Issues : Body Image

My Mad Fat Diary season 2 episode 7

The scene in which Rae is speaking to her councillor, Kester about her body image we see the common viewpoint amongst the majority of teenage girls being highlighted. This is apparent through the dialogue in that Rae states that she sees herself as "fat and ugly". She conforms to the archetype of a teenage girl however with a more serious element to it in that she has suffered mental illnesses from her negative views on herself. The use of the close up shots of both Rae and Kester allow us to see that this is an intimate and important situation. The title of the show also indicates to us that it features heavily upon body image and the serious effects it has upon people.

This edition of heat shows multiple pictures of women in bikinis taken from unflattering angles to mock these women on their bodies. The cover line is titled 'body mayhem' which instantly gives a negative view on these women and their bodies as it presents them as imperfect and are shaming them. It makes a priority of objectification and emphasis on looks over natural occurrences as it features 'Jordan' with a cover line of 'pregnancy could wreck her boobs'. This can present an ideology of that positive body image is everything and should take precedence over anything that could jeopardise it. However it doesn't necessarily feed on the idea of skinniest = the most beautiful as is features Rihanna saying that "I'm too skinny, I miss my curves". This hints on the idea that real women's body shapes are preferable and somewhat fights the dominant ideology. 

We can see the total objectification of a particular celebrity, as well as it creating enigma codes, it blocks the female's face and shows only her body allowing the audience to focus upon only her body. 

Gender in the media

Blurred Lines: The New Battle OF the Sexes
This programme was aired in good time to coincide the rise of the new feminist movements which have been occurring amongst the social media. It's presented from a very biased point of view with a certain hint of men shunning. It doesn't particularly work in a feminst's favour to beat the idea that they're striving for females to be the superior gender as this journalist generalises men and presents them all as acting derogatory towards women. However it does feature the point of view from a male's perspective who didn't condone the rape jokes made to women. It was a stronger representation as the man interviewed was the creator of a 'lads' mag'.

Game Cover: GTA V

This cover features a collage of different pictures showing the violence of the game. GTA is renowned for its violence against women and sexualised manner. We can see this through the use of only one female and her sexualised stance. The use of the violent fighter dog being restrained by a macho looking man holding a bat indicates more violence will occur within the game play. We can see in the bottom left corner a suited man with tights over his face and holding a gun. This shows his character will perform robberies throughout the game play, therefore crime is the main aspect of this game. The use of colours hints at a pop art theme which connotes the idea of an outrageous lifestyle. We can see a character look to a skyline so this gives us setting that it's in an urban area and through the use of the American muscle car it's logical to assume this urbanised place is in America.

Road Safety Awareness Advert: Print Advertisement

This is created in such a way to scare teenagers into safety whilst near roads. Being that there's little text on this advert it allows teenagers to see it and get the message quickly as it is common that their attention span is short. The use of 'My friend' allows the reader to personally identify and imagine it as their friend talking about them. 'My friend saw her bus. She didn't see the car' allows the readers to gain more personal identify as being young their main way of independent transport is via bus so having the injured/dead girl being found in the situation she is in, is due to the fact she was waiting for her bus and had only seen the bus.
It uses low key lighting to give a sinister feel to the situation and will shock the readers into how serious it is. The use of the camera angle being above her and only showing her face shows her innocence and identifies with her as a person. Her facial expression is blank as, presumably, she is dead and she is staring past the camera which reinforces the blank expression and shows that his person is no longer able to communicate with the general public.

Alex Turner NME magazine cover

On this magazine cover we see Arctic Monkey's Alex Turner as the focal. He is standing casually with a sexualised look on his face; the sexualised look is also supported with the way in which he is dressed. His sleeves are rolled up and top buttons undone which tells the audience it's a casual approach to the interview and will support his personality.
Red and black colours are used frequently on this cover as a connotation of love and passion. We see it in the text, Alex's clothes and the record.
On the left side of the cover there are a list of bands which would relate to the readers of the magazine as it's a music magazine of the alternative rock genre. The largest is 'Arctic Monkeys' obviously to do with that the person featured on the cover is the singer from the band so it ultimately draws more readers in. The fact it says 'reveals all' after the list of these bands creates an enigma code amongst all of the bands featured.
The cover line tells us the interview with Alex Turner is about 'the record that changed my life' and then goes on to ask 'what's yours?' this creates a personal approach to the readers and allows them to personally identify with the story and ultimately Alex Turner. The fact it says 'they've picked theirs...what's yours' creates a willingness amongst the audience that is seems like an obvious thing to do to pick a record that changed your life and reading this magazine may help you find it/is the only way to find it.

Age in the Media

This article highlights the issues raised in the social media regarding the negative stereotype of teenagers created. It talks about how teenagers are rarely portrayed positively in the media today and this jeoprodises their career opportunities. Not only does the negative portrayal have a negative effect on their career opportunities but it has an effect on their self confidence.
In order for this article to not submit to the exact issue in which they are raising, they have added a positive view of teenagers in the media by including a piece on olympic diver Tom Daley.

This programme highlights the issues of teenage brides and grooms mainly focusing upon the brides as they tend to be the focal point of any wedding. Pink is used commonly as a connotation of that they are young and immature to stress the idea of 'baby faced'. Two shots are commonly used to reinforce the idea that the bride and groom are in love.  There is a negative, judgmental and slight mockery of the young couples presented in this programme.

A positive representation of age is highlighted in this magazine as we see a confidently stanced Dolly Parton with the cover line of '50 years of hard glamour' indicates there is still a glamourous element to old age. Cover lines such as 'nifty and thrifty' indicate elements of youngness and make being old not something which is to be ashamed or embarrassed about. As this magazine is aimed at older people, there is a cover line advertising 9 pages of spring health which will ultimately relate to older people as they will want to be healthy in order for a longer life.

Gender in the media

This article features a negative representation of men, particularly those from the ages of 18-22 (average university age), suggesting they're perverted and are unable to control themselves from performing derogatory acts towards women. The title features an enigma code to encourage the readers to read on in order to take more information from it. The article goes onto say that over 99% of women in Egypt have been subject to sexual harassment of some form regardless of what they're wearing or how they act.

This article features a positive representation of women in that they are doing a seemingly selfless act in order to raise awareness for Cancer Research UK. It beats the stereotype that teen mothers are somewhat 'bad news' and shows a positive approach and reinforces that they are capable of doing good. It later goes on to say she lives with her fiancé and is studying for a degree in criminal psychology. The stereotypes of most teen mothers is that they're single and doing low paid labour or are on benefits, however having this girl featured challenged the stereotype.  

This article creates a negative representation of this woman as it sexualises her by using images in which she is wearing revealing clothing. It says that she has had breast implants at the taxpayers expense. This is to create an ever stronger negative representation as people who work have to pay taxes and they will most likely feel angry to this woman, as well as the government, that this is what their money is being spent on. She vowed to reimburse £4,800 due to the negative responses which came from when she was first featured in the news. To raise the money she fell into prostitution and became pregnant and is unaware as to who the father is. There is very little positivity about this article other than that she tried to reimburse the money wasted on her implants as she now wants them removed, however this will cost more of the tax payers' money. There is an enigma code in the title as most people would find it unusual to have plastic surgery on the NHS so they would want to read more in order to find out why such a thing happened. 

Further on in the article, the journalist writes about how a young girl with cerebral palsy was refused  surgery in order for her to be able to walk. There is a high contrast between the girl and this woman, the readers feel sympathy for the girl and anger for the woman as the NHS have favoured body image over something which is fundamental basis of humanity.