Vogue October 2018 Cover

Vogue has used the main image as Lady Gaga in order to reflect the target audience being aimed at women as well as setting successful role models and representations for the brand. The use of direct eye contact that Lady Gaga has with the reader makes it more personalised and suited to them. The photographic image promotes the film “A Star Is Born” starring Lady Gaga with a play on words as it reads “A Star Reborn”.

Vogue’s masthead is identifiable even when partly covered, it portrays a sense of familiarity with the reader. The use of pink in Vogue’s masthead reflects femininity and the “United States of women”, personally empowering the reader as well as feminism in general. All other articles mentioning women on the cover are written in the same shade of pink to reinforce the power of women. The cover lines on the cover are displayed to engage the audience’s attention and interest. Lady Gaga is centred on the front cover with a plain modern background which is contrasted by her black dress. The use of little makeup worn in the picture goes against most modern beauty magazines today, Vogue has done this to represent their brand as different to social norms and therefore women should support it. The direct quote from Lady Gaga “There has been a galaxy of change” further interprets this with the topic of feminism. The cover line “Dressing for the real world” conveys her acting, modelling and singing career as she was previously known for her exaggerative and expressive dresses. Vogue have also used simple “Oct” to display the date, illustrating the simplicity and modern design.

The functions of the cover display that the magazine is intended for women, with its common use of feministic language and strong connotations to feminism itself. The modern style of the magazine make it clear to an audience that it is based on fashion and beauty, as well as the cover lines which reinforce this. The magazine stands out because of its use of colour in regards to the iconic Vogue logo in bold as well as the use of a celebrity figure (Lady Gaga), who is easily recognisable. Although through in this image it could be argued that Lady Gaga is making suggestive or sexualised gestures and consequently not empowering women. The Typography on the cover is mostly all the same font, suggesting a common theme to the reader as well as a modernised vibe to the magazine and fashion industry. The text is placed around her in order to create a crowded construct that the magazine contains a lot of content and organisation. The text also reads “Forget the rules, just have fun” directly addressing the audience through imperatives makes the reader more inclined to buy the magazine.

Vogue May 2018 Cover

The main image on this front cover takes up almost of the page. It also contains five models, more than the typical usual one model on the cover. They are all wearing modern clothes which are neutral in colour in order to represent and embrace their ethnicities and identities to the reader. Vogue wants to send a message of diversity to its audience and has therefore used models from different cultural backgrounds to signify the message that they are different from most mainstream magazine brands. Many companies have experienced financial troubles due to accusations of whitewashing especially in the modelling industry. One model is sat down to illustrate equality amongst women to include a welcoming message regardless of social and political aspects, whilst potentially implying that the equality is still not completely there.

The background is grey to reflect social changes and the inclusion of more people of colour in the industry, Vogue have not used either black or white- but more a mixture of both to reinforce this idea. Vogue’s masthead is partly concealed by the models but it is still clear to the audience of the magazines brand by the use of font. There is no use of a tagline as readers are familiar with the brand itself and can identify this through the fonts on the cover. Vogue have used the colour red for its representation of women to add colour to the picture as well as connotations to love and acceptance.

The cover lines on the page are all written in the same font, a typical style used by Vogue commonly. The only title that stands out well is “New Frontiers” written boldly and in italics to make a strong statement about women in the fashion industry and to represent the women on the cover as being contributors to this movement. It presents a positive message for Vogue to the reader as being loving no matter what you look like or identify as. The use of “New” gives a modern touch to the cover to also reinforce these women as models of the 21^st century and the future. All of the models in the image are female, reflecting who the magazine is intended for. It also makes it clear that it is a fashion and beauty magazine through its use of “models” and “fashion” in the cover lines as well as modernised and desired clothing worn by the models. Vogue want to put across a message to the reader of inclusion and diversity with the piece, the use of direct eye contact and neutral facial expressions convey this personalisation. It represents the models as naturally beauty and empowered through the use of a long shot of their bodies instead of close up of their faces. The language used in the text “models changing” and “faces of fashion” connote the changes that these women are making through the use of a metaphor and alliteration. It therefore stands out to an audience for representing all different types of women in a collectively positive way, something which the modelling industry lacks.

