the Score advert which also features this idea of a ‘perfect man’ who men strive to be like. This is a very common theme in media, which consistently uses ‘cool men’ such as James Bond, Don Draper, and Ryan Gosling as the standard for masculinity. These men are usually strong, confident, desirable, promiscuous, and cold, they never show their true emotions, and always act in a composed manner. These men usually tend to appeal more to the male gaze than the female gaze, as men are conditioned to believe that this is how they should look and act. Vin Diesel is another example of a ‘cool man’ with his large muscles and laid-back masculine persona. David Gauntlett refers to this as constructed identity. There are other examples of the ‘cool man’ on other pages of the magazine. For instance, on page 2-3 of the magazine, there is a double-page spread of an advert where a ‘cool man’ stands with a girl on his arm. His shirt is ripped to show off his muscles, and he is extremely tall, masculine, and handsome. Later in the magazine, Vin Diesel is shown in the editor’s letter, with the text “Diesel’s slant is one to aspire to” which again tells audiences that they should be like him. George Gerbner’s Cultivation Theory states that people who consume media often are more susceptible to the messages in said media, so Men’s Health showing Vin Diesel multiple times throughout the magazine and stating that he is “one to aspire to” sends the message to audiences that Vin Diesel is the standard for all men. The reason why Men’s Health seems to focus more on appealing to the male gaze rather than the female gaze is that the large majority of their audience are men, and more specifically, educated men with families, who spend big on travel, style, sports, and personal grooming. `These men also tend to live an active, adventurous life, with the majority playing sports. Further proof that the magazine is aimed at men, is the lack of sexualisation of Vin Diesel on the front cover. This is a common theme for all Men’s Health adverts, which put an emphasis on the men’s muscles rather than their sexual regions, with just 40% doing this. Compare this to Women’s Health, where 90% of front covers have an emphasis on their sexual regions. This suggests that both Men’s and Women’s Health have been created to adhere to the Male Gaze.
| In a digital world, print magazines have little appeal. To what extent do you agree with this statement? You should refer to the magazine Close Study Product Men’s Health to support you answer. [25 marks] |
| Media products often challenge the social and cultural contexts in which they are created. To what extent does an analysis of the Close Study Product Men’s Health support this view? [25 marks] |
Men’s Health takes a reactionary stance on the social and cultural contexts in which it’s created, rather than challenging it. This can be seen through Steve Neale’s genre theory where he, to paraphrase, says that genre is structured around a variety of elements that attract audiences based on their expectations. Men’s Health, a male lifestyle magazine, displays a paradigm of signs relating to the stereotypical idea of masculinity. For example, on the front page, the dominant signifier is the iconic sign of well-known actor, Vin Diesel. By presenting a muscular, heterosexual male in a powerful stance, the magazine implies that this is the standard for manliness and that all men should aspire to look like this. The dominant signifier also relates to David Gauntlett’s Identity Theory, in which there are four types of identity: collective, constructive, negotiated, and fluid. Men’s Health emits a collective identity where Vin Diesel is the expected standard for healthy men and a constructive identity where people create their identity around the magazine’s influence.
Lazarfeld’s Two-Step Flow Theory in which opinion leaders pass their interpretations of mass media to others. In this instance, Vin Diesel is the ‘opinion leader’ who people will actively choose to follow and listen to, and by being situated on the front cover of Men’s Health, he influences his ‘opinion followers’ to read the magazine.
