Intro

David Gauntlett believes that identity is fluid, and representation changes over time to accommodate for this. A great example of this is Score and Maybelline. Whilst both present a eudemonia through their hyperreal (Jean Baudrillard) depictions of gender and sexuality, they are still essentially binary oppositions. Score depicts gender through the lense of old traditional binary definitions and ideals. Sexualising the women and placing them as subservient to the man (Jean Kilbourne). Through Stuart Hall’s reception theory we can see Score is encoding messages which are exclusively designed to be decoded by heterosexual men, and more specifically, white heterosexual men. Its lack of racial representation (it only includes white characters) is an example of Paul Gilroy’s post-colonial theory, as it fails to provide equal representation for black individuals. Maybelline on the other hand, puts an emphasis on inclusivity, representing multiple races, sexualities, and genders. Maybelline uses opinion leaders such as Manny MUA, a gay makeup artist / influencer, and Shayla Mitchell, a black makeup artist / influencer to gain access to a wider audience.