Vogue November 1965 Cover

The main image of the cover is a woman to portray the target audience, and represents clearly to the reader the genre of the magazine. The use of a close-up with dramatic makeup implies that it is a fashion and beauty based magazine, this is reinforced by the Vogue brand. The woman is wearing clothing, hair and makeup which reflects popular fashion of the period. The distinctive masthead on the cover makes it stand out to a familiar audience as well as the main image attracting the audience as well. This shows that the Vogue logo has been used for a long time and is therefore easily identifiable to all current generations of women, portraying its success and popularity.

The cover lines are positioned below the logo and aside to the main image, the headings are relatively small yet create a sense of amount to the piece. “Lights on fashion” is the use of a metaphor which is bold and clear to the audience of the genre as well as its content. All the text is written in the same traditional font, representing its age. The cover was published in 1965, therefore it has a historical view on many different aspects both socially and politically. The reflections of society and representations of women show the covers age as well as Vogue’s views on the roles of women. The article mentions a man- “Truman Capote and the country studio he designed for work”, this fashion magazine targeted at women mentioning this on the front cover is not usual. Yet the magazine uses a man in relation to “work”, a common belief historically that men should work and women be domestic.

The colour scheme links the brand with the consumer (women), with the use of pink in both the Vogue logo, clothing, makeup and hair accessories. The makeup is dramatic because Vogue was trying to portray women as dramatic characters whilst using 1960’s fashion to highlight this.  The background is plain and simple in order to make the women’s beauty the main subject. The model is represented as a ‘Barbie’ like figure through the use of exaggerative makeup and pink bow, reflecting femininity and children. The colours used throughout the cover are primary and ‘baby’ colours, they construct an identity that women should be innocent and work in the house looking after the children. This identity is common at the time of the cover, and highlights how far the modelling industry has come from historical representations of women which were not necessarily positive. I think that this cover stands out because to a historical audience, this reflects normal beliefs in society whereas to a modern audience it represents women in a negative and single-minded way.

Arriving at the time of political and social upheaval, it is now 50 years since the pill was made available on the NHS.

In 1961, women often married at an early age, and were expected to stay at home and raise a family. The pill helped change that by women now having the option to choose to have children, further education and a career.

However, there is a lot of controversy surrounding the pill and oppose to artificial birth control, claiming its a form of abortion.

Although there weren’t restrictions on use, the pill was being prescribed slowly by GPs. Until 1974, when family planning clinics were allowed to prescribe women with the pill.

According to a new review, over 2 million women use the pill in England and Wales.

• “Women as well as men, can only find their indentity in work that uses their full capacities. A woman cannot find her identity in the dull routine of housework”. -1963 best seller The Feminine Mystique
• By the 1960s, more western women were coming out of higher education
• In 1963, American society was changing fast with the campaign for civil rights for black Americans. Womens rights became another cause, campaigning for the end of discrimination.
• Unfair pay lead to women taking strikes and protest rallies against their employers.
• In 1970, Parliament passed an equal pay act, criminating discrimination.
• American activists began a mass movement and challenged all places of male dominance (including the church).
• Despite setbacks, western women were managing to do things before such as train driving, racecar driving and play baseball.

Advance Publications own Conde Nast since as of October 2014, it was considered the 44th largest privately held company in the United States. Since January 2016, Bob Sauerberg is the CEO of Conde Nast. Conde Nast publishes various magazines such as:

• Vanity Fair
• Vogue
• Glamour
• Wired
  (In total they publish 124 magazines)

Samuel Irving Newhouse Jr, previous owner and creator of Conde Nasts’ new worth is $12.7 billion as the company attracts 164 million consumers across its 19 brands and media.

