Men's Health Language & Representation: blog tasks

REPRESENTATION
David Gauntlett- The front cover is extremely masculinity, all the aggressive verbs, Vin Diesel looking absolutely hyper masculine, blue black and grey colour scheme very traditional masculine colour.
"Slay winter blues, why social's going mental" Relating to mental health- editors letter- talking about achieving happiness- not very hyper masculinity
Marathon man feature- Old man read to some extend supports resilience and strength but also suggest an older men dealing with this situation and adjusting with what he can achieve
bell hooks- men have unrealstic expections- "slay winter blues" diffrent type of masuclity, achiving happiness is the most imporatnt thing in the editors
van Zoonen-  Front cover- Vin Diesel- absolute picture of strenght and power. Air brushed- Vin Diesel is clealy photoshop to ephaisise his physique. Language used .
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Front cover:
Vast majority is sans serif- sleek modern look
the main titles (says men heath) is serif font- little bit of authority, tradition 
Couple of stencil- style sub-titles; which have military aesthetic
Use of hashtag- connotations of new technology
- reduce any element of feminine or decorative
Colour palate- white black and blue(couple of red accents)- Connotation of medical world referring back to the magazine being about health, masculine colours


Editor's Letter and contents page:
Layout of the content page is designed to make what would seem homogeneous, a more varied and entertaining read
Editors letter- quite informal however references to "Betrand Russell","Sisyphus "- more erudite then expected when looking at the magazine

Feature - True Grit - 'The Marathon Man': 
Phillip Howells surrounded by imagery and language which codify him as a role model. Use of black and white portrait shot along with a slight low angled main picture help to create an impression of iconic status.
Main image contains a super- impose quotations which usually applied iconic status
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3) Apply narrative theories to Men's Health - Todorov's equilibrium, Propp's character types, Barthes' action or enigma codes.
Todorov's equilibrium- Whole cover suggest disequilibrium- reader needs to take action to resolve them- "Get back in shape" and "wage war on flab"- all these cover lines suggest reader has disequilibrium and problems that need to be solved and to achieve the new equilibrium by reading the magazine, help of men's lifestyle magazine 
Propps character type- Reader become hero, magazine prepares the helper or doner- giving the reader advise to succeed on their quest. 
Barthes' action or enigma code- Cover lines - "double your metabolism" or "loose 8 kg fast". All enigma codes which require the reader to buy the magazine. Words like "Blast" or "demolish" are like action code.


4) Read the cover lines and the Editor's Letter. Does Men's Health offer a cure for male insecurities or does it create male insecurity?
Creates more male insecurity because it feels men with unrealistic exceptions therefore they feel less satisfaction, jealously and disappointment and the cover shows all the problems men should have that they may have not known.

5) How does the 'Marathon Man' feature page offer an example of Steve Neale's genre theory concerning 'repetition and difference'?
Exactly what people would think of when thinking of men magazine- conventional lifestyle magazine

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1) Why is Men's Health defined as a 'lifestyle magazine'?
The ‘lifestyle’ notion refers to the magazines which can be included under the ‘general interest-
magazines-for-men’ label.

2) Why is advertising significant in helping to shape masculine identity?
The ‘lifestyle’ notion refers to the magazines which can be included under the ‘general interest-
magazines-for-men’ label. This

3) The article suggests that the representation of masculinity in Men's Health is not fixed or natural and is subject to constant change. What media theorists that we have studied previously can be linked to these ideas?
van Zoonen

4) What does the article suggest Men's Health encourages its readers to be? What examples and statistics are provided to develop the idea of men as consumers?
An illustrative example of this
trend is men’s increasing interest in fashion and personal products, as proved in a research
conducted by Euromonitor International which shows that “the global market for male grooming
products grew by an impressive average annual rate of 5.7% between 1997-2005”5.

5) What representations of the male body can be found in Men's Health?
According to
this, the fact of having a fit body shows the external consequence of self-discipline, effort, and
commitment; in this sense, the magazine urges its readers to “Get this body!” as seen in the
exclamations of most of its covers.

6) What does the article suggest regarding the objectification of men?
MH encourages men to improve their healthy habits by
establishing discipline in their lives; but on the other hand, it contributes to creating anxieties about
their body in terms of age, strength, sexual performance and weight maintenance.

7) What is 'metrosexuality' and how can it be applied to Men's Health?
“metrosexuality” is the most often used when talking about the new depictions within men’s
magazines since it refers to a man who is extremely aware of his physical appearance and is devoted
to it by buying cosmetic and fashion products.
Men health tries to promote this and it can clearly be seen in the magazine cover and use of Vin Desiel

8) What representation of men in Men's Health is discussed in the section 'Homogenous bodies'?
The representation of men in the magazine can be analysed in three
different aspects: his physical appearance, his external look (in terms of style), and his lifestyle
(values).
Usually profiled as a young white middle class man, physically well built, and sexually attractive
Fashionable clothing, modern hairstyle and carries trendy complements.

9) What are the conclusions drawn by the article with regards to the representation of masculinity in Men's Health?
On the one hand, it portrays different visions of masculinity (i.e. new man, new lad, metrosexual), as the rest of men’s
publications and that is, according to the experts, one of the reasons for the popularity of the
magazines since they offer countless possibilities for contemporary men in questions of
identification. In

10) What is your own view of the representation of masculinity in Men's Health? Is it a positive representation that encourages men to the best they can be or is it a hypermasculine, consumer-driven representation designed to undermine men's confidence and objectify their bodies?

I believe there is some positive representation of masculinity for example the marathon running and showing how anything is achievable with determination and strength. Furthermore addressing mental health is important however of the other hand the magazine shows hyper masculine and creates unrealistic exception for men through Photoshop images which make them feel more disappointment, less grateful which contradicts with supporting mental health because the magazine itself creates mental problems