The document discusses representations of gender on magazine covers of KERRANG magazine compared to other magazines. It finds that KERRANG subverts stereotypes by showing males looking playful and wearing makeup and females looking independent and serious. This gives readers an alternative perspective by showing genders equally and without focusing on body image standards. KERRANG promotes acceptance of different types of people who want to express themselves outside of conventions.

1. This is the first KERRANG cover I got, itʼs a picture of Joey Jordison
showing only his face, the colours are very dull, which reflects his
appearance. The representation of him is that he is very serious and
dark, but also gives the feeling of anger which is shown through his
mask and the look he is giving towards the viewer. He is making
perfect eye contact to the viewer which reflects that he is no afraid
and that he has power, his facial expression is hidden by his mask
but from what you can see (his eyes) he has a very serious look on
his face, not playful or happy.
He has a lot of eye liner around his eyes which a lot of males have
on the KERRANG cover, this is different from other magazines
where males looks very manly, in KERRANG males normally look a
lot more playful and ʻfemineʼ rather than manly, though on this
certain cover Jordison does look kind of manly but itʼs more towards
a very gothic feel which is a change for KERRANG but the reader of
KERRANG will still be attracted to this cover because of the bold
statement Jordison is making by his mask.
This cover is quite different from the Joey Jordison cover, yet again it
does still have a dark feel to it (probably because it is the halloween
issue) but the male on the cover looks less serious, still making eye
contact but his facial expression says Iʼm not afraid to be playful and
different. Heʼs holding an axe which is also a very manly thing, I
couldnʼt image seeing a female on the cover of KERRANG holding
an axe on a halloween issue, the clothes he is wearing are very
ʻheavy metalʼ they reflect the type of music he makes but they do
contrast from his face, unlike Jordison he is not wearing any makeup
and has a more happy facial expression on his face. The shot type is
different as well, Jordison had a close up shut but Matt Tuck has a
mid shot, this may be because Matt Tuck is more stylish than
Jordison or on the Jordison issue they wanted to focus more on his
face as it stands out a lot. By holding the axe Matt Tuck shows that
he has strength and that he is brave and not afraid. This magazine
cover is more cluttered so there is less focus on Matt Tuck and more
focus on the Halloween issue and the 10 posters that come with it.
Again on this cover with Marilyn Manson we have another gothic
figure, but again like Matt Tuck he has a very cluttered cover, this
isnʼt because Manson does not stand out because he does, itʼs
because of the other things the magazine includes such as the
ultimate guide to download. Manson has a very femine feel to him in
this image, the amount of make up he is wearing and his pose would
make anyone mistake him for a women from a distance until they
got closer, this may be why he has a cluttered cover. Though he still
has a serious feel to him as he isnʼt smiling or doing an other the top
pose like Matt Tuck was, he is also not making direct eye contact to
the viewer, it looks like he is looking just above the camera which is
a change from the previos covers, it reflects a ʻI do not careʼ
personallity. The clothes he is wearing are also very dark and gothic
wearing a leather jacket while the rest of his clothes are hidden by
text we can assume from all his makeup and the contrast between
very pale skin and dark hair that his clothes will be very gothic. This
is more stereotypical male as he is not smiling and acting very
serious.

2. I found it hard to find covers with girls on them but I managed to find
3, this one of Amy Lee is a close up/mid shot, It looks like it was
originally a midshot but with all the text covering her up it sort of
makes it into a close up shot, this cover goes away from the
stereotypical female image which is being dependant on males and
trying to show of their bodies, this cover reflects the way Amy Lee is
and that she is independant and likes to take control in what she
does, she doesnʼt need to show of her body to tr get attention, she
reflects the type of music she makes and her personallity. Also notice
that her had almost ocmpletly covers the KERRANG logo, with Matt
Tuck and Marilyn Manson they covered the logo a little bit but not as
much as Amy Lee does, so even though she is covered up by text
they want Amy Leeʼs face to stand out and show of her beauty to
attract people to pick up the magazine. Though she is trying not to
be a stereotypical girl from the cover she stills shows that she has a
very caring and gentle nature and is very graceful. This cover still
has a sort of gothic feel to it, from what we can see Amy is wearing
completly black and the contrast form the pale face to the dark hair
gives a slight gothic feel to this cover
On this cover we see Hayley Williams doing a ʻplayfulʼ pose by
showing two of her fingers to the viewer which could show that she
is also angry which is not stereotypical female, she is making eye
contact with the viewer and showing a very ʻI dont careʼish attitude
a lot like Amy Lee, she wants to show she is independant and can
cope on her own. She doesnʼt have a gothic feel to her, unlike all
the other covers which are not very colorful, Hayley Williams has
bright hair and very bright clothing, her skin isnʼt as pale as Amy
Lee and Manson and it doesnʼt contrast with her hair to create a
gothic feel. It gives the viewer to feel, especially female readers
that they want to be like Hayley Williams, she inspires them and
the same with Amy Lee as well, theyʼre not the stereotypical girls
and like to not depend on males and be themselves.
In this magazine we see a group shot, but what is very different
from other group shots you may see on other magazines is that
the female is at the front, which also shouts the image that female
who read KERRANG and who are into the type of music donʼt
depend on males to protect them or anything, and again she is not
wearing revealing clothing, there is no sex appeal here itʼs all
about image and hair and facial expression. Everyone on this
cover are smiling and look happy, it would look strange for half of
them to be smiling and then Marilyn Manson frowning in the
background, it wouldnʼt work. Theyʼre also all making eye contact
with the viewer and their clothes are mainly all very basic and not
very complex and again not showing off much body.

3. Effect of representation
KERRANG does not follow the stereotypical view of gengers, on other magazines we see
male looking very manly and indepenant and serious and females looking very dependant
on the males or trying to look sexually appealing. But on KERRANG we see some males
following the stereotype of looking serious but we also see males looking playful and
happy and wearing make up and stuff, and females looking more independant and
sometimes more serious than the males and showing a lot less of their bodies.
This gives the viewers a very different way of looking at the stereotypes, it gives them an
alternative way to be and act and to look at people, it does not follow the conventianel
male and female sterotypes but sees them more as equals, the males donʼt act like
stereotype males and females dont act as stereotype female, but they act sort of the
same. They both wear similar clothes, a lot of makes and female just wearing t-shirts and
jeans and doing the same sort of poses and facial expressions towards the viewer, one
thing KERRANG does which others donʼt is not make people feel bad about their body
image, they donʼt show only very skinny people, they donʼt show fat people but they donʼt
set a standard to be incredibly skinny by showing of near-naked females and males with
no tops on, they focus more on hairstyles and clothes worn and the general style and less
on the way the body looks.
In a way KERRANG helps people feel accepted and to accept themselves more and to
accept the way others are, other magazines set a standard of the way different genders
should be, such as being skinny and strong, but on KERRANG they have all different
types of people and mainly, people who like to be different and are not afraid to try
something new out.