2. Age
I decided to target my magazine at the older teenage market so made the decision to represent older
teenagers as the ‘stars’ of my magazine e.g. my double page spread star is shown as being 19 years old. Pop
music has always been and will always be a popular genre of music for older teenagers and I decided to focus
the content of my magazine on artists that teenagers could relate to. For all the models featured in my
magazine, I wanted them to dress like typical teenagers would but without reflecting the stereotype of
teenagers wearing black. Instead, I had them wear brighter colours, which I used to reflect their youth. I also
wanted to rebel the common stereotype that teenagers are lazy and insolent (shown in TV dramas like
Waterloo Road, where students are often getting into trouble for not completing work.) To portray this, I had
my double page spread artist shown to be intelligent, having done well in his A-Level exams despite pursuing a
career in music at the time. Another stereotype of teenagers is that they are promiscuous (shown in TV dramas
such as Skins where many of the main characters cheat on their partners, purely for enjoyment.) I decided to
correspond with this stereotype by adding a secondary story to my front cover and contents page about
cheating rumours in a teenage celebrity couple. A further stereotype of teenagers is that they are interested in
love (shown by teenage relationships in both previously mentioned TV dramas) so I chose to make my
magazine Valentine’s Day themed as this is a ‘celebration’ mostly used by teenagers. Another stereotype of
teenagers is that they can lack innocence (again shown by sexual relationships and manipulation in the above
TV dramas) so I decided to dispel this by having my models pose in innocent ways (the shush pose and the
jump) which aim to portray youth and energy. I also had my cover model dress in a modest outfit to dispel
stereotypes of inappropriate clothing. She also has minimal make-up on to further connote youth and
innocence.
3. Gender
Due to my research showing my main audience to be female, I decided to adhere to the
heterosexual ideology of society by making my double page spread model a male. Most pop music
magazines feature male artists who they believe young girls would be attracted to so I decided to
adhere to this guideline and therefore used photoshop to remove any blemishes and whiten his
teeth, making my model more attractive to a young female audience. Another stereotype of males
is that they are dominant in relationships, which I adhered to by the language used to describe the
celebrity couple in a secondary article on both my front cover and contents page. This made it seem
like the female had little to no control over her relationship as the male could be cheating on her
and could ultimately choose to end the relationship, connoting to the belief that women are more
submissive than men, relating to Berger’s Gender Oppositions. Often in the media, female’s
achievements are not reported as much as males in symbolic annihilation, which I both adhered and
rebelled to. I adhered to it as most of the stories surrounding my cover model were talking about
her love life, which trivialises her career but I also rebelled it as on both my contents page and front
cover I reveal further in the magazine there will be a review of her most recent album, cataloguing
career success, if somewhat briefly. Also in the media, women tend to be portrayed as sexual
objects as stated by Laura Mulvey and her theory of the Male Gaze where women must be seen as
adjuncts or sexualised. I rebelled this as I made my cover model dress modestly with minimal make-
up as more of a role model for young girls than a sexual object and I made her a star in her own
right without relying on a male.
