Magazines – Men’s Health and Oh Comely

men’s health	oh comely
dominant signifier myth constructed reality gender performativity hegemony female gaze conglomeration media concentration socialisation agenda setting	dominant signifier myth positive stereotypes fluid identity subversion intersectionality multiculturalism diversity socialisation agenda setting
-started in 1986 by Mark Bricklin -largest men’s magazine brand – 35 editions -average monthly reach of around 1.8 million individuals in the United Kingdom from April 2019 to March 2020 – in 2018 – owned by global publishing conglomerate HEARST UK – publishes over 20 magazine titles: Cosmo, Elle	– women’s lifestyle magazine – published by Iceberg press, independent publishing company – ‘Iceberg exists to do things differently’ – make two magazines – The Simple Things and Oh Comely –  final issue was published in September 2021
“lifestyle manual for modern men”	“mindful magazine with a fresh perspective”
Bathes  Todorov: equilibrium – audience is content, reading mag disruption – come across ad for aftershave new equilibrium – audience buys aftershave to feel masculine ideology: promotes notions of consumerism Neale: lifestyle magazine directed at men  conventional elements of the genre include: working out tips (28-29), healthy recipes(32-33), tips on grooming (44), etc…  these elements attract the target audience – a male audience interested in improving their lifestyle Butler: MH clearly presents a stereotypical masculine identity through the ideas it represents  – front cover depicts stereotypical muscley alpha male who  – pg 6 depicts stereotypical hardworking/punctual businessman  – pg 128 depicts stereotypical adventurous/risk-taker male  this allows the magazine to feel relatable for other stereotypical male reader Hall: represents stereotypical ‘man’/ masculinity – suggests that this is the only way to be a man – however only to an extent as there are a range of masculine representations hooks: represents what hooks calls ‘white supremacist capitalist patriarchy’ – primarily represents white men, littered with adverts which promote consumerism lack of female representation is excused in that MH is made for men gauntlett: MH different versions of masculinity are presented:  – front cover shows stereotypical alpha male  – page 6-7 shows stereotypical classy businessman  – page 130-131 shows active/athletic/adventurous man  – page 101 shows the unconventional older runner  by using multiple representations MH can appeal to multiple audiences at once  Gilroy: some representations of the black community etc – eg page 25  however most representations are focused primarily on the white community – eg page 2, 6, 18,  therefore creates a misrepresentation which does not embrace other ethnicities Van Zoonen: whilst women are not sexualised, Vin Diesel is arguably sexualised on the front cover through non-verbal codes of stance, muscles on show etc… Hesmondhalgh: Hearst as they own multiple companies in multiple sectors – of one fails, they will still have other assets  star formatting is another way of reducing risk as it attracts a ready made audience – evident through the use of Vin Diesel on the front cover and a 6 page article about him – fans of diesel will be urged to buy the magazin curran and seaton: MH health is owned by global media conglomerate Hearst who owns 20+ magazine titles  arguable to maximise profits  however creates lack of diversity for audience as all names are owned by the same company, representing the same ideas Hall: preferred – audiences gain knowledge on how to be a man oppositional – audiences may seek something more mindful/with cultural capital such as Oh! Uses and Gratifications: EDUCATE themselves on how to get fitter/healthier/better their lives  IDENTIFY with ideas presented top them or seek a new IDENTITY – a healthier identity  ENTERTAINED by the magazine through interviews etc	Bathes  Levi-Strauss: aims to abolish binary oppositions encouraged by patriarchy – encourages representation of all identities Todorov: equilibrium – audience reading mag disruption – come across story of Somali activist new equilibrium – audience now educated on the female rights struggle in Somalia ideology: promotes intersectionality Neale: female lifestyle magazine aimed at women, however, is more unconventional; instead of portraying glamour, diet tips, fashion, makeup it focuses on the underrepresented aspects of female identity such as feminism, gender, body positivity, ethnic minorities – genre changes as a society changes  Butler: women in tech does not depict stereotypical woman – suggesting your performances do not define your gender Hall: does not reduce people to harmful stereotypes – represents a range of issues and represent a range of identities Gilroy: subverts traditional colonial discourses by representing members of the black community with power and independence gauntlett: Oh! presents many different identities for people to construct, negotiate, collect, adapt: the female Somali activist, the Jamaican-Scottish poet, the plus size body positivity blogger, former refugee, the women in the tech industry, Van Zoonen: front cover portrays a woman who is presented as more androgenous, wearing subtle, natural makeup, who lacks any element of sexualisation  she is also gazing directly as the camera, rather than the camera ‘gazing’ at her  she is portrayed as powerful and more than just her body – unconventional way to represent women hooks: represent the black community on pg56 – Deanna Rodger a Jamaican-Scottish Brit is  indexical signs ‘fearless’ and ‘mentor’ – portrayed as powerful – radical representation of women Hesmondhalgh: evident in Oh! as being owned by an independent company who does not own a large portion of media products meant that the magazine went out of business in 2019  curran and seaton: contrastingly, Oh! is owned by an independent company which only creates one other magazine  meaning the magazine has the space to be as diverse as possible, as in its ideologies/representations etc wont blend in with other magazines Hall: preferred – audiences become more educated on things happening around the world, lives of minorities, and minorities to feel represented oppositional: audiences may seek media which is more like MH ie BS Uses and Gratifications: education/surveillance EG – body positivity (55), refugee crisis (56), female right exploitation (53) and how all of these issues are being battled  identity EG – becoming more body confident (55), gender (101-105)

Media products depict certain ideologies

Hall’s reception theory suggests that media consumption is characterised by producers encoding ideological messages within their products for the audience to decode. Furthermore, the media has the ability to decide what is important and what is not in order to influence their audiences ideology – or what is known as agenda setting. Both Men’s Health and Oh Comely encode specific representations of individuals in order to promote a specific ideology.

Men’s Health uses the Dominant signifier of ‘Vin Diesel’ to encode notions of hegemonic masculinity and represent this as the dominant ideology. Contrastingly, Oh Comely uses the dominant signifier of a women who has an androgynous appearance and stares directly at the camera in order to encode notions of gender subversion and suggest that gender is not a fixed identity. this links to butler….