What are the three broad genre categories of magazines?

• Organisation magazines or customer magazines: publications are aimed at customers of a particular organisation/company. (e.g. Waitrose Food and Tesco Magazine)
• Business or trade magazines: Publications are aimed at people working in a particular business, trade/profession. (e.g. Marketing Week)
• Consumer Magazines: These publications are aimed at the general public and cover a wide range of interests. They can be aimed at either a wide audience or a target niche audience.

What are the four subgenres of Women’s Magazines?

• Lifestyle magazines (e.g. Glamour and Marie Claire)
• Fashion magazines (e.g.Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar)
• Celebrity magazines (e.g. OK! and Hello!)
• Real-life magazines (e.g. Pick me up! and Chat.)

What repertoire of elements are commonly found in womens magazines?

The content of womens magazines:

• Health and beauty tips
• Fashion spreads
• Celebrity Figures
• Sex and relationship advice
• Recipes and cookery items
• Sewing and knitting patterns
• Fictional stories
• Real-life stories
• Problem pages
• Readers letters
• Horoscopes

The Conventions of Magazine Covers

Main image: A key signifier of magazine’s brand identity. The image depends on the genre and target audience. It could be either a photograph/illustration and some magazines might have several images on the front cover.

A distinctive masthead: This is an iconic part of the magazines branding, and becomes instantly recognisable even which is concealed by the main image.

Cover lines: Generally placed around the image. The main function of cover lines is to create audience interest, enticing the reader to buy the magazine.

A date line: This is conventionally displayed in close proximity to the masthead, often with the police.

Some covers also feature a tag line, typically conveying a sense of the magazines brand identity.

The Main Functions of the Magazine Front Cover

As the front cover is generally the first part of the publication that the reader will see, it has to:

• Indication towards the intended target audience
• Indicate the type of magazine it is, genre
• Help the magazine stand out from its competitors by conveying a clear sense of brand identity
• Persuade potential readers to buy the magazine by generating interest and appeal.

Intertextuality in Formation

• Intertextual reference to Alejandro Jodorowsky’s surrealist film ‘The Holy Mountain’ (1973). This shot mirrors an image in The Holy Mountain featuring a similiarly dressed entity named the Alchemist.The Alchemist is the symbol of truth and spiritual freedom; a socially conscious ‘liberator’ who rejects authoritarianism. She is drawing comparisons between herself and the Alchemist, with police authorities positioned as the target of her gestures. And frequent images related to police brutality throughout the video, coinciding with the climatic message exclaiming “stop shooting us”.
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  Analysing Formation

Key Representations in Formation-

• Gender– Beyoncé’s body and the way in which it relates to her star persona and her African American identity is a key element of her music videos. Binary opposites are used in regard to the representations of gender throughout her video.
  She is represented as a strong empowered woman whilst being sexually objectified through codes of clothing, narrative situations and provocative dance moves. At times she challenges stereotypical representations of women.
• Ethnicity– Beyoncé has previously seen controversy for whitewashing in order to appeal to a white audience.
  However, in her music videos she embraces her culture through iconography and clothing related to her cultural heritage. Formation includes iconography of the antebellum dress worn by white women in South America at the time of the slave trade era. It reflects a historical perspective and treatment of black people in America.
• Issues– In Formation she references to the floods of New Orleans and Hurricane Katrina. It suggests racial tensions following the disaster. She also makes political statements about the treatment of black Americans and references to the ‘Black Lives Matter’ campaign including a shot of a child dancing in front of riot police.

How has representations been constructed?

• Intertextual references- such as footage taken from a documentary about bounce called That B.E.A.T with news footage of police brutality, such as the lone dancing boy
• Use of costume- Antebellum dresses reference slavery era and contrast heavily with stereotypical pop culture music videos with revealing clothing.
• Beyoncé’s difference between obscene gestures with the hand to moments of aggression to show frustration and anger with culturally recognisable dance routines.

