Online Media: Attitude Representation Flashcards
Introduction to Attitude
British gay lifestyle magazine
Owned by stream publishing
Sold worldwide as a physical magazine, and is available for digital download
Representation of masculinity
Attitude is mainly aimed at a male audience, and so the representations of men are fairly typical and are created in a way that is designed to engage that male target audience
Men are represented in quire powerful ways across the website
Hypermasculinity in Attitude
Throughout the website there are a lot of images of men looking very strong and muscular
Many topless photos of men which convey the typical heroic shape that we are often shown of men in the media
Gareth Thomas article analysis
Gareth is represented as muscular and the nature of the article is to convey Gareth as a macho hunk
His masculinity is also constructed through his steely and determined facial expression displaying a rugged masculine look
Stereotyping gay men
Gay men are often subjected to specific stereotypes - flamboyant, feminine, weak
These characteristics can result in the bullying and homophobic treatment of gay men
Gok Wan article challenging the idea that the website lacks emotional representation of masculinity
The article details Goks terrible experience of being targeted by homophobic youths
The nature of the article conveys emotional content, as he was being bullied and verbally attacked in public
This is quite a common representation of gay men, to be a victim of homophobic abuse
‘Boulder Brothers’ article representing men in an effeminate manner
The article details men who are performing the art of drag
Men who dress in drag embrace becoming a fictional character and having an alter ego - ‘Drag Queen’
The characteristics of drag is very flamboyant and an extravagant way of embracing femininity
Sexualisation of men in Attitude
The men are sexualised on this website, which is unusual for men - as they aren’t typically sexualised like women are
The topless photos of men encourage the audience to gaze at the males in a sexual way
Representation of the LGBTQ+ community
Those who are lesbian, bisexual or transgender are left out of the targeting, as Attitude mainly cater for their gay male community
However there are some articles that do represent them - but it is illustrative of the underrepresentation of LGBTQ communities
Post-Colonialism by Paul Gilroy
The idea that colonial discourses continue to inform contemporary attitudes to race and ethnicity in the post colonial era
Civilisation constructs racial hierarchies and sets up binary oppositions based on notions of otherness
Application of Post-Colonialism by Gilroy
There’s quite a few stories about countries in Africa being homophobic and transphobic against the LGBTQ+ community
The website contains heart wrenching stories about people who are killed because f their sexuality and there is regular insight into the laws in some cultures
