The Gentlewoman: Language and Representation blog tasks

 Close-textual analysis

Gentlewoman front cover 

1) What do the typefaces used on the front cover suggest to an audience?

The typefaces used on the front cover suggest to an audience in the way the serif and sans serif font are constructed to be simplistic yet effective in terms of what the cover wants its full attention to. The sans serif font adds a sort hierarchy and importance to the name of the celebrity themselves.

2) How does the cover subvert conventional magazine cover design?

Normally a magazine cover would consist of  medium shot of the subject themselves however in this case its a much larger close up shot breaking the convention barrier of a traditional magazine cover.

3) Write an analysis of the central image.

Central image breaks the norms of how a woman in modern society is viewed, heavy and bold makeup goes against these norms allowing the magazine to a have a strong representations of celebrities and women in general.

4) What representations of gender and celebrity can be found on this front cover?

Representations of women happen to level on the superiority women can showcase as well as men. Mainly the gentlewoman explores the female celebrity leads and their journey towards their fame.

5) What gender and representation theories can we apply to this cover of the Gentlewoman? 

Judith Butler - 'gender is a performance' this is seen through the extravagant makeup done on the subject.

Feature: Modern Punches

1) How does the feature on Ramla Ali use narrative to engage the audience? Apply narrative theories here.

Todrov - 'equilibrium' this seen through her telling the audience about her growing up with a struggled life and how she overcame them by having faith in herself.

2) What representations can you find in this feature - both interview and image?

Her placement shows the struggle and link between her career, the Cartier watch shows her path of career in boxing and how she has the 'golden hand' to support that.

3) What representation theories can we apply to the Modern Punches feature? 

There is still a lot that needs to be done in the media industry when it comes to feminist views as there is still a lingering for women to be independent life without being objectified and stereotyped, which there is but there are still women constructing their selves in this generation making advertisement still trying to end it.


Feature: Isabella Tree interview

1) Why is this feature unconventional for a women's lifestyle and fashion magazine? 

Doesn't show an image of the women behind the scene just her name and work.

2) How does the Isabella Tree feature reflect the social and cultural contexts of contemporary Britain?

In Wilding, Isabella Tree tells the story of the 'Knepp experiment', a pioneering rewilding project in West Sussex, using free-roaming grazing animals to create new habitats for wildlife. Part gripping memoir, part fascinating account of the ecology of our countryside, Wilding is, above all, an inspiring story of hope.

3) What representations of nature can be found in this feature?

In her landmark ecological book Wilding, Isabella Tree writes that “we have been persuaded by our own absorption" that the nature we see in Britain today has been here forever. That the hills have always been void of trees, and the flora and fauna is as it should be. “We believe the countryside around us, or something very similar to it, has persisted for centuries and the wildlife within it, if not exactly the same, is at least a fair representation of what has been here for centuries,” she writes. “We are blinded by the immediacy of the present.”

Feature: Stella McCartney and vegan fashion

1) How does this feature reflect contemporary social and cultural contexts?

Our sustainable vision is guided by and accountable to our bold values – making every action count, inspiring trust and celebrating life. We are change agents; we are activists. We stand up and speak up for Mother Earth, our fellow animals and in solidarity with all humans. 

 

We strive to create the most beautiful, desirable products with the least impact on our environment. Our conscious values are also the inspiration behind our innovation. As industry leaders, we endeavour to create the most cutting-edge materials and animal alternatives, continuing to push towards circularity and being fully transparent by developing tools to measure and report our impact. 

2) Comment on the typography and page design in this feature.

Bold and large copy is shown to emphasis the main topic of the page.The rest is rather small compared to the title maybe the show the importance of the detail, the serif font also withholds a lesser approach of being simplistic yet informative.

3) What representations can be found in the image accompanying this feature? 

Zoonen suggested 'new women' as a new journey as it would influence others to independently know confidence and assertiveness compared to the early years of being objectified by men. - initiates the use of blazer being shown in the image to amplify the 'assertiveness'.

Representations

1) What type of magazine did Penny Martin, Gert Jonkers and Jop van Bennekom want to create? 

“At that time, we felt there was a dearth of intelligent perspectives on fashion and there wasn't really a fashion magazine for actual readers. I guess you could say that there are a few more magazines like us now. But when we started, many magazines had the visual right, or had the text right, but very few managed to reconcile the two. I think that’s very difficult — to produce long-form journalism and a personality-centred magazine that has equally eloquent imagery and graphic design.”

2) What representations of modern women did they try to construct for the magazine?

This practical and modern approach is reflected in The Gentlewoman's overall editorial point of view, which, according to Martin, begins with the woman and not the product. "I'm interested in what [The Gentlewoman] tells you about how modern women live, from the way they drink, dance, drive and speak to the way they sign their letters or conduct their divorces. We make sure that the magazine is not just a pornography of product that is supposedly interesting to women. It's about putting those women at the centre of the material world around them. That balance is important to us."

3) What examples of cover stars reflect the diversity in the magazine's content? 

Cover stars have ranged from 88-year-old actor Angela Lansbury, shot in a peach silk blouse and Terry Richardson's black frame glasses, to popstar Beyoncé, looking calm, strong and composed in Dior with a face free of make-up. Meanwhile, on the inside, The Gentlewoman has profiled a wide range of women at the top of their game, including gardeners, entrepreneurs, novelists, artists and news anchors.

