Women vs. Men Magazines
Comparing Four Magazines:
What Society can Learn About Itself from Magazine Covers and Advertisements
Individuals today are constantly bombarded with information. This information comes from many sources, most common of which are television and the internet. Media, thus, controls many lives, in a sense, through its sharing of information and of course, various publications. Magazines and newspapers cemented their existence long ago, yet it is today that varieties have multiplied and information has become trivialized. One must recognize this when seeing the kinds of "news" that the media shares, and especially when analyzing the angle of such important information. Yet many newspapers and especially magazines have, in a way, become almost fragmented by their own biases, controlled by a need to specialize in order to sell copies. This is true of many men and women's magazines, where it is evident that certain photos and articles cater to a certain community. Thus, stories in this medium are presented in a light that is not always welcomed or beneficial. In order to further analyze these statements, one must look at some examples. Below, the essay will present four such instances, from two men's magazines and two women's magazines, in order to see how information is presented to the various genders, and for whom this information is elucidated. After this initial description, or presentation, of the magazine's front cover photos, as well as the captions, the paper will analyze various questions related to gender in the media, which will be asked and subsequently answered below.
Woody Harrelson in Men's Journal
The first photo to be analyzed is from the magazine entitled Men's Journal. The photo is of Woody Harrelson, an actor, who is shown resting on what seems like a tire swing, or a chair. Harrelson is holding a very thick rope with his left hand, and has a pleasant expression on his face, though he is not quite smiling. The headlines that encircle this photograph state, in clockwise order, from the upper right corner:
1) Golf Special: 100 Hours to a Better Game
2) The World's Greatest Ping-Pong Hustler
3) Woody Harrelson: His Failed Quest to Be the "Laziest" Bastard Ever
4) Off-Road Motorcycle Adventures
5) The Sake Boom: An Expert's Guide
6) Top Chefs: What They Cook at Home
7) 150 Miles from Hell: Inside the Bloody War on the Mexican Border
As can be seen from this rendering, the headlines encircling Harrelson's photograph are very specific, or specialized and, in many ways, very macho. Yet one cannot generalize from this particular magazine's rendering of what men should be reading, for the next to be analyzed has quite a different take.
Whereas in the Men's Journal photo shoot Harrelson appeared at ease, relaxed, with nothing to prove, wearing only a shirt and jeans and appearing in the countryside.
Jennifer Love Hewitt in Maxim
In Maxim, the second magazine to be analyzed, male readers are presented with an almost-naked photo of actress Jennifer Love Hewitt. Though the actress is wearing a flowery coat, underneath this covering she shows a bra and panties set, and her bare body. The headline accompanying this very sexy picture of the actress reads: Jennifer Love Hewitt: America's Sweetheart has a Naughty Secret! In counterclockwise order, the other headlines read:
1) Girls of the 90s: Anna Kournikova, Britney Spears, Amanda Bynes, Lacey Chabert & More! (with the initial part of the title in big black bold letters)
2) A note stating: No boring stories with stuff you don't care about!
3) Zombies vs. Ninjas: Can't we all just get along?
4) Hunting River Monsters
5) Legalize Roids: 46 Ways to Make Baseball Better
6) Best Outdoor Gear: Spank Mother Nature!
As one can see from the above titles, almost half of them have exclamation marks. Another half talk about women, sex, naughtiness, and spanking. Though the magazine is geared towards men, Maxim is a far cry from the serious sounding subjects found in Men's Journal, above, and even includes a note, rendered above, in bullet point number two, to warn readers of the non-boring, 'juicy' articles and photos to be found inside, thereby inciting the entire male population to delve further into seeing what is behind the sexy cover of Ms. Hewitt.
Megan Fox in Cosmopolitan
The next two photos are expected to be different from the above-two, mainly because they are found in women's journals. Yet both photos, in Cosmopolitan and Glamour respectively, exude sex as well as or even better than the photo in Maxim,...
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