How do the representations relate to the lyrics and genre of music?

• Beyoncé makes direct address to the audience by gazing directly at us, she stands strong and powerful at the front of groups and images of her top of a sinking police car.
• Number of different genres such as pop and R&B are referenced throughout. These genres are subject to change and all combine the genre being explored at the time of the music video- Bounce.
• She uses references to black history in order to symbolise black power and historical changes this has made.
• Beyoncé is adopting feminism as a lifestyle choice to sell music, however Beyoncé has attended Black Lives Matter campaigns and openly supported it, suggesting that this belief goes beyond her persona.
• The dance sections where she wears short/tight/revealing clothing and outfits as well as some sexualised lyrics. This may be referencing her construction as a strong and powerful figure.

Is the music video reflecting a historical, social or cultural context?

The music video references various different historical events such as the civil rights movement, Black Lives Matter and Slavery in America. References to slavery can be seen through the use of period clothing that is what was worn by white women at that time. Symbolism with binary opposition which challenges a racial hierarchy which is still around to this day.

The scene with the boy dancing in front of riot police suggest rebellion against police brutality and therefore the end of inequality with the rise of powerful black female artists.

David Gauntlett’s theory of identity-

It suggests that media texts provides us with ‘tools’ to help construct our own identity and offer role models.

Gender is seen as representations of gender with Beyoncé is portrayed as a powerful figure in order to set an example for younger audiences and especially black women who are most oppressed.

Stuart Hall’s theory of Representation

The stereotypes which are prevalent in Formation are constructed through the representation of age, gender and ethnicity. The representation of age is constructed through the use of the boy dancing in front of a row of riot police. This is interlinked with the representation of race, in reference to police brutality. Women are empowered throughout the video by Beyoncé dancing as well as Blue Ivy, representing women as independent. However, Beyoncé is also sexualised through revealing clothing etc.

• Civil Rights Movement
• Hurricane Katrina
• Bounce_ Music
• Bounce
• Black feminism
• Black women in the slave trade era
• Black Lives Matter

‘If I were a boy’ is about how women and their emotions aren’t taken as seriously in both relationships and the working environment. The message behind the video constitutes to how women are taken advantage of in many circumstances.  The music video initially begins with Beyoncé and a man (which becomes clear throughout the video that he is playing the role of her boyfriend) naming key elements of a good relationship. The video starts after they say the words “you”, “me” and “us”, signifying that both sides of a relationship have to try in order for it to work out. “Commitment” is another word which is key because the entire video is related to this and how this is challenged. Throughout the first part of the video, Beyoncé’s boyfriend is seen as committed by refusing to go to parties with other women and buying his girlfriend earrings. On the other hand, Beyoncé is represented as unfaithful by ignoring his phone calls and dancing with another man. The entire music video is created to present the other side of how women feel to be treated poorly.

At the beginning of the video, it represents the man cooking breakfast for Beyoncé. However Beyoncé goes to work without saying goodbye, it conveys her as detached and her boyfriend is the true victim in this situation. Beyoncé dresses as a police officer, which challenges stereotypes against both race and gender. Beyoncé is seen as physically and emotionally strong throughout, with scenes depicting her arresting a resisting man on her own. Her boyfriend is seen as working in an office job which is primarily female based and therefore opposing typical roles. There are negative representations for both genders in this video, women are seen as used and emotional, and men are portrayed as cheaters with lacking empathy.

Typical R&B music videos are based upon a male who is cheated on, therefore Beyoncé has used this narrative to have the viewpoint from both sides. Throughout the video, it is in black and white in order to connote modern day and historical representations and beliefs haven’t changed. It is a narrative story music video shown through Beyoncé’s perspective. In one scene, Beyoncé is working as a police officer in a chasing scene, there is the use of a shaky camera to imitate and reflect relationships. This may also signify that Beyoncé is attempting to chase their relationship. Her boyfriend buys her earrings, representing him as caring and thoughtful in comparison to Beyoncé dancing with another man. These earrings are used as a focus and close-up for when Beyoncé is caught by her boyfriend.

