GQ: Language and Representation

Language: Media factsheet

Complete the following tasks using Media Factsheet 252 - The Codes and Conventions of Print Magazines available in our Media Factsheet archive here. Answer the following questions:

1) What are the different magazine genres highlighted on page 2 and how do they link to our magazine CSPs?

General interest, special interest, professional.

2) Look at the section on GQ on page 2. How do they suggest that GQ targets its audience?

They are targeting men through fashion and image, but also appealing to their intelligence and needs for information about culture.

3) What does the factsheet say about GQ cover stars?

GQ selects their cover stars very carefully. In the December 2022 edition, they chose Marcus Rashford, a Manchester United footballer. However, this is not the coverline they have anchored him with. It is instead “Campaigner of the Year.”

4) Pick out five of the key conventions of magazine front covers and explain what they communicate to an audience.

-Pull quotes such as “I was dancing so hard my dress

fell off!” invoke humour and perhaps shock, but also

appear to give insider knowledge. This creates a close,

albeit illusory, relationship between the reader and the

star.

-There are eight coverlines with substantial information

in them to cater for different audiences. The use of

synthetic personalisation (the use of “your”) reinforces

the friendliness of the brand towards the audience.

-The Masthead, the publication name, is at the top,

using a sans serif font type for maximum impact.

Price, month and year are conventionally added, as is a

barcode.

- Pugs are usually information in the top corners of a page with

a buzzword in it.

5) What is a magazine’s ‘house style’? How would you describe GQ’s house style? 

The house style of a magazine refers to its conventional “look” in relation to its writing and formatting. The house style establishes brand identity and helps to distinguish one magazine from the other.

Language: CSP analysis

Use your annotated CSP pages to help answer the following questions. You can find an annotated copy of the GQ pages here (you'll need your Greenford Google login).

1) Write a summary of our annotations on the media language choices on the cover of GQ - e.g. colour scheme, typography, language, photographic codes etc. 

Colour scheme- blues, white + black, reinforcing traditional masculinity.

main cover line- typography ink effect, unconventional for GQ typically uses sans serif to create modernity and a sleek aesthetic. 

central image- direct adress, quite an aggressive or challenging expression, medium close up.

2) Identify three specific aspects/conventions/important points (e.g. cover lines, colour scheme , use of text, image etc.) from each page/feature of the CSP that you could refer to in a future exam. Explain why that particular aspect of the CSP is important - think about connotations, representations, audience pleasures, reception theory etc.

Front cover: Robert Pattinson image - Art & Fashion issue

- costume/makeup-  vest, chain, tattoos, scratch on nose ect, unconventional look for Robert Pattinson since he is known for twighlight, male lead.

- Colour scheme- blues, white + black, reinforcing traditional masculinity.

- mise en scene reinforces elements of trad masculinity subverts GQ's classic brand identity (rebellious).

Inside pages: Jonathan Bailey feature and fashion shoot

- Representation of sexuality and identity that goes against traditional hyper masculine stereotypes

-fashion shoot promoting high end labels and brands, expensive GQ reader taste, Lious Vuitton, Hermes ect.

- Image- mix of trad + new masculinity, typically more of a feminine pose, indirect mode of address.

3) Apply narrative theories to GQ - Todorov's equilibrium, Propp's character types, Barthes' action or enigma codes, Levi-Strauss's binary opposition. How can we use narrative to understand the way the cover and features have been constructed?

Main cover line - enigma code + binary oppositions, image reinvents Pattinson from his previous heart throb celeb status.

propp- unconventional 'hero' due to the costume representing him as rebellious.

opening creates enigma codes to introduce Bailey as part of GQ's 'new masculinity'.

4) Analyse the cover and inside pages of GQ. Does this offer an example of Steve Neale's genre theory concerning 'repetition and difference'?

 repetition= conventions of magazines, masthead, cover lines, central image ect

difference= 'new masculinity' 

Representations: applying theory

We have already covered many relevant theories in our work on Advertising and Marketing (for example, David Gauntlett's writing on Media, Gender and Identity). We now need to apply these theories and ideas to GQ and specifically the CSP pages allocated by AQA.

1) How can Gauntlett's ideas on masculinity, gender and identity be applied to the GQ CSP pages we have analysed?
Gauntlett states that identity is becoming more fluid and this can be seen through Bailey's photography that has a mix of feminine and masculine elements that suggest that the lines of gender traditions are being blurred.

2) How could van Zoonen's work on feminist and gender theory be applied to GQ? Does the magazine challenge or reinforce these ideas?

GQ both subverts and reinforces Van Zoonen's ideas about 'sex roles'. This is because Bailey is presented through a more empathetic lens because we get an insight to his life but Pattinson can be viewed as for the female gaze especially with his known past heart throb identity.

3) Does bell hooks's work on 'corrosive masculinity' apply to GQ? 

bell hook's 'corrosive masculinity does apply to GQ because Pattinson does have an aggressive dominant facial expression which can be seen as hyper masculine but we see a subvertion of these idea as it focuses on masculinity's fluidity.

4) How does the Jonathan Bailey feature represent masculinity and sexuality? 

Bailey's feature represents masculinity as fluid and represents his sexuality in a positive light which conveys the changes over time towards toxic masculinity and sexuality.

Finally, read this short GQ feature on masculinity and answer the following questions:

1) What does the article suggest masculinity involved at the start of the 20th century?

At the dawn of the twentieth century, the idea of masculinity was simple – it stood for all the solid, earthy expectations of boys and men: strength, independence, courage, confidence and assertiveness. And that was an easy package at a time when men were the sole breadwinners, working largely in manual labour, while women would tend to the home and children.

2) What social change occurred from the 1930s?

From the Thirties onwards, the UK lost its industrialisation heavyweight status with manual worker jobs, and the masculinity status attached to them, in favour of an office-based deindustrialised economy. 

3) What is suggested about masculinity today?

Besides, paradoxically, the very qualities that an outdated "masculinity" parades (strength, independence, courage, confidence and assertiveness) are present in all of us – men and women. We now thankfully share a society where not only men, but women too, demonstrate these and importantly have the freedom to do so.

4) Why does it suggest these changes are important?  

let both the hard traits and the soft traits have open forum in our lives and in society. That can only support better health and happiness.