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.

mens health:

• 75% of products sold have been in print form and 25% being digital copies
• Mens health is owned by Hearst who are an American mass media conglomerate
• Hearst own a magazine similar to Mens health but for women called Womens health which also uses stereotypes such as colours with Womens health being mainly pink
• half of mens health demographic is women

oh:

• left wing
• average age of reader is 27
• owned by iceberg press
• launched in 2010

In modern day magazines have been over taken by the digital world seeing a large decline in sales. I will be analysing our CSPs Oh Comely and Mens Health in order to capture the masculine and feminine stereotypes created by society. To do this I will look at theorists such as Laura Mulvey, Stuart Hall and David Hesmondhalgh. Our CSP Oh Comely is a niche lifestyle magazine owned by a multi media conglomerate, Hearst.

Tomb Raider

Metroid

Sims Freeplay

Game	Tomb Raider	Metroid	Sims Freeplay
Summary	Lara Croft is one of the most recognisable protagonists in computer games. Her agility and confidence offered a counter representation to the passive female characters that were found in most other titles, but some critics believed she was a negative role model for young people because her ridiculous body shape reduced her to an object that appealed to male gaze.
Key Facts	…watching Tomb Raider… might encourage girls to become somewhat more independent and feisty, without them needing to directly copy an extensive fight sequence, embark on a perilous quest for ancient artifacts… David Gauntlett
Key words	Jarod Lanier, Socialisation, Regulation, Utopian Possibilities, David Gauntlett, Henry Jenkins, Privacy, Baudrillard	Jarod Lanier, Socialisation, Regulation, Utopian Possibilities, David Gauntlett, Henry Jenkins, Privacy, Baudrillard	Jarod Lanier, Socialisation, Regulation, Utopian Possibilities, David Gauntlett, Henry Jenkins, Privacy, Baudrillard
Talking points
Introductions

Introduction.

Theorists such as Jarod Lanier, Baudrillard, Henry Jenkins all in one way or another have a say on New Media. I would also like to include David Gauntlett in the discussion on video games.

• David Gauntlett
• Feminist Frequency
• Male Gaze
• Fluid Identity
• Imagines communities
• Simulation
• Semiotics
• Baudrillard
• Lanier
• Bandura
• Gerbner
• Cultivation Theory

“Metroid Prime 2: Echoes” was released in 2004 for the Nintendo GameCube

• Samus Aran puts on her power suit, gets her weapons ready and protects the galaxy from the evil Space Pirates. She is the hero. – Relating to feminist ideas and how women are presented in the media like said by Van Zoonen and Judith Butler

Key words:

• male gaze
• semiotics (icon, symbol, sign)
• risky business (hesmondhalgh)
• Jarod lainer
• gender performance
• simulation
• hyperreality

tomb raider:

• Lara croft outfit not suitable for her adventures which suggests the character is there to be objectified to satisfy the male gaze
• Sexualised body however does not ‘perform’ her femininity
• Judith Butler – “masculine and feminine roles are not biologically fixed but socially constructed” – shown in tomb raider as Lara croft doing as what society would expect a male to do

metroid:

• As of december 2021 Metroid franchise has sold over 20 million copies globally

sims freeplay:

• Released for BlackBerry 10 in July 2013 and Windows Phone 8 in September 2013
• 77% of women surveyed ages 35-54 said they played the game to “help them relax”. For women aged 55-64 the game provided “mental stimulation” – creates escapism and a hyperreality

• self esteem
• richard dyer
• gender perfomativity
• Jean kilbourne
• risk
• judith butler
• constucted identity
• mainstreaming.

stats and facts:

Sims 4 has received 36 million players worldwide across all platforms as of 2021, and has generated over $1 billion of total revenue as of 2019.

Tomb Raider games have sold over 95 million copies worldwide by 2022. while the entire franchise generated close to $1.2 billion in revenue by 2002.

As of December 2021, the Metroid franchise has sold over 20.19 million copies worldwide.

Key words/Ideas:

• Simulation/ Hyperreality (Baudrillard)
• Personal needs (Escapism, self esteem) – Uses and Gratifications (Katz, bloomer)
• Interactivity
• Risky Business (David Hesmondhalgh)
• Male Gaze (Laura Mulvey)
• Gender perfromance (Judith Butler)
• Encoding and Decoding (Stuart Hall)
• Semiotics (Barthes)
• New Media (Bandaura, Skinner)
• Mean World Index (George Gerbner)
• Transformation of the Public Sphere (Jurgan Habermas) – becoming more anti-social and almost reversing the communication process that we have learnt as a society. People would rather text then talk to one another.
• Jarod Lanier

Tomb Raider

Article: Why Diversity Matters – Links as to why media should include more diversity in their representations. These quotes are referring to the gaming industry.

• ‘ The industry traditionally projects an image that is young, white, straight and male’
• ‘Most games feature white protagonists’
• ‘A scene in Pakistan displays shop signs written in Arabic, even though Pakistani people speak English and Urdu, not Arabic’
• Links to male gaze as the way it objectifies Lara Croft
• Links to Gender performance as she is posing as a radical representation for the the activity of women

Sims

• Developed by EA Mobile and Firemonkeys Studios in 2011  (Nick Balaban, Michael Rubin) 
• December 2011 – released for iOS
• February 2012 – released for Android
• Released for BlackBerry 10 in July 2013 and Windows Phone 8 in September 2013
• The global mobile games market size is expected to reach $172.10 Billion in 2023.
• Video games are rated in the UK (Pegi Rating System)
• Sims construct their characters based of the functioning stereotypes within society
• Sims seem to reflect individualist values and opinions

• Broad target audience 12-40+
• 77% of women surveyed ages 35-54 said they played the game to “help them relax”. For women aged 55-64 the game provided “mental stimulation” – Links to Katz with uses and gratifications. Creates escapism.
• Freedom to customise the character to look a certain way – helps to create a wider range of diversity where audiences can feel represented
• “It is no longer a question of imitation, nor duplication, nor even parody. It is a question of substituting the signs of the real for the real” – Baudrillard, this applies as the game is still being constantly updated to create a more effective simulation

Metroid

Article: Why Diversity Matters – Links as to why media should include more diversity in their representations. These quotes are referring to the gaming industry.

• ‘ The industry traditionally projects an image that is young, white, straight and male’
• ‘Most games feature white protagonists’
• ‘A scene in Pakistan displays shop signs written in Arabic, even though Pakistani people speak English and Urdu, not Arabic’

Opening Paragraph:

Baudrillard claims that our society has replaced reality and meaning with signs and symbols and that human experience is a simulation of reality. This can be seen in Sims Freeplay

Teen vogue–

American online publication

TEEN VOGUE

The young person’s guide to conquering (and saving) the world. Teen Vogue covers the latest in celebrity news, politics, fashion, beauty, wellness, lifestyle, and entertainment.

HESMONDHALGH –

Talks about the cultural industries being a risky business in his book ‘The cultural industries’ , businesses need to attract their target audience to earn profit and be successful

Teen vogue is a online magazine produced by Conde nast in January 2003, targeted at teenagers as a sister publication to Vogue and moved online on November 2017 because of new media, online is easier to access and for free on some magazine websites. Teen vogue talks about fashion, culture, politics.

New media:

New media is more interactive

Teen vogue:

• Teen Vogue is an American online publication, formerly in print, launched in January 2003, as a sister publication to Vogue, targeted at teenagers. Like Vogue, it included stories about fashion and celebrities
• Owned by Conde Nast
• 80% of Teen Vogue employees are women, while 20% are men
• Teen vogue had 7.8 million website visits throughout March 2023
• Teen Vogue have around 14 million followers throughout all social media platforms
• 3.4x more likely to be woman aged 18-24

The voice:

• Target audience of Black Britons aged 18-50
• The voice started as a weekly newspaper and changed to monthly
• Used to be print form and changed to the internet

Teen Vogue:

Transnational
Conglomerate

-Launched in February 2003 as a sister paper to US vogue.
-Its aimed at a youth audience.
-Its a commercial media product.
-Teen vogue is aspirational entertainment to young women.
-led by former beauty director “Amy Astley”
-print edition stopped November 2017.
-decline in sales in 2015 as online grew significantly.

The voice: