Evaulation: Representations

In my photos I have used a female model wearing fashionable clothes- from the high street store ‘New Look’ which is where a large number of teens in the age of my target audience shop (including males). My subject is not smiling or looking aggressive and is not looking in the camera- she is pulling a glamorous pose which connotes mystery or something unique. The cover lines and articles use slang and imply that my audience are interested in fashion, the latest trends and all of the things typical teens are. According to my magazine, young people have the attitude of wanting to be popular, wearing the latest clothes and fitting in with others. I have reinforced stereotypes of youth. I have represented gender in a stereotypical way, by using girlie girl models and subjects for my interviews. I have not represented race or class in a particular way as my magazine is suitable for any culture and any class- it is just aimed at normal teens from any background.I have represented youth in a quite light and playful way. My magazine does not connote rebellion and instead connotes fun, gossip and information which is enjoyable to read. I have tried to connote this by using bright colours, in certain patterns such as rays that look like a spotlight from the top left hand corner of the front cover which start thin and get wider towards the bottom end of the page. These are in a range of colours. I have also included graphics and used fun, rounded fonts to give the reader the impression that the magazine is informal and cool looking. This again fits in to no youth sub-culture and is purely for individuals.
The text on my front cover and in the contents page makes very few assumptions as to who is excluded from the text, as it is fairly neutral and not leaning towards anybody. The reader would have to like and take an interest in the articles and bands in the magazine but other than that it is not aimed at anybody in particular. I have created rather a stereotyped representation of feminity in my products. The double page spread is assumed to be girlie as it is an interview from an American female who is number one in the charts for producing a dance song and males would not want to read it; The reason for this being that the interview includes conversation about boyfriends, dogs, shopping and stereotypical girl interests. The colour scheme could also be described as being girlie with main colours of pink, yellow, green and blue which could automatically deter any male who turns to the page. These assumptions tally with my target audience as it is supposed to have a higher number of female readers than male. The person in my magazine is posing in photographs, looking very glamorous and icon like? And is being a typical female in the articles as described above. The appearance of her could fit in with typical stereotypes of blonde, dumb girls who are famous and obsessed with their own appearance, or vain even? I have probably reinforced this stereotype in my interview with the female artist ‘Lady Gaga’ by some of the conversation, using typical American and female phrases such as “oh my gosh” and “pooch.” I do not necessarily think that this is a bad thing however as teenage girls would be able to relate to the topics approached and words used.