Magazines: Oh Comely - Language and Representation

Language: close-textual analysis

Front cover

1) What do the typefaces used on the front cover suggest to an audience?

• the masthead is in a sans serif font that is in aquite whimsical style that looks hand written , this suggests a personal relationship approach to the audience  

2) The words under the title introduce the content and topics addressed. What do these suggest about the potential audience of Oh Comely?

• the content and topics addressed suggest that the magazine is catering to an audience that has a creative and unique lifestyle and mindset 

3) How do the cover lines use narrative to create enigma? What do the cover lines suggest about the magazine's content and audience?

• the cover lines are very vague and dont have that much 'depth' to them which therefore create an enigma and spark an interest in the reader especially the cover line 'mischief'

4) Write an analysis of the central image.

• the cover star is a woman of a particularly androgynous fashion who inst overly sexualised and has a blur of mens and women fashion traits 
• her pose is quite confident and is very unique and isn't conventional for a model image 
• the cover star subverts traditional gender stereotypes through her minimal makeup, fashion sense and facial expression 

5) What representation of gender can be found on this front cover?

• there aren't any conventional representations of gender on the front cover as the cover star is presented as gender neutral and is emphasized through her androgynous characteristics rather than a specific gender

Feature: Speaking Out

1) What does the headline and standfirst suggest about Oh Comely's feminist perspective?

• the bold headline suggests an empowering and feminist tone which will most likely be heavily discussed in the article 
• this suggests that oh comely chooses to express its 'feminist voice' in its magazine that uses articles featuring feminist or feminist related interviewees as their proxy 

2) What do the interviewees in this feature suggest about the values and ideologies that underpin this magazine?

• the interviewees suggest that oh comely heavily value the power of women and minority groups as well as helping their readers cope and or solve their personal dilemmas  

3) How conventional is the page design in this feature? Why?

• the minimalist approach illustrates the facts that this is not a conventional page design  as conventional designs have a significant amount of more text 

4) Pick out specific aspects of this feature that subvert the stereotypical representation of women in the media. Are they different to what we may find in conventional women's lifestyle magazines such as Glamour or Cosmopolitan? Why is the absence of men a key feature of Oh Comely?

• the 'my beauty ripples' feature heavily subverts the stereotypical representation of women especially with the interviewee who subverts the 21st century eurocentric beauty standards and instead embraces her body for why it is rather than changing it to fit the societies expectations of what a women should look like, which is heavily promoted in mainstream magazines such as cosmo and glamour
• i think he magazine has a strong absence of men as the magazine's main focus is female empowerment and to eradicate negative visions of women that can be created through things like the male gaze (mulvey)

5) How does the photography offer a fresh or unusual perspective on women?

• the photography is very natural and is not overly Photoshopped, unlike other mainstream magazines, which suggests that the magazine wants to have a fresh and personal touch 

Feature: More than gender

1) How does this feature offer a fresh perspective on gender and identity?

• this feature offers a new view on identity that pushes the idea of gender fluidity and overall acceptance 

2) What is the significance of the writer and photographer? How does this fit with the Oh Comely brand?

• The writer is the sister of the brother that transitioned and the photographer is the brother who transitioned
• this is significant as this approach fits oh comely personal connection to its audience   

3) What style of photography is used in this feature?

• the candid photography again adds to the personal flare oh comely is trying to achieve through its content

4) What representations of the transgender lifestyle can be found in this feature?

• the struggles that come with being transgender is discussed in this feature aswell as the solutions on how to cope  

5) Why is the biographical information at the end of the article significant? (Clue: the writer is also an editor of a niche, creative magazine called Entitle).

• the biographical information not only adds realism and personalizes the articles but it promotes the writers other outlets 

Representation and identity

1) How do representations in Oh Comely challenge stereotypes?

• the representations all subvert the traditional socially constructed stereotypes  as all features show people ho have challenged the 'status quo' and voiced how they want to live their life regardless of society's standards

2) What representations of race, ethnicity and nationality can be found in the 'Speaking Out' feature?

• the campaigner for FGM is a young Muslim woman is an example of representation   of culture and diversity within the magazine 

3) What representation of women and femininity can be found in Oh Comely?

• the representation of women and femininity can be seen through the interviewees empowering and self loving nature that's heavily expressed

4) Why might Oh Comely deliberately under-represent men? (The absence of men in the magazine appears to be a largely deliberate move by the editors).

• the magazines main target audience is women so the under representation of men allows women to have validation 

5) Does Oh Comely fit into the possible fourth wave of feminism? Or is it evidence of post-feminism - that feminism is no longer needed?

• i think that oh comely fits the fourth  wave of feminism as it has a clear narrative  of female empowerment as well as promoting heavily feminist ideologies  

6) How does the 'More than gender' feature challenge Levi-Strauss's structuralist theory of binary opposition?

• the more than gender feature challenges Levi Strauss's binary opposition ideology as it suggest the blur between gender as well as gender non-conforming people 

7) Judith Butler argues gender is a performance. How does Oh Comely challenge traditional gender roles? You should refer to both the cover and the selected CSP features.

• oh comely challenges traditional gender roles through its androgynous cover star as well as its features that have a blur between gender and don’t conform to societal gender expectations this is a contrast to the men’s health cover that is very hyper masculine and conforms to all masculine societal characteristics

8) Angela McRobbie explored the empowering nature of women's lifestyle magazines in the 1990s. Oh Comely seeks female empowerment in a different way. What differences can you find between Oh Comely and more traditional women's lifestyle magazines such as Cosmopolitan or Glamour?

Oh comely chooses to represent women and how they would like to be perceived without the idea of a male gaze as well as not conforming to societal standards and pushing standards of fashion to beauty to lifestyle that would otherwise not be represented in a mainstream magazine such as Cosmopolitan or glamour

9) David Gauntlett argues that identity is becoming more fluid, media representations change over time and that there are generational differences. Does Oh Comely support this viewpoint?

• Oh comely definitely supports this viewpoint as it is a modern magazine but has modern ideologies which therefore have different media representations of a range of different people

10) It has been argued that Oh Comely is a far more open text (Stuart Hall - encoding and decoding/reception theory) with more room for negotiation in interpretation. Do you agree with this view? Why?

• I believe that Oh comely is a open text as it is a minimalist  magazine that doesn’t overcrowd its content and doesn’t overly advertise which is more appealing to an audience which makes someone to read more which alludes to the fact that its  academically more open to interpretation as it’s not politically biased in any way which leaves readers being able to make their own opinions based off of the magazines content