4) What is Penny Martin's view on feminism and whether the magazine is feminist?

Like many editors of women's magazines, Martin is often asked about her publication's stance on feminism. "When people ask me about politics or feminism, I say that it isn't a magazine about those things, it's a magazine informed by those things — among others. Is it a feminist magazine? Well, it's made by feminist people, so what do you think?! But I don't want to make those values and principles fashionable, because I don't want to undermine them by turning them into an aesthetic and I don't want them to pass into the realm of the unfashionable. Let's just assume that we all agree there should be equal pay and childcare and get on with it, eh?"

5) Look at the end of the article. How does the Gentlewoman help readers construct or reflect their identity by engaging with events and spaces beyond the magazine? 

"Other things" includes the recently formed Gentlewoman Club which extends the magazine's brand into physical events where readers can interact and chat with editors. "We're starting to develop our website as a kind of portal for real things to happen rather than a bogus virtual community with likes and message boards. I am so not interested in that. I think that's over." “For me, the future is going to be about in-person transactions and real conversations, skills and sharing in real spaces, rather than the cabaret of the nameless we’ve witnessed over the past decade.”

Magazine front cover - Learner response

Magazine front cover - Learner response

1) Add your finished magazine cover as a JPEG image.

                          

2) Type up your feedback from your teacher. If you've received this by email, you can copy and paste it across - WWW and EBIs. You don't need to include a mark or grade if you don't want to.

WWW - 

• excellent concept
• excellent image/photography
• colour cheme
• varied typography, cursive fonts
• sizing
• verbal language
• techniques
• direct mode of address

EBI - 

• positioning of typography
• consistency
• attention to detail
• punctuation

Level 5 14/15

3) Consider your mark against the mark scheme above.

Excellent application of understanding and knowledge of media language, demonstrated by the consistently appropriate and effective selection and combination of elements to communicate very clear meanings throughout the product.

4) Look at the mark scheme again. What can you do to move your mark higher and, if required, move up a level?

Tiny little errors such as attention to detail.

5) What would be one piece of advice you would give a student about to start the same magazine cover project you have just completed? 

YouTube tutorials will be a huge help but just have fun with experimenting the different fonts and styles of a typical magazine cover to do so, research a lot.

Advertising assessment learner response

Learner response 

) Type up your feedback in full (you don't need to write the mark and grade if you want to keep this confidential).

WWW- Good range of theories and keywords used.

EBI - Lose focus on gender in Q3 and more on ethnicity

2) Read the whole mark scheme for this assessment carefully. Identify at least one potential point that you missed out on for each question in the assessment.

1- Stereotypical ideals of beauty – slim, twenty-something, white.

2- Emphasis on traditional hegemonic masculinity perhaps a reaction against the gains made by women during the 1960s culminating in the Equal Pay Act in 1970.

3- Social and ethnic hierarchies: the belief that certain groups or races are superior to others.

3) Look at your answer and the mark scheme for Question 1 (Diamonds advert unseen text). List three examples of media terminology or theory that you could have included in your answer. 

• Armani ‘Diamonds’ advert constructs a traditional, hypermasculine message – fiercely heterosexual. Suit, white shirt, tie – classic masculine mise-en-scene.

• Monochrome (black and white) – stylish, sophisticated, reinforces traditional heterosexual meanings; consistent with aspirational branding. Low-key lighting, ‘chiaroscuro’, backlighting visible in shot – suggests stage lights/spotlights, fashion show?

• Costume barely visible for female models – flesh on display. Heavily made-up faces – constructed/Photoshopped image. Links to Kilbourne’s analysis of women in advertising.

4) Look at your answer and the mark scheme for Question 2. What aspects of the cultural and historical context for the Score hair cream advert do you need to revise or develop in future?

• Advert does not support Gauntlett’s suggestion there has been a “decline of tradition” – this is a very traditional representation of masculinity.

• Representation of gender reinforces Judith Butler’s idea of gender as performance – dominant/submissive gender roles clearly reinforced in construction of advert.

• Does Armani advert fail to reflect social and cultural changes or does this mean social and cultural changes have been less significant than first assumed?

5) Now look over your mark, comments and the mark scheme for Question 3 - the 9-mark question on Sephora Black Beauty Is Beauty. List any postcolonial terminology you could have added to your answer here.  

• ‘Othering’ or racial otherness: Paul Gilroy suggests non-white representations are constructed as a ‘racial other’ in contrast to white Western ideals.

• Racial essentialism: This refers to the linking of a person’s cultural and racial heritage to a place of national origin. It is also used to suggest that people from a certain heritage are ‘all the same’ and therefore to make value judgements about people from certain backgrounds.

• Double consciousness: Paul Gilroy used the term double consciousness to reflect the Black experience in the UK and USA. One aspect is living in a predominantly white culture and having an aspect of identity rooted somewhere else. He describes this as a “liquidity of culture”. He also uses it to highlight the disconnect between black representations in the media and actual lived experience. Often, these representations are created by white producers.

• Cultural conviviality: This refers to the real-world multiculturalism and racial harmony that most people experience on a day-to-day basis. It is in stark contrast to the racial disharmony and binary view often presented by the media.