Question 2- How does your media product represents particular social groups?

In my magazine I have three main representations of social groups which are:

Women
Teenage females
Age
South East Asians

A woman in line with the male gaze

as she is in an obvious recumbent
position and is nude (an attribute
stereotypical males would
appreciate, due to her being
objectified and vulnerable,

In accordance with my genre, I have portrayed

my two females in line with the male gaze to
appeal to my demographic. The male gaze is a
theory suggested by film critic Laura Mulvey,
describing the media we are exposed to is visual
art that are structured around the male viewer,
Thus depicting women in a women in ways that
would please male voyeurs. Since we have been
exposed to examples of the male gaze, we have
been conditioned to set female beauty standards
in accordance with this concept. Examples of how
women are in line with the male gaze includes them touching their faces (cant),
looking away from the camera (to look more submissive) and wearing attractive
clothing. Although most magazines display women in line with the male gaze, an
unconventional magazine may choose to disregard this theory, discouraging
hegemonic values in our patriarchal society

In my genre (Kpop), women are often airbrushed and are in line with the male
gaze, which is why, even though I am attracting a niche audience, have chosen
to display my models in this manner. My images display degrees of hyper reality
a theory suggested by social theorist Jean Baudrillard that images we see in
the media have been altered to a point where it is physically impossible to
achieve certain levels of hyper real beauty which many young females strive for.
In my magazine I have used software's such as Photoshop to agree with these
depictions of hyper real females by airbrushing them. Even by choosing not to
airbrush your images, a degree of hyper reality would be present as in a
photography studio, artificial lighting would be used to accentuate certain
features of a model.

My models are both in line with the male gaze, although

showing the two central kinds of feminine appeal. My model
on the front cover is sitting down with her eyes averted from
the camera, making her look cute and submissive, a
stereotype which is commonly associated with south East
Asian women, a background she is from. Her cuteness also
invokes a level of protectiveness in males as she seems
helpless which is also reinforced by her young age.

On the other hand, my model for the contents and double

page spread, hold a sharp, powerful gaze suggesting that she
is not helpless but is in fact in control of male gazes upon her,
objectifying her to the point where she could be perceived as
a dominatrix despite her young age (16). I chose this
depiction so that less successful females would strive to be a
successful singer like her. This links into Maslow's hierarchy of
needs which states that dreams and aspirations are one of
the most important aspects that lead to happiness.
Since my genre is Kpop I chose to use two south East Asian
females to be my models. This is a common occurrence even
in Korean pop, as many members of kpop groups are not in
actuality, Korean. The stereotype shrouding south East Asian
women, is that they are submissive, approachable and have a
degree of innocence about them which is only reinforced by
my model on my front cover to maintain this image which is in association with
Kpop
Lastly, Despite my models both being 16, I am exposing them my audience as
objects, reinforcing dominant ideology and hegemonic values