The Gentlewoman: Language and Representation
Close-textual analysis
Work through the following tasks to complete your close-textual analysis of the Gentlewoman CSP pages:
Gentlewoman front cover
1) What do the typefaces used on the front cover suggest to an audience?
The serif and sans serif fonts are used to be simple yet effective in terms of what the cover wants its full attention on, which is what the typefaces used on the front cover suggest to an audience. It created a very modern look and reflects the values of the magazine.
2) How does the cover subvert conventional magazine cover design?
A typical magazine cover would be a medium shot however this one is more of a close up. It also has no cover lines and magazines usually have those all along the sides. This cover also looks a lot like a novel cover.
3) Write an analysis of the central image.
The magazine was able to feature strong portrayals of celebrities and women in general because the magazine's central image defies the conventions of how a woman is perceived in contemporary culture. She is wearing heavy eye makeup as well as a bold red lip.
4) What representations of gender and celebrity can be found on this front cover?
Scarlett Johansson is the highest paid actress in 2018-2019, her celebrity name is seen to be written in serif font to contest with her ultra modern make up. This low angle shot shown on the front cover creates and powerful impression especially with the direct mode of address.
5) What gender and representation theories can we apply to this cover of the Gentlewoman?
According to Judith Butler, "gender is a performance.'' We can see SJ wearing heavy makeup which we would normally link with females. This could reinforce Butlers theory.
Gentlewoman front cover
1) What do the typefaces used on the front cover suggest to an audience?
The serif and sans serif fonts are used to be simple yet effective in terms of what the cover wants its full attention on, which is what the typefaces used on the front cover suggest to an audience. It created a very modern look and reflects the values of the magazine.
2) How does the cover subvert conventional magazine cover design?
A typical magazine cover would be a medium shot however this one is more of a close up. It also has no cover lines and magazines usually have those all along the sides. This cover also looks a lot like a novel cover.
3) Write an analysis of the central image.
The magazine was able to feature strong portrayals of celebrities and women in general because the magazine's central image defies the conventions of how a woman is perceived in contemporary culture. She is wearing heavy eye makeup as well as a bold red lip.
4) What representations of gender and celebrity can be found on this front cover?
Scarlett Johansson is the highest paid actress in 2018-2019, her celebrity name is seen to be written in serif font to contest with her ultra modern make up. This low angle shot shown on the front cover creates and powerful impression especially with the direct mode of address.
5) What gender and representation theories can we apply to this cover of the Gentlewoman?
According to Judith Butler, "gender is a performance.'' We can see SJ wearing heavy makeup which we would normally link with females. This could reinforce Butlers theory.
Feature: Modern Punches
1) How does the feature on Ramla Ali use narrative to engage the audience? Apply narrative theories here.
The feature uses an inclusive narrative where the sport of boxing is seen as gender neutral. This can link to Propps character theory and how she is seen as the hero because of how she subverts stereotypes on equality.
2) What representations can you find in this feature - both interview and image?
The Cartier watch depicts her boxing career path and how she has become successful. The watch also reinforces capitalist views and ideologies.
1) How does the feature on Ramla Ali use narrative to engage the audience? Apply narrative theories here.
The feature uses an inclusive narrative where the sport of boxing is seen as gender neutral. This can link to Propps character theory and how she is seen as the hero because of how she subverts stereotypes on equality.
2) What representations can you find in this feature - both interview and image?
The Cartier watch depicts her boxing career path and how she has become successful. The watch also reinforces capitalist views and ideologies.
3) What representation theories can we apply to the Modern Punches feature?
We could apply how Butlers theory of gender is socially constructed and how it is rejected by the way the interview subverts female sports.
Feature: Isabella Tree interview
1) Why is this feature unconventional for a women's lifestyle and fashion magazine? Comment on the use media language in these pages.
It just shows an image of a tree and her full name but it does not show who she actually is.
2) How does the Isabella Tree feature reflect the social and cultural contexts of contemporary Britain? Think about AQA's discussion of lifestyle, environmental issues and ethical movements.
It reflects the social and cultural context of Britain by reflecting its environment especially by her book Wilding, where she talks about the 'Knepp experiment' a rewilding initiative in West Sussex that used grazing animals to develop new habitats for wildlife.
It shows Tree's passion for the environment, her advocacy for rewilding projects and her appreciation of nature itself. It shows her efforts to protect and restore ecosystems.
Feature: Stella McCartney and vegan fashion
1) How does this feature reflect contemporary social and cultural contexts?
The feature emphasises the change in contemporary fashion and how audiences and consumers view fashion. For example fake leather and vegan handbags and how people no longer want to hurt animals to get designer items such as handbags and jackets.
2) Comment on the typography and page design in this feature.
To emphasise the main subject of the page, the title is very large and bold which directs our attention to that. The rest of the typography is fairly basic maybe to highlight the significance of the detail. The serif font is fairly basic and gives it that modern feel to it.
3) What representations can be found in the image accompanying this feature?
We can see representation of an upper-class look as well as a classy look. The authenticity is prioritised so that the 'gentlewomen' is seen to be real and not fake so that the audience is able to connect with her.
Representations
Read this Business of Fashion interview with The Gentlewoman editor Penny Martin. If you don't want to sign up to the website (free) then you can access the text of the article on Google Drive here (you'll need your Greenford Google login). Answer the following questions:
1) What type of magazine did Penny Martin, Gert Jonkers and Jop van Bennekom want to create?
There is no flippancy in the way Martin describes what she does at The Gentlewoman, launched in 2010 as a biannual sister publication to Gert Jonkers and Jop van Bennekom's Fantastic Man.
2) What representations of modern women did they try to construct for the magazine?
They wanted to make it a bit more outspoken, a bit livelier, even a bit sexier. They also wanted to construct modern women with ideas that are seductive yet pragmatic.
3) What examples of cover stars reflect the diversity in the magazine's content?
Cover stars have ranged from 88-year-old actor Angela Lansbury, shot in a peach silk blouse and Terry Richardson's black frame glasses, to popstar Beyoncé, looking calm, strong and composed in Dior with a face free of make-up.
4) What is Penny Martin's view on feminism and whether the magazine is feminist?
"When people ask me about politics or feminism, I say that it isn't a magazine about those things, it's a
magazine informed by those things — among others. Is it a feminist magazine? Well, it's made by feminist people, so what do you think?! But I don't want to make those values and principles fashionable, because I don't want to undermine them by turning them into an aesthetic and I don't want them to pass into the realm of the unfashionable. Let's just assume that we all agree there should be
equal pay and childcare and get on with it, eh?"
5) Look at the end of the article. How does the Gentlewoman help readers construct or reflect their identity by engaging with events and spaces beyond the magazine?
Cover stars have ranged from 88-year-old actor Angela Lansbury, shot in a peach silk blouse and Terry Richardson's black frame glasses, to popstar Beyoncé, looking calm, strong and composed in Dior with a face free of make-up.
4) What is Penny Martin's view on feminism and whether the magazine is feminist?
"When people ask me about politics or feminism, I say that it isn't a magazine about those things, it's a
magazine informed by those things — among others. Is it a feminist magazine? Well, it's made by feminist people, so what do you think?! But I don't want to make those values and principles fashionable, because I don't want to undermine them by turning them into an aesthetic and I don't want them to pass into the realm of the unfashionable. Let's just assume that we all agree there should be
equal pay and childcare and get on with it, eh?"
5) Look at the end of the article. How does the Gentlewoman help readers construct or reflect their identity by engaging with events and spaces beyond the magazine?
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