After being caught, there is a scene where the boyfriend is driving each other home. This has changed from Beyoncé driving earlier. Symbolising that she is no longer in control of their relationship after challenging the “commitment” discussed at the beginning. “But you’re just a boy, you don’t understand” are lyrics used at the end of the music video after the roles have been switched, it conveys the message that cheaters don’t learn from their mistakes and don’t see the other persons viewpoint and perspective. She puts herself in the males’ position and how differently she would deal with situations by trusting her partner.

In ‘APESHIT’, released 10 years after ‘If I were a boy’, it challenges a different issue in society. However it still focuses on women, race and these representations throughout. Beyoncé and her husband Jay-Z released the song in their marital names “The Carters”. The song is about their wealth and how far they have come in life. They rented out the Louvre museum in France for the video and demonstrate their wealth with many expensive outfits. It was also released just 2 years after Jay-Z allegedly cheated on Beyoncé.

At the start of the video there are the sound of distant church bells ringing, possibly symbolising religious connotations juxtaposing the society that we live in. It begins with close-ups of famous and expensive paintings and then a long establishing shot of Jay-Z and Beyoncé stood in front of the Mona Lisa, the world’s most famous painting- this is later contrasted with close-ups of paintings of people of colour. This symbolises the world-renowned permanent collection, which is contrasted with contemporary dancers filling the empty space. The dancers are wearing skin coloured clothing in order to embrace their ethnicity, it also reinforces the theme of neutral colours often used in paintings. They also dance in front of paintings which represent racism such as the painting ‘The Consecration of the Emperor Napoleon and the Coronation of Empress Josephine’, which is filled with white people and the exclusion of any other race.

‘APESHIT’ is a reminder of all the non-white faces that have been erased from history and Beyoncé portrays herself as a role model to both women and people of colour. She wears cultural dresses whilst embracing her ethnicity. Cultural appropriation in context to the ‘APESHIT’ video illustrates the difference between trendy and morally wrong decisions that the fashion industry make. “I got expensive fabrics, I got expensive habits”, is a lyric sung by Beyoncé. It demonstrates how she earnt her money herself and therefore is entitled to live a “lavish” lifestyle. The video also embraces African American hairstyles, as they are often shamed upon Beyoncé has used shots of a woman combing an afro and all her backup dancers having a similar hairstyle, this is similar to her “Formation” video in 2016.

The similarities between ‘APESHIT’ and ‘If I were a boy’ is that they both praise women and independence. Although Beyoncé is less sexualised in ‘APESHIT’, there is also not a story narrative to the video and mainly consists of lip-syncing. The clothing and setting in ‘If I were a boy’ are more street and the audience can relate more to the characters and their emotions. However, the audience can still relate to frustration and emotions in ‘APESHIT’ due to stereotypes and racism in both history and the 21^st century generation.

Beyonce Giselle Knowles-Carter is an American singer, songwriter, producer and actress. She was born and raised in Houston, Texas. She partook in various singing and dancing competitions as a child. She rose to fame in the last 1990’s as the lead-singer of Destiny’s Child.

She makes contemporary R&B much like artists such as Rihanna. Her first released song is ‘Crazy in Love’ featuring Jay-Z. When she ventured out as a solo artist, she launched her first solo studio debut album called ‘Dangerously in Love’ in 2003.

Profile: Beyonce

• Age: 37 years old
• Place of origin: Houston, Texas, USA
• Former member of R&B girl-group Destiny’s Child
• Genre: Pop/R&B
• Married to Hip-Hop legend Jay-Z
• Describes herself as a “modern-day feminist”
• Her net worth is $355 million
• Has also ventured into acting too- nominated for a Golden Globe for her performance in the film Dreamgirls

• Youtube- nearly 10 billion views on her videos in total
• Six number one singles in the US and five in the UK
• The first female solo artist to headline Coachella
• The first female artist to have three of their albums surpass one billion streams on Spotify
• Her album Lemonade was streamed 115 million times through Tidal, setting a record for the most-streamed album in a single week by a female artist in history.

