Oh Comely: Representation blog tasks
Work through the following questions on representation and Oh Comely:
1) How do representations in Oh Comely challenge stereotypes?
--> It challenges stereotypes mainly that are aimed at women. They challenge the stereotype that claim that women are meant to stay are home. David Gauntlett can be used in this case because you could say that now that times have change and people are evolving. Girl power is seem as very important.
2) What representations of race, ethnicity and nationality can be found in the 'Speaking Out' feature?
3) What representation of women and femininity can be found in Oh Comely?
--> Van Zoonen is one representation of women that is represented. How women are moving away from the sexy listed features and going towards being seen in a positive light. Masculinity is socially constructed and there can be multiple versions of masculinity. Gelfer: 5 stages of masculinity. Rubio-Hernandez: masculinity is socially constructed. Butler: gender roles are 'a performance' and are 'socially constructed'.
4) What does the article suggest Men's Health encourages its readers to be? What examples and statistics are provided to develop the idea of men as consumers?
-->They are encouraged to be active consumers. The trend in men's grooming is increased as products grew at a 'average annual rate of 5.7% between 1997-2005'.
5) What representations of the male body can be found in Men's Health?
-->'A perfection which is assumed as a social obligation', where attractive celebrities are seen as glorified gods. A fit body to show the external consequence of self-discipline, effort and commitment. Their body should be a machine that needs to be refuelled the least possible amount, and to always be in competition, to beat the previous record and be better.
6) What does the article suggest regarding the objectification of men?
-->They are objectified as an 'erotic spectacle' and are used to sell products to other men, to increase consumerism. The sexual objectification of men has increased in the media.
7) What is 'metrosexuality' and how can it be applied to Men's Health?
--> Meterosexuality: A heterosexual man who enjoys shopping, fashion and similar interest normally associated with homosexuals or women. Men's Health objectifies men to promote consumerism, men buy these products to look like a carbon copy of the men objectified in the magazine. This includes grooming product or fitness supplement to build a better body as they are physically aware of how they look.
8) What representation of men in Men's Health is discussed in the section 'Homogenous bodies'?
-->The dominant depictions of having power, strength and youth. They are profiled as young, white, middle-class, physically well built and sexually attractive. They are categorised into their physical appearance, external look(style), and lifestyle. They exclusively represent heterosexual men.
9) What are the conclusions drawn by the article with regards to the representation of masculinity in Men's Health?
--> The magazine is popular as they offer questions of identification, expressing countless depictions of male identity. The magazine understands where it maintain controls of their audience. They use their advertisements and the products to promote a visual identification, a specific identity.
10) What is your own view of the representation of masculinity in Men's Health? Is it a positive representation that encourages men to the best they can be or is it a hypermasculine, consumer-driven representation designed to undermine men's confidence and objectify their bodies?
--> Men's Health has to promote products to sell them, their advertising revenue brings in a lot of money for them. So their ideal representation of masculinity will always be used to promote products by using a visual identification. The products at this stage will always promote a hypermasculine identity as this is their core demographic. Society's values will have to change and their audiences' beliefs should change and accept that there are multiple masculinities for men's health to promote multiple masculinities. So far the readers are mostly ABC1, so they see the representation of masculinity as a positive one.
1) How do representations in Oh Comely challenge stereotypes?
--> It challenges stereotypes mainly that are aimed at women. They challenge the stereotype that claim that women are meant to stay are home. David Gauntlett can be used in this case because you could say that now that times have change and people are evolving. Girl power is seem as very important.
2) What representations of race, ethnicity and nationality can be found in the 'Speaking Out' feature?
--> There are many different representations of race and ethnicity. Women that are usually under-represented are featured in the magazine.
For example, the young Somali girl who is promoting FGM. This can be seen as different because she is going against her societies belief and standing up for what is right.
3) What representation of women and femininity can be found in Oh Comely?
--> Van Zoonen is one representation of women that is represented. How women are moving away from the sexy listed features and going towards being seen in a positive light. Masculinity is socially constructed and there can be multiple versions of masculinity. Gelfer: 5 stages of masculinity. Rubio-Hernandez: masculinity is socially constructed. Butler: gender roles are 'a performance' and are 'socially constructed'.
4) What does the article suggest Men's Health encourages its readers to be? What examples and statistics are provided to develop the idea of men as consumers?
-->They are encouraged to be active consumers. The trend in men's grooming is increased as products grew at a 'average annual rate of 5.7% between 1997-2005'.
5) What representations of the male body can be found in Men's Health?
-->'A perfection which is assumed as a social obligation', where attractive celebrities are seen as glorified gods. A fit body to show the external consequence of self-discipline, effort and commitment. Their body should be a machine that needs to be refuelled the least possible amount, and to always be in competition, to beat the previous record and be better.
6) What does the article suggest regarding the objectification of men?
-->They are objectified as an 'erotic spectacle' and are used to sell products to other men, to increase consumerism. The sexual objectification of men has increased in the media.
7) What is 'metrosexuality' and how can it be applied to Men's Health?
--> Meterosexuality: A heterosexual man who enjoys shopping, fashion and similar interest normally associated with homosexuals or women. Men's Health objectifies men to promote consumerism, men buy these products to look like a carbon copy of the men objectified in the magazine. This includes grooming product or fitness supplement to build a better body as they are physically aware of how they look.
8) What representation of men in Men's Health is discussed in the section 'Homogenous bodies'?
-->The dominant depictions of having power, strength and youth. They are profiled as young, white, middle-class, physically well built and sexually attractive. They are categorised into their physical appearance, external look(style), and lifestyle. They exclusively represent heterosexual men.
9) What are the conclusions drawn by the article with regards to the representation of masculinity in Men's Health?
--> The magazine is popular as they offer questions of identification, expressing countless depictions of male identity. The magazine understands where it maintain controls of their audience. They use their advertisements and the products to promote a visual identification, a specific identity.
10) What is your own view of the representation of masculinity in Men's Health? Is it a positive representation that encourages men to the best they can be or is it a hypermasculine, consumer-driven representation designed to undermine men's confidence and objectify their bodies?
--> Men's Health has to promote products to sell them, their advertising revenue brings in a lot of money for them. So their ideal representation of masculinity will always be used to promote products by using a visual identification. The products at this stage will always promote a hypermasculine identity as this is their core demographic. Society's values will have to change and their audiences' beliefs should change and accept that there are multiple masculinities for men's health to promote multiple masculinities. So far the readers are mostly ABC1, so they see the representation of masculinity as a positive one.
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