Ideology

Ideology is important to a magazine because if a magazines Ideology is bad then it will not attract readers as they will find it boring, the main image of a magazine is also hugely important as a main image of someone or something interesting or enticing will certainly interest readers. For example:

This image is more enticing to a reader and is more suitable for a school newsletter than this image:

It is more suitable as it makes the school look a cleaner, safer and more friendly environment also it makes the school more look presentable as the lighter colours connote this. The second image makes the school look dark and creates a scary and disturbing image.

Analysing a College Magazine

This is the school newsletter for our school. We instantly know this through seeing the school logo and images of pupils in uniforms on the images, also the house style of the Red and Black colour. The fact the newsletter has lots of writing shows us although it is a school newsletter it still has a serious effect to  it. The newsletter is also formal as it has a 'Heads Message' and also has images of smartly dressed pupils, The sub title 'Christmas Concert' shows the school has extra curriculum as it has after school clubs, For example a choir club

Feminism & The Male Gaze In Music Magazines

The Male Gaze is a theory penned by Laura Mulvey that addresses the power that woman can have over men with there sexuality. Take this image of Lily Allen in Q Magazine For example:

We Can apply the male gaze to this image because the first thing we are attracted to in this image is the fact that Lily Allen is wearing no shirt so we can see her bare back, Allen is also doing a seductive pose with her biting her finger and looking over her shoulder so this instantly attracts males. Also the subtitle which says 'Sexy Beast' also shows us Lily Allen is looking attractive. Also the actual masthead, 'Lily Allen & Her Wicked Wicked Aways' specifically appeal to the male demographic. It appears that for a music magazine to sell with a woman on the front they have to be seductive and sexy in some way. However when we look at a male on the front of the magazine our perspective changes:

 

The First thing we notice about this image is Jay Z's face and not his body unlike Lily Allen. Here we connote that Q is only concentrating on his music and his music only unlike Lily Allen who's looks are more concentrated on than her music, It could connote that men in music are more celebrated than women in music. The masthead by Jay Z 'Meet the planets greatest rockstar' shows us that the magazine is concentrating on his music and not looks unlike Lily Allens masthead 'Sexy Beast'. 

However The Nme Cover of Beth Ditto reverses the Male Gaze theory:

Beth Ditto here who is a feminist and lead singer of punk band 'Gossip' reverses the male gaze theory as here she shows how woman do not have to be conventionally attractive to be presented on the front page magazine covers. Ditto makes a kind of statement here that women in music do no have to be pressured to look good on the front of magazines as most men might not consider Ditto to be an attractive looking woman, The Masthead 'Kiss My Ass' suggests Ditto is telling other magazines to focus on Women's music and not there looks. She makes this stand by posing naked suggesting that you don't have to be greatly attractive to make it far in the Music Business.

Feminism In The Media

                                                                History Of Feminism

Women played a major role in the 1789 French Revolution. But some argued if women had the task of 'bringing up the new citizens', they should also have a new status But the male leaders of the Revolution were basically hostile and in 1793 they outlawed all women's clubs. A woman's place was in the home, they ruled. This hostility persisted through the nineteenth century. Not until 1909 did French women have control over their own earnings it was not until 1944 did they get the vote. 

For black women living in slavery in America the late eighteenth century was a turning point, as Protestant evangelism combined with the anti-slavery movement. Women made up a large part of revival congregations - both in white and black churches. Black women realized that freedom from whites was not enough. They had to have freedom from men too. But uniting white and black women was not easy.
But during the 1960s feminism burst into life again in the US as part of a radical culture that included Civil Rights and sexual liberation. Feminist groups campaigned on issues such as childcare, health, welfare, education, abortion.

Lady Gaga, Beyonce and Hilary Clinton are just one of many who changed the worlds view on feminism. From the little things you do every day to fight the power, to the millions of women across the world who take a stand in the name of equal rights.

                                             

                                                         Feminism In The Media

Feminists believe that the media portray women as cleaners or housewives providing comfort and support for men or sometimes even a man’s sex object to service men’s sexual needs etc..

Some feminists believe that males are made out to be a superior gender in the media and that the media is male controlled.

                                                           The Male Gaze

The male gaze is a theory created by Laura Mulvey in 1975, as her belief was that film audiences have to view characters from a male heterosexual perspective. Feminists see people in three ways:

• How men look at women
• How women look at themselves
• How women look at other women

Some people believe that the male gaze is used in everyday life as sexualising the female body even when sexiness of the female has nothing to do with the advert or product at all, For example In some adverts women are made to look extremely sexy for no apparent reason other than to attract male attention. This can also be reversed as For example in the Diet coke advert an attractive man is shown cutting the grass, this has nothing to do with the product.

Semiotic Theory

Semiotic Theory is the relationship between a sign, an object and the meaning behind it, when a person interprets the sign they believe that the sign represents the object. The sign is the interpretant which means that is the representation of the object; according to C. Morris people are the interpreters of signs and interpretations are concluded through three stages:

• Perception: when a person becomes aware of the sign in front of them.
• Manipulation: when a person interprets the sign and decides how to react or respond to it.
• Consummation: when a person responds to the sign

Denotation

Denotation is the literal meaning of the sign, this can be referred to the dictionary definition of the sign. Denotation can be contrasted to connotation if the sign doesn't have the same connotation as the denotation.

Connotation

Connotation is the person that is viewing the sign and there personal opinion of what it portrays as. The connotation contrasts with the denotation depending on the sign.

                                                                                 I have used this front cover of the NME with Lana Del Rey as we can see several expressions and these are intepreted through Connotation and Denotation. For example the Denotation of this image is that Lana Del Rey is standing in front of an American flag but the connotation is that Lana Del Rey is an American idol. Also another Denotation is Lana Del Rey standing with her tongue out and her eyebrows raised but a connotation of this is that she has strange characteristics and is as she says in the interview a 'psycho'.

Music Magazine Questionnaire

As part of my Planning and Research I have decided to create a Music Magazine Questionnaire. By doing this I am able to find out what people want to see in a Music Magazine including what content such as articles, images, artists & cover mounts etc. This will help me when I come to create and construct my own music magazine. Please take a couple of minutes to complete my Questionnaire


https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1J8484Q-oFuPM49keSKKGBVkargND-ZXSjcQ_YYwiCDU/viewform