Representations of Different sexes by Lucy Barker

Representations of Feminity in the media and music 

The representation of woman focuses largely on beauty, size, relationships and sexuality. There are fewer older women in media because despite however kind or nice they are physical beauty nears the exclusion of all other values. If a woman in the media doesn't conform to social expectations they tend to be seen as dangerous and deviant. Woman are also represented differently in different countries for example British viewers adored Patsy and Edina in absolutely fabulous however the US had to severely tone down the swearing and cancel out the drug taking in order to make it acceptable. Although this is the way in which femininity is represented in media many such portrayals bear little or no relation to the reality experience by woman across the planet. Woman are also expected not to sleep around, and those that do are classed as 'whores' by the media, yet men can get away with a lot more through the eyes of the media and some men almost represent that its O.K to this.

In music the beauty and physique of woman across all genres of music is important, although in some cases talent can be a bigger priority than this (such as with elder musicians) they still require an element of beauty. In pop music this is more crucial; many artists such as x factor judge Tulisa use their beauty to promote themselves and wouldn't be as big without her looks. I have learnt that when photographing woman in my magazine I need to consider lighting and photo shopping to enhance the beauty of the woman that will make it more suitable for the readers especially if it is on a pop based article.


Analysis of Masculinity in the media by Lucy Barker

 

Representations of masculinity focus on strength, power, sexual attractiveness, physique and independence. This is very accurate in terms of how men are portrayed when spoken about or in photos in magazines and films. Even Males of 40 and over feel the need to try and buff themselves up in order to represent what they believe is an average man. Take Peter Andre for example, he feels the tan and muscles are needed to promote himself because you can't see personalities they are not visible. Many men and young teens suffer from anorexia which has increased alarmingly in recent years. Many boys find that they need to be like their role-models in magazines, setting themselves an unrealistic target due to computer programmes that tend to buff up the man.

In terms of music groups and artists, representations of masculinity range and vary. Take rock music for example, bands such as the black veil brides take the emotional dealings and power as a bigger representation point rather than sexual attractiveness and physique. Pop music however requires a great deal of sexual attractiveness and physique in order to appeal to more people to make themselves and their music more popular. However pop groups and pop artists tend to be more popular if they are young, making the pressure even bigger for 'buffness'. Take JLS for example, one of the big reasons they are so big is because they have a good physique and sexual attractiveness which creates more fans

This means that because my magazine is a mixed genre magazine, including pop so I need to ensure that if I use a male in any articles or photos that they are dressed and fashionably, and that they are represented as someone who is attractive although this is not as important as talent and power, this is because the magazine is about music not men’s health. This is important as it appeals to my target audience. They should also be not too old, under the age of 40.