Men's Health & Oh Comely (Exam question - Media Representations) - A2

Media products often challenge the social and cultural contexts in which they are created. To what extent does an analysis of the Close Study Products (Men’s Health, Oh Comely) support this view?

Media products and the message they intend to send are often shaped by social and cultural contexts. The producers may conform to or challenge them.

Oh Comely challenges social and cultural contexts, particularly when it comes to gender stereotypes. In today’s society, the common misconception about gender is that people believe that individuals are genetically predisposed to adhere to certain conventions and are restricted by social guidelines. Oh Comely challenges this by including a gender-fluid, androgynous model on the front cover, echoing the ideas of van Zoonen and gender fluidity. The story about a male who underwent a sex change and then reversed it emphasises Judith Butler's idea that gender is not a contributing factor to identity. 'Masculine' lexical codes are used (strong, power) to challenge the idea that women are weak, vulnerable and not capable of doing hard things. Representations of successful women studying are included which challenge the current dominant ideology of women not being as educated and intelligent as men. There is also a positive representation of a Muslim woman wearing a vibrant hijab which challenges bell Hooks' theory of ethnic minority women are more marginalised.

On the other hand, Men’s health has both adapted to the times and not been a significant challenge to the current contexts. The front cover denotes a muscular Vin Diesel, with a colour scheme of black and grey. This has connotations of masculinity (blue) and a darker, serious tone. This is anchored by Vin Diesel's serious indexical facial expressions which according to Barthes, were created by the ideology that men need to mask emotions and look muscular. The elements of hypermasculinity also echo current contexts as ‘machismo’ and alpha behaviour are the determining factors of masculinity. Societal standards for women’s bodies are held to a higher degree than men’s bodies. This is seen by the clothes that he is wearing, covering much more of his body than women would be expected to. Views on masculinity are being challenged to some extent. The emphasis on mental as well as physical health challenges the idea that men cannot be emotional. The inclusion of a 69-year-old runner subverts masculine stereotypes and hypermasculinity, which are often defined by age.

Oh Comely as a magazine owned by an independent company, challenges current contexts as profit is not its main motivation. Men’s Health is challenging norms to a certain extent but still conforming to traditional social and cultural contexts.