dominant signifier – Vin diesel on the front cover of the magazine
dominant ideology – Body image
reactionary representation – A heterosexual man and what society expects on him.
negative stereotype – this creates a negative stereotype to men having to be seen as strong and loose weight
The blue background is associated with male stereotypes, a traditional boy colour, male dominance.
Laswell’s module:
Sender – Men’s health’s is one of the largest men’s magazine and is aimed mainly at “manly” men
Says What – The brand of the magazine called ‘Men’s Health’ aimed for active men who want a better control on their physique / appearance to impress society.
What Channel – Men’s health is a print lifestyle magazine and can also be accessed on their website and social media.
To Whom – Aimed at men who are ‘sporty’ or active. If a man wants motivation to get into shape then the magazine provides information on loosing weight to get that ‘perfect body’
What Effect – Selling the magazine to their target audience through shops, website or social media.
CS Peirce:
Iconic sign – The bold text tells you what you can find inside of this magazine issue. It all relates to loosing weight fast
Indexical signs – The only image is the dominant signifier placed right in the middle. The muscles relates to the text and the magazine.
Symbolic sign – The magazines colour theme is mostly blue which is seen as a stereotypical colour for men, influences them to buy the magazine. Big bold texts all about loosing weight “demolish junk food cravings” and “Blast body fat”. The dominant signifier, vin diesel, is positioned in the middle showing off his muscles.
Stuart hall – Hall provides a framework for decoding messages:
accept the dominant message
negotiate the dominant message
reject the dominant message
Facts:
Men’s health magazine had an average monthly reach of around 1.8 million individuals in the UK between 2019 to 2020. The ages of people who buy this magazine between 2019 to 2020 were 15 years and above and could potentially be harmful for young teenagers because they feel this is how they should look like and that the magazine would help them with their goal to looking muscular.
The media chooses how people should look like. By adding a celebrity to the front page of their magazine it influences young people to buy and read it.
Mens health is owned by hearst who own 40 different companies founded in 1887.