How Women Are Portrayed in Lynx and Cosmo Essay Example for Free

How Women Are Portrayed in Lynx and Cosmo probeMen act and women appear. Men look at women. Women watch themselves being looked at John Berger, shipway of seeing.For my research investigation I intend to explore to what extent specific media products use resembling representations of women to appeal to their tar raise up auditory modalitys. The examples I consent chosen to focus on are the iconic, international womens fashion and lifestyle magazine Cosmopolitan and Lynxs controversial beach campaign. I will therefore be exploring what similarities and differences they embed due to their oppositional target audiences and content. Throughout my research the main speculation I will be linking to my texts is that of Laura Mulvey, her theory explores humors of sexism and manlike gaze within the media industry.Hearst the publisher of Cosmopolitan describes the magazines target audience as Fun, Fearless Females, the alliteration of the F sound connotes a star of attitude and fierce behaviour. Alongside the inciter proposition celebratesa passion for life and inspires young women to be the best they can be consciously supporting women by portraying a sense of mandate and ambition. In contrast, Unilever, owners of the Lynx brand state their brand prospect is that all their products are designed to engender our customers the edge in the mating game establishing itself as UKs leading male grooming brand.Cosmopolitan are iconic for telling their audience about two main topics lifestyle and sex. honourable by looking at the magazine covers, it is clear that these two topics dominate. I researched the April 2012 cover of Cosmopolitan, it follows the generic conventions of a typical magazine format for a womens fashion and lifestyle magazine. In terms of the food color scheme the pink fonts and neutral c jamhing convey a sense of femininity and perhaps the passing(a) domestic lifestyle of women, although the lifestyle aspect of the magazine seems overpo wered by the topic of sex. The cover features an winning women in this case the iconic Megan Fox, posing some mildly alluring remains language, showing a lot of skin, all whilst looking directly at the camera (audience) with a libidinous, serious facial expression with the eyebrow promiscuously raised, and suggestive parted lips.Although the model is simply posing the latest fashion, the low cut, tightly meet dress connotes an over familiarised view of the famous person who is universally known as a sex symbolism in the media world, taking her place in FHMs sexiest women each year and continuously playing the purpose of the sexy womanish in various popular films. It is clear that Cosmopolitan use bold sexual connotations surrounding women, although argue that their intentions are in fact to empower women through their sexuality. Notice the models strong body language , the hand on hip look used alongside taglines such(prenominal) as sexy or nice? You decide, and sexual pu ns are even added in regarding n i sexual subjects such as career advice You on top, these are bold sexual connotations implying that woman should dominate to get what they want, mostly regarding the topic of sex. Perhaps fighting the controversial debate of sexism towards women in media by surprisingly encompass Laura Mulveys theory of male gaze.Cosmo put across the idea that if men find women attractive then it should accredit them by making them feel dangerous about themselves, knowing that they look sexy and attractive. The magazine are conscious to do this in a sophisticated manor, opposed to other trashy and over sexualised magazines. Mediaknowall.com state that Womens magazines have moved on and offer visions of independence and confidence as well as beauty and domestic concerns, yet women are still encouraged to look good. Body image and size have become a growing issue in golf-club in result of magazine content. The overuse of petite, photo shopped models throughout mag azines has resulted in these images becoming the dominant ideology. everywhere the years images printed in womens magazines have contributed to this universal feeling to look good and be a certain size.Lynx are known for their voyeuristic product advertisement, this ingredient of the company is what attracts their buyers, yet is besides their downfall. Lynx have been publicly criticized for their overuse of intentionifying women, using sexualized and provocative imagery and overall blunt sexism. The BBC tidings state that in 2011 six of Lynxs advertising campaigns were banned after mass numbers of complains were made they added that the 113 complaints said it was sexually suggestive and demeaning to women. I researched Lynxs recent TV advertisement and accompanying print advert titled The cleaner you are, the dirtier you get. Although I believe this is one of Lynxs milder sexualised adverts even the title itself contains a sexual pun, suggesting the promise of sex if you showe r with the product.The young woman on the print advertisement is no doubt an attractive young female, fitting the iconic blonde bombshell look. The lady friends enticing facial expression creates the impression she is inviting the audience (male) into the shower with her. Although the girls expressions look confident, there is a contrast between this and her body language. For example the way she has to loving cup her bikini top to stop it from falling. This vulnerability of the woman standing half nude for a male audience completely visually depicting her as a female, making her a passive object of male visual pleasure. A comment by Jean Killbourne (a popular media activist) backs up my point by stating that womens bodies are often dismembered into legs, breasts or thighs, reinforcing the message that women are objects rather than whole human beings.Killbourne suggests that women have become dehumanised into erotic objects for male pleasure. One element of Lynxs campaigns which c ontinues throughout is the idea of fake portrayal. In each advert the male role is played by your everyday, not overly-attractive man, contrasted with the female role being a desirable, young beauty. In an everyday world the changes of the male role attracting that pillowcase of woman are very slim. Despite this the main message that Lynx put across to their audience throughout their advertisements is that if men wear the product women will find them irresistible False portrayal. Of course this element adds humour to the advertisements, although all at the expense of objectifying women in the process and promoting the gender role of the dominant male.BibliographyWebsiteswww.mediaknowall.comHearst, http.//www.hearst.co.uk/magazines/Cosmpolitan/5-about.htm Cosmopolitan, http//www.cosmopolitan.com/celebrity/exclusive/megan-fox-april-cover-cosmopolitan Exploring the media representations and responses