Differences between ‘Crazy in Love’ and ‘APESHIT’

• The backup dancers in ‘Crazy in Love’ are wearing bright colours in constrast to more neutral colours in ‘APESHIT’
• In ‘APESHIT’, both Jay-Z and ‘Crazy in Love’ are wearing formal (dresses & suits) whereas in Crazy in Love, she is wearing more casual clothing.
• The cinematogaphy in ‘APESHIT’ the camera angles are typically further away (long shots) & sophisticated camera shots and location. There is a sense in ‘Crazy in Love’ where she is being sexualised, which is not the case in ‘APESHIT’.
• A sign of repect, black power and female representation in ‘APESHIT’.
• There is a juxtaposition between the lyrics and the video, in ‘APESHIT’.
• In ‘APESHIT’, there is a lot of key and low key lighting which is different to ‘Crazy in Love’ where there is mostly high key lighting.

Beyonce- Identity

There are two different Beyonce personas:

• The chart-topping pop star
• Socially consicous activist

Beyonces platform is not only limited to her musical voice, yet the mainstream doesnt often notice behind the scenes work.

• Beyonce started a Hurricane Katrina fund in 2005
• Raised money for Haiti relief in 2010
• She headed a campaign in 2013 called “Chime for a change” that aimed to spread female empowerment
• She funded a $7 million housing complex for the homeless in Houston, which is a prodominately black community, and Beyonces home
• As Black Lives Matter came to rise, Beyonce and Jay-Z were at the protest and rallies.

With the release of 2016 visual album Lemonade, Beyonce for the first time blended her personas into one.

The music and videos were more thoughtful, artistic pieces which tended to focus on/feature social and political messages.

One way in which helped redefine Beyonce as a more serious musician was her refined use of intertextuality.

Music video example- Michael Jackson’ss Thriller (1982) references to film An American werewolf in London (1981)

Beyonce’s early use of intertextuality

Intertextual references in Beyonce’s earlier work were often in relation to popular media texts- texts which a number of audience members would recognise. These references are merely imitations- superficial use of intertextuality.

Examples-

• ’03 Bonnie and Clyde’ (2002) by beyonce and the film ‘Bonnie and Clyde’ (1967)
• ‘Video Phone’ (2009) by beyonce and the film, ‘Reservoir Dogs’ (1992)
• ‘Telephone’ (2009) by beyonce and ‘Kill Bill Vol. 1’, the film (2003)

The turning point

With the release of the music-infused short film Bang Bang (2014), a collaboration with director Dikayl Rimmasch, Beyonces use of intertextuality changed.

The intertextual references are more subtle and evoke an artistic style.

• Some elements of Bonnie & Clyde
• Western genre
• Breathless (1960)- French New Wave cinema

Beyonce’s Lemonade and intertextuality

The intertextual references used in Beyonces visual album were carefully chosen- the use of the intertextual references were to evoke an artistic style or use a text which showcases a social/political message.

Example: Lemonade & indie film Daughters of the dust (1991)

Intertextual references are meaningful and reflect social/political messages regarding positive representations of black women, a celebration of African culture and a critique of racism in the US.

Since Lemonade there have been more intertexual references such as their tour poster (2018) referencing the African film ‘Touki Bouki’ (1973).

Case Study: Formation (from Lemonade)

This music video features a number of intertextual references.

Context

Formation contains references to a number of issues and events. It is therefore important to be aware of the contexts (social, cultural, historical and political) which apply to Formation.

• Hurricane Katrina and the devastation of New Orleans
• The Civil Rights Movement and Martin Luther King
• Black women in the slave trade era
• ‘Black Lives Matter’ campaign and police brutality
• Black feminism
• ‘Bounce’ music