Gender representation on the front cover of tattoo magazines Dominique Renault

Intro  Aims:- I will explore gender representation and the concept of nostalgia, as part of postmodern theory, within the context of the front covers of body art magazines.  Objectives:- 1. To determine whether the use of predominately female cover models is because the magazines are targeted at a male audience. 2. To explore the idea of nostalgia as integral to the success of tattoo magazine covers.  Aims:- I will explore gender representation and the concept of nostalgia, as part of postmodern theory, within the context of the front covers of body art magazines.  Objectives:- 1. To determine whether the use of predominately female cover models is because the magazines are targeted at a male audience. 2. To explore the idea of nostalgia as integral to the success of tattoo magazine covers.

Intro cont.  Methods:-  Primary research in the form of close textual analysis  Secondary research in the form of researching theoretical idea through books.  Methods:-  Primary research in the form of close textual analysis  Secondary research in the form of researching theoretical idea through books.

Close textual analysis: female covers

Nostalgia  ‘…it is important to note that in the contemporary period nostalgia for spontaneity and individual autonomy, once thought to be a hallmark of modernity, have become salient dimensions of nostalgia.’ Robertson, 1992, p.158

Gender representation  ‘Representations are composed of signs which are meaningful because they belong to socially accepted codes which readers can recognize and decode.’ Bignell, 2002, p.59

Gender representation cont.  ‘Pandora is the prototype for the exquisite female android and as a dangerous enchantress, she is also the prototype for the femme fatale.’ Mulvey, 1996, p.55

Gender representation cont..  ‘…men fancy models because they have beautiful faces, not because they look like they’ve been fed under a door. Sleeping with a supermodel would be about as pleasurable as shagging a bicycle. The truth is, it’s women themselves who see these freaks as the epitome of perfection.’ John Perry, Loaded, July 2001:95 cited in Gauntlett, p.88  ‘…men fancy models because they have beautiful faces, not because they look like they’ve been fed under a door. Sleeping with a supermodel would be about as pleasurable as shagging a bicycle. The truth is, it’s women themselves who see these freaks as the epitome of perfection.’ John Perry, Loaded, July 2001:95 cited in Gauntlett, p.88

Close textual analysis: male covers

Conclusion  Gender representation 1. Not solely aimed at male audience 2. Females are used because they look friendlier 3. Women reading the magazine can view the cover models as aspirational  Nostalgia 1. It plays off of culturally significant aspects of tattooing history 2. It modernizes and sexualizes these ideas of nostalgia 3. The idea of nostalgia is a key part of the tattoo world/ tattoo culture  Gender representation 1. Not solely aimed at male audience 2. Females are used because they look friendlier 3. Women reading the magazine can view the cover models as aspirational  Nostalgia 1. It plays off of culturally significant aspects of tattooing history 2. It modernizes and sexualizes these ideas of nostalgia 3. The idea of nostalgia is a key part of the tattoo world/ tattoo culture

Bibliography  BIGNELL.J., Media semiotics: an introduction. Manchester: Manchester University Press  GAUNTLETT. D., Media, gender and identity: n introduction. 2nd ed. New York: Routledge  HALL, S., The Work of Representation. In: HALL, S. Representation: Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices. London: Sage  MIFFