Task 3: Essay

To what extent should magazines be held responsible for the social ramifications of the representations they offer?

Women's magazines that are primarily aimed at teenagers, all follow conventions and methods to make their magazines appeal to the target market as much as possible. The front covers of magazines such as Company, Cosmo Girl, More, Bliss and Glamour all use similar visual effects that present the audience with a form of ideology of women and the stereotypical images and interests that appeal to them. 



There is an ongoing colour theme of pink and red throughout the mastheads, cover lines and puffs/plugs which connotes flirtatiousness, energy and even some sexual undertones. There are various images of glamorous celebrities that have been portrayed on the front cover of these magazines, they are all photographed looking slim with make-up and revealing clothes on to show the target audience what women should idealistically look like. This presents the readers of this magazine with a role model which suggests that all females are supposed to be skinny, girly and beautiful. Reflecting this stereotype onto the audience and bringing forward the idea that if their appearance is not similar to the celebrities displayed on the magazines, then they do not conform to the norms of the stereotype of femininity. 

Although these magazines are said to be aimed at audiences ranging from 18-30 years old, children as young as 10 have been found to flick through a 'women's magazine'. This means that teenagers and young girls are being exposed to make-up, tight outfits and 'idealistic' figures and these images being portrayed by magazines are telling them that they should look like this too. This has multiple effects on young girls. A 2004 study by the Dove Real Beauty Campaign states that 81% of 10 year olds are "afraid of getting fat". There has been a rise in the amount of young girls   wearing makeup on a regular basis, for example, teenagers have began wearing fake eyelashes, foundation and hair extensions; this is all due to the effect that magazines and ideology have on them.


 But it's not only the physical appearance that these magazines portray onto young girls that is having a major effect, teen magazines also give an insight into what stereotypical women should be interested in. Judging by the contents inside these magazines, women are interested in gossip, fashion, boys and sex. Cover lines such as "My sister slept with my boyfriend", 'Snog Swaps' and 'Naughty Sex Questions You've Been Dying to Ask' are all displayed clearly on the front cover. Advertising to the 'target' audience and young teenage girls what they should be interested in.


 Another cover line, '387 Hottest Back to School Looks' makes the clear assumption that school girls want to and should look 'hot' on a regular basis. This is causing girls to act and dress older than they are and to attract the wrong kind of attention from boys. Four out of 10 girls in England have underage sex, which is more than in any other European country. This suggests that the media, especially magazines play a large part in this, offering the readers 'Erotic Fiction', 'The Secret to Being a Great Kisser', posters of boys and even an 'Are You Too Easy? Quiz'.


On the other hand, this recent 'outbreak' of young girls wearing too much make-up and gossiping about boys isn't all down to the magazines they read and the images they are presented with. It is not even a 'recent outbreak', young girls have always aspired to look pretty and often experiment with make-up and dressing-up. 


But due to these glamorous magazines constantly displaying female stereotypes and ideology, it is certain that too many young girls are being told and shown what they should look and act like. In conclusion, I think that women's magazines are partly to blame for the social ramifications of the representations they offer. There should be some form of censorship to prevent younger than intended audiences from reading these magazines, or perhaps just a general awareness on behalf of the parents of these young girls that seem to be growing up too fast due to teen magazines.

Task 2: Magazines & Audiences (Part 2)

'Babytalk' magazine is aimed at a target audience of expecting or new mothers, hence the selling line which is positioned beneath the masthead that reads "straight talk for new moms". Cover lines such as "Will I need a C-section?" are presented clearly in black bold writing to capture the attention of the target audience of a woman who is expecting a baby soon, this particular story which is obviously featured within the magazine will entice the customer to purchase the magazine as expecting mothers will be worried about the delivery of their baby, and due to curiosity; will want to know whether or not they will need a c-section, therefore the magazine subtly persuades potential customers to buy the product.

