Issues of Representations P5 (b)

Representation is the way media 're-present' individuals, groups, events and issues.
This can be done through:
Stereotypes - Media institutions use stereotypes in order for the audience to instantly understand them. They are repeated so often that we assume they are normal or 'true'
Archetypes - this is the 'ultimate' stereotype. For example the 'dumb blondes'
Countertypes - A representation that challenges traditional stereotypical associations of groups, people or class.

Representation is concerned with the way that people, ideas and events are presented to us. The media reply on the audience understanding these representations and accepting them.

There are many issues of representations in media, and especially in fashion magazines.

The key areas of Representation include:
- Age
- Gender
- Social Class
- Ability/disability
- Ethnicity
- Regional Identity
- Sexuality

In magazines, Especially Vogue, stereotypes are used all the time.

Vogue is known to advertise certain beauty and fashion products, and by doing this there will often be the 'perfect' woman shown in the magazine to help advertise the product.

As you can see from this image, the model in the magazine who is advertising a beauty product, has flawless skin and a flawless complexion, long silky blonde hair and perfectly white teeth. There is no flaw, and it has clearly been airbrushed. This is an example of a stereotype.

This also makes it look like this model uses the product in order to keep her looking 'healthy' but in actual fact as you can see, she has been airbrushed. But due to the way she looks, this helps advertise and promote the product as young women will want to match this look shown in magazines. 

Weight stereotypes are also presented in magazines. In Vogue, the model always has the 'perfect' figure. This can lead many young women to judge people and make assumptions based on their bodily appearances.

Very often in the Vogue magazine there will be pictures of the man being attracted to the woman when advertising products. 

This can send out messages such as:

- If women wear this makeup, men won't be able to resist them

- That this celebrity wears that brand of makeup

- Wearing this makeup will make you look 'sexy'

- Many will see this as women being objectified 

- Women only care about their looks

A major issue in Vogue magazines is that the stereotypical woman is always 'perfect' with no flaws. This means that, they are never overweight, always have perfect skin and hair, and there is a problem with the issues of ability/disabilities. 

People with disabilities are either not, or very rarely shown in Vogue. These days, people want to see the latest fashions shining through in the Vogue magazine so you normally have the typical good looking models. This is due to young women looking up to their idolised celebrity and wanting to be like them. So they wouldn't put up a disabled person into the magazine which can be a major issue and does not send out good messages to society. It can make people feel unimportant and bad about themselves because they don't match the 'perfect model'. 

David Gauntlett is a British sociologist and media theorist. He specialises in studying contemporary media audiences, the every making and sharing of digital media, and the role of such media in self-identity and self-expression. He was concerned with how men and women are presented in magazines. Such as men can be seen to objectify women, or in other cases women see men as 'eye candy' Magazines can be said to have high levels of sexism making women seem objectified. In Vogue, women are always associated with how they look and what products can make them look beautiful. This can make it seem like women only care about how they look. 

Meaning and purpose:

Representation is the way media 're-present' individuals, groups, events and issues. The purpose of this is for the audience to instantly understand topics in magazines, but this can sometimes lead to stereotypes being used such as size 0 models which is typically stereotypical in modern fashion magazines such as Vogue.


An article on research of representations about Gender and Body image in the Press  by Miriam, Rachel Lowe:

This article highlights the view that it is not only the restrictive traditional portrayals of gender roles that can cause harm but the physical appearance of women in particular.
When looking at magazines such as Vogue, the expectations of body image is that women should be size 0 models, which does not give out positive messages to young females who read fashion magazines.

Like the finishing sentence of the article says above: 'The impact of media stereotypes thus illustrates the power the media possesses and the influence it can exert'
 The stereotypes such as size 0 models do illustrate the power of the media due to many young women feeling the need to stop eating and become thin and in extreme cases, anorexic in which they think is classed as beautiful, but this should not be the case. Young females may already be feeling insecure and so positive representations should be shown in fashion magazines where models look healthy rather than looking like they starve themselves. This is the power of media and representations.