I've decided to dive deeper into the topic we were talking about in class on Monday; women vs. men magazines. I decided to choose one magazine that is popular with men, GQ, and one for woman, Cosmopolitan. At first glance anyone can tell that Cosmopolitan is more eye catching because of the use of bright colors and the use of the word “sex” set in large, bold text. The GQ cover seems to depend more on the name of magazine and the face of the celebrity. This could be a connection to the idea that women are meant to be more dressed up or ornamented then men. When looking at the articles Cosmopolitan mentions sex three times. Also most of the articles seem to be encouraging women to change something about themselves such as “the sexy ass workout 2 weeks to tight cheeks”. When looking at GQ they don’t mention anything about the act of sex or body image. It has one article, which is in very small print, that states “A sexy peek at our favorite house bunny” which somewhat implies that men have the ownership over women. When looking at the celebrities, Megan Fox is wearing a short dress that exposes a lot of skin. Robert Pattinson on the other hand is in a suit and they only show from shoulders up. This is can imply that women rely on their bodies more to sell items, such as magazines, more than men. Personally I do buy Cosmopolitan, I do understand the draw to such things but I feel like as a society we need to teach women that magazines like that are meant for entertainment, not so much for serious guidance or a way to live your life.
-Erica Nelson
I liked how you used these magazines to describe what both men and women like to read in their "spare time." That being said, I don't read either magazine but I do think both are equality appealing.
ReplyDeleteLet me explain, both magazines are "eye-catching" and have super famous people on the cover. I think both models/celebrities are "ornamented" and both appeal to the opposite sex with their faces, bodies, etc. I think the 2 magazines both mention sex several times (either literally or implied). Cosmo does seem like the "better" magazine to go to for "sex" ideas or issues like that versus GQ--but the men's magazine does mention sex, though in a more implied way.
This is an awesome comparison and it's amazing how much you can get out of looking at just the two magazine covers, not even delving into the pages. Just looking at the difference in layout of the cover, use of colors, positioning of the model, and titles of articles there is an obvious contrast between the two magazines.
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