Magazines

Difference between component 1 and 2:
Component 1- Unseen products will be shown. Only two topics.
Component 2- 6 topics. (opinion needs to be shown). Need to make up question. Doesn't have to be a balanced argument.


Hermeneutic code- shows mystery.
Symbolic- meaning.
Proairetic- suggests something will happen.

Binary opposition- opposites (e.g: night and day).

Sights & sound (international film magazine).

(examples of generic conventions)

Layout and design: Glossy cover.

Images and photographs (shot type, angle, focus): Black and white. A lot of small images (no focus on one particular image). Images are all focused on film and cameras.

Font size, type, colour and connotations: 

Magazines:

• Free gifts (perfume, shampoo, cds etc).
• Lexis is different than newspapers- more gossipy.
• Exclusionary mode of adress.

Woman magazine (1964)

• Pastel colours- more "feminine." flower colours. These colours may have been fashionable back in 1964.
• The woman on the cover is middle aged, showing that there is a possible target audience of woman over the age of 30. 
• Air brushing is used (instead of photoshop) to make the woman on the cover look younger.
• Direct adress. Use of the word "your" in capitals. 
• It shows the way women should live their lives (always in the kitchen).
• The purple background suggests she is in the kitchen.
• An audience response to this picture, is that she is a stay at home housewife. 
• Model is plain and uninteresting, allowing the audience to identify as her. 
• Delicate lighting (key lighting) shows that women should be happy, bright and optimistic.
• Title looks handwritten, making the magazine appear friendly and personal.
• Theres an ideology that women should wear make up. Shown in "Are you an A-level beauty?"
• "seven start improvements in your kitchen." The word "your" is direct, making it seem personal and implying that women should be in the kitchen, almost commanding.
• Men might find the model sexually attractive, making the female audience feel as if they have to be like the model in order to become attractive for men. 
• "seven starts" is almost like they are telling the audience they aren't good enough in the kitchen and need to work harder. 
• Pride in being British- "British women have a special magic." 
• Not every woman in 1964 would buy the magazine, some may find it boring. 
• Reinforces hegemonic rules about the way women dress. (make up, hair, dress with flowers on).
• One audience response may give some women a sense of pride because there is a whole magazine dedicated to them.
• "Woman," can mean a female of any age, widening the target audience.
• The model is looking right at the camera and smiling, making it seem like the magazine is friendly.

• Contents page is filled with stereotypical feminine activities like cooking.
• Heading is called beauty instead of "health" which suggests that how a woman looks is more important than health. 
• "Make up works miracles" suggests that women who don't wear make up aren't attractive and in order to look good they need to wear make up (hermeneutic code).
• Women are supposed to be mothers- "back to school clothes."

Objectification= dehumanising people

Women in the 1960's were objectified a lot by the media. However, more women were going into higher education and aspiring to do more in life than just being a housewife. More advertisements were including women to widen their target audience. 

Key theory 7- David Gauntlet, Theories of identity. 

• Audiences are not passive, and media products allow the audience to construct their own identities.
• By way of example, what subcultures exist around.
• Genres of music.
• Certain genres of TV show (eg: sic-fi).
• Certain genres of video games. 
• Audiences can pick and mix which ideologies suit them, and completely ignore the elements of the product which they do not agree with.

What will the audience pick and mix:

• They would pick the table top section to read as its creative and they can design their own kitchen.
• Would just skim over some articles because they may find them boring.
• Different audiences will react Differently to the articles.
• Time changes- sexism.
• Being smart with your money- women don't get paid as much as men.
• Its the woman's job to design the kitchen.
• The top left picture of a woman and a little boy cooking can be seen as strange back in the 60's- it might be frowned upon to see a boy doing a job that women back then were supposed to do.
• "Your kitchen" implies ownership.
• Use of the word "girl" connotes being young and feeble minded.
• Images of women in a kitchen, cultivating the ideology that women belong in the kitchen. 

Key theory 8, Feminist theory- Lisbet Van Zoonen

• Gender is constructed through codes and conventions of media products, and the idea of what is male and what is female changes over time.
• Women's bodies are used in media products as a spectacle for heterosexual male audiences, which reinforces patriarchal hegemony.

The male gaze

Representation of women in 1964:

• "Mysterious" suggests British women are exotic to men. Can be a form of objectification.
• They please men, they are there to make men's lives better and easier.
• "Snow- capped volcanoes," objectification.
• He is saying it is okay to objectify women if you are married.
• He looks confident and bigheaded.
• Hitchcock is considered an unattractive man, however, a possible reason why there are many pictures of him is because women may be attracted to the idea that he is famous and has money.
• Proairetic code- Alfred talking.
• Picture of Grace Kelley on the side because she is considered attractive, may influence heterosexual women to want to look like her.
• Grace Kelley looks vulnerable and passive whereas Hitchcock looks active because he's busy talking.
• Its like a monologue- Alfred is the only one talking.