The colour scheme of the magazine cover is very simple, the use of the white background with the large, central main image of a baby smiling makes the photo stand out to the target audience of mothers, as babies and children are the main focus of their attention. This image will also probably be the first thing they see when viewing the magazine, so the picture should stand out and be relevant to the target audience when on the shelf. The continuous colour theme of pink and blue are soft and stereotypically used throughout the subject of babies and children, as pink is usually used to represent girls and blue represents boys, these colours are repeated in the layout of the cover of the magazine to highlight key points in the cover lines and make them stand out to the target reader.

The plug which is aligned to the bottom left of the cover is in a different shade of colour, making it stand out more to the reader, the plug reads "holiday traditions to start with baby now!" which is advertising to the new mothers who will be interested in purchasing this magazine that they should get started with interacting and building a life with their baby "now" as that is what most new mothers are interested in doing. This also makes the topic seem urgent, convincing the target audience to want to find out what the "holiday traditions" are and therefore persuading them to buy the magazine and get started with introducing tradition and routine into their baby's life, which is very popular with the target audience.

The magazine cover has tried to appeal to the target audience by building trust with their customers, this is evident in the top right corner where the small phrase "on diaper duty since 1935" which suggests that the magazine has been advising new and expecting mothers for many years. This will appeal to the potential customers as they need to trust a magazine and it's advice, especially if the advice is given about babies and children, which is the main focus and priority of the target audiences' interest. 

The cover lines "6 secrets to happy babies" and "tips to better breastfeeding" appeal to the target audience as these are topics which are relevant to being a mother; which is obviously the main focus of the magazine. These short descriptions of what is contained inside the magazine catch the readers eye as they want to know what is best for their baby and curiosity subtly persuades the target audience to purchase the magazine.

Task 2: Magazines & Audiences (Part 1)

Glossary:

Masthead- title at the top of the magazine, usually central or to the left of the page.

Dateline- date the magazine was released and the price

Main Image- Large photograph or picture displayed on the front of the magazine cover, catches readers attention and is relevant to the main story featured in the magazine, also usually represents the audience in some form

Cover Lines- Short sentences displayed on the magazine cover that link to the articles and stories featured inside

Spread- A set of two pages viewed together, like when you open up a book

Left Third- Graphics and text that are aligned on the left side of the page/cover

Margins- Space that surrounds the contents of a page, can be adjusted to create more or less space

Downrule- Vertical line that is found between two columns of text to seperate them from eachother

Flush- To set out text or images along an edge of a page layout

Puff/Plug- Writing or statement used to attract audience's attention

Selling Line- Short and bold description of the different articles and stories that stand out to the reader and is often the main marketing point

Bar Code- Identifies product, used by retailers

Font- Style of text used by the magazine, can have an effect on audience

Colour Scheme- Combination of colours themed throughout the magazine, usually kept simple as can be important when relating to target audience, red is often used as it stands out more than any other colour

Gloss- Shiny finish applied to magazine after printing, hence 'glossy magazines'

Task 1: Getting to know Blogger

Task 1: Getting to know Blogger

Things you can do with Blogger:

• Post pictures/videos/other multi-media to your blog
• Receive feedback and comments from blog users, other students or lecturers
• Comment on other blogs
• Get inspiration from photos, videos, text and other multi-media from other blogs or sources
• Organise your work/posts in a simple and clear perspective
• Edit your posts easily at any time
• Interact with other bloggers and followers
• Customize your blog

How I think blogger will be useful for my coursework:

• Get inspiration from other posts and bloggers that could be relevant or help me with my own
• Use of pictures, videos and text posts will allow me to use different forms of posting to show a variety of media in my work
• Receiving feedback from other bloggers, students or lecturers on my posts will allow me to understand where I can improve my work and what I can do more of
• Displaying my work and posts clearly on a blog will help me keep my work organized and prevent losing sheets of paper or notes
• I can edit my posts and work easily without having to re-print or dispose of it
• It's environmentally friendly as no paper is wasted
• Easier to access work at home without having to transport notes, paper, etc.
• Allows us to have access to the internet, websites, online newspapers and documents so we can expand our media useage