Vogue magazine from 1965 aimed to portray an aspirational lifestyle focused on fashion, beauty, and wealth. It featured glamorous advertisements and models that promoted stereotypical notions of femininity. While some readers may have been entertained or used the magazine to develop their identity, others likely saw the narrow representations as unrealistic or oppressive. As a large publisher, Conde Nast had significant power in the industry to influence audiences and minimize competition.
The Big Issue from 2017 featured diverse representations of its vendors moving past homelessness. Through positive portrayals, it aimed to cultivate empathy from readers and challenge prejudices by presenting homelessness as a temporary experience overcome through hard work. As an independent publication, it had more
2. Vogue
Media Language
● Semiotics - Roland Barthes
● Main image - direct gaze/mode of address, but aloof (chin slightly raised, not smiling) – connotes star
status, sense of mystery or mystique. Embodies the ‘mythic’ notion of femininity that is aspirational,
potentially a sense of the ‘desired self’ that a reader wishes to become.
● Turquoise colour palette connotes glamour, luxury, wealth, emphasised by the shimmering scarf, feathers,
pearls and jewels. Links to the green masthead. Make-up clearly emphasises Loren’s dark brown eyes,
stereotypical notions of female beauty
● It is a ‘glossy’ high quality magazine printed on high quality paper aiming for a high quality audience. In
1965 it costed 3 shillings (the equivalent in today's money is £6.33) meaning it was out of budget for many
women)
● Genre theory - Steve Neale
● The theme of the magazine is fashion and beauty, this is shown through connotations in the articles and
the advertisement. Revlon advert - makeup connotes beauty.
3. Vogue
Representation
● Representation - Stuart Hall
● Imperial Leather advert idealising the image of a woman in the home as a motherly nurturing figure.
● Stereotypical notions of female beauty- blonde and slender. Repeated use of ‘soft’ and ‘gently’, ‘safely’
reinforces stereotypes of women as weaker/ dependent
● Revlon advert - use of language such as ‘velvet’, reinforces stereotypes of women as weak/ gentle,
phrases such as ‘brow beautiful’ imply a sense of desire to look attractive (potentially to please a man)
● Feminism - Van Zoonen and Bell Hooks
● The underlying frame of reference is that women belong to the family and domestic life and that femininity
is about care, nurturance and compassion - Vogue supports this through the codes and conventions
portrayed in adverts such as Imperial Leather.
● Given the social and historical contexts of Vogue, we can understand why these representations have
been constructed in such a stereotypical way
● POC should develop an opposite gaze due to lack of representation of women of colour
4. Vogue
Representation
● Identity - David Gauntlett
● Vogue is offering straightforward messages about the ideal female ‘type’ fashion-conscious, aspirational
● Sophia Loren, the models in the fashion shoots and to some extent the women featured in the adverts,
could be seen as acting as ‘role models’ for the audience, while the female journalists highlighted on the
Contents Page and the Money article might offer an alternative path in career and aspirational contexts.
● The Ideal Woman - Jennifer Holt
● Magazines did not passively participate in enforcing gender roles, but were in fact an active force behind
the creation of the “feminine monster.” The manufacturing sector had decided to make women better
consumers of home products by reinforcing and rewarding the concept of women’s total fulfilment through
the role of housewife and mother. Women’s magazines spread a very uniform picture of women as
household-family orientated consumers.
5. Vogue
Audience
● Uses and Gratification - Blumler and Katz
● The reader may use the magazine for a variety of purposes and needs. These may include; ‘Surveillance’
for an understanding of the worlds of fashion, money and travel; ‘Identity’ in allowing the reader to
perhaps aspire to be like the cover star or the featured models; ‘Relationship’ through purchasing a copy
every month to keep up with the lifestyle choices; and ‘Entertainment’ for the pleasure of reading a quality
publication featuring the lives of the glamourous.
● Cultivation - George Gerbner
● Repeated exposure to glamours models and luxury beauty products may cultivate the idea that women
should always look glamorous (possibly to please a man).
● Repetitive adverts for luxury products persuade the aspirational reader to purchase these to achieve the
luxurious lifestyle they aim to live, using the models as an icon.
6. Vogue
Audience
● Reception - Stuart Hall
● Preferred Reading – attracted by the glamour of Sophia Loren on the cover, articles on art, food and exotic
travel, adverts for appealing products
● Negotiated Reading – women who might aspire to this life, but are aware of their own limitations due to
location, finance and social status
● Oppositional Reading – women might reject the message of aspiration as it is beyond their financial and
social means, put off by the cost of the magazine, and might see women just being used as a ‘commodity’,
in a way of selling them expensive material goods. (perhaps reflecting the social changes of culture and
the start of feminism in the mid-1960s)
7. Vogue
Industry
● Power and Media Industries - Curran and Seaton
● Major publishers like Conde Nast build power by merging with other rival publishing companies. This
reduces competition, as power is concentrated in the hands of fewer companies.
● This form of media concentration of ownership not only limits variety, creativity and quality, but also
reduces choice for the audience. This may result in companies taking less risks with regards to new titles
being published, while minimising costs and maximising financial profits
● Regulation - Livingstone and Lunt
● While the magazine industry is largely self-regulated (they are able to publish what they want within
certain boundaries of accuracy and taste within a code which they have produced) there are sometimes
concerns regarding the issue of monopolies or oligopolies. During the 1960s, when our set edition of
Vogue was published, this role was performed by the Monopolies Commission, who ensured that there
was fairness and one company did not dominate too much over others.
8. The Big Issue
Media Language
● Semiotics - Roland Barthes
● Moving On - Positive representations reinforced through media language, e.g. low angle shot of Marvina
Newton, high-key lighting, smiling, bright clothes and jewellery connoting success and happiness.
● Joel Hodgson dressed in smart suit, in an athlete running position connoting a positive start.
● Front Cover - Conventional movie poster, what looks like a billing block at the bottom,
● Structuralism - Claude Levi Strauss
● The magazine’s tagline, ‘a hand up not a handout’ sets up a series of binary oppositions, most notably
between charity and social enterprise, begging and working, dependency and independence.
● This is fundamental to the magazine’s ideology and the work it does in transforming the lives of the street
vendors who sell the magazine and changing public perceptions of homelessness
9. The Big Issue
Representation
● Identity - David Gauntlett
● Moving On - A diverse range of people represented - male and female, older and younger adults, different
ethnicities and nationalities, people with disabilities - reflecting the idea that anyone can experience
homelessness and move beyond the experience. Readers can pick and mix their identity.
● Grayson Perry- Presents an unusual and complex representation of a homosexual man, which wouldn’t
have been published in the past. Audiences have a wider range of reference points for gender identity.
● Feminism - Van Zoonen
● Grayson Perry - His expectations of masculinity were shaped by watching war films, presenting a very
narrow concept of what a man should be. Some indication that his mother was financially dependant of his
stepfather and so couldn't leave him, which suggests the negative impact of patriarchal dominance.
● It could be argued that unlike most female representations he is not being objectified and that the idea of
him in a frock is still a spectacle, but more as a work of art rather than an attempt to sexualise.
10. The Big Issue
Audience
● Cultivation - George Gerbner
● By creating positive representations of its vendors, The Big Issue cultivates the idea that homeless people
are not lazy or stupid, they are willing to work for a better life and future for themselves.
● The Moving On article presents this idea over and over in order to cultivate it to the reader
● Reception - Stuart Hall
● Preferred Reading - Would align with the desired Big Issue position as a complete source of social help
and discussion. Their political alignment would support the magazines left wing but not as left as it usually
is, the issue is marketed as apolitical due to its feature on Theresa May).
● Negotiated Reading - May be to find the philanthropic perspective behind the publication admirable but
may not be a fan of the magazine itself, cynically ‘seeing through’ its ploys to create empathy.
● Oppositional Reading - Could be oppressed by many far right-wing audiences, who despite its best efforts,
still see the homeless as lazy parasites.
11. The Big Issue
Industry
● Power and Media Industries - Curran and Seaton
● The Big Issue is published weekly by Dennis Publishing and The Big Issue LTD. Vendors buy the
magazine for £1.25 and sell on for £2.50. Ownership in a limited number of hands means that the
magazine can take more risk. `Profits from the magazine go to the vendors as the aim of the magazine is
to benefit them, so profit making isn’t a main intention for the publishing company.
● Being independent does somewhat inspire creativity and diversity however it must adhere to the
conventions of other similar current affairs/entertainment magazines to stay relevant.
● Regulation - Livingstone and Lunt
● The Big Issue has editorial independence and therefore can feature articles and content that other
mainstream publishers may be afraid of. This allows for more diversity and creativity and the magazine is
able to take more risk with what it publishes.
● The Big Issue is not a member of the Independent Press Standards Organisation however must adhere to
the strict regulation guidelines of all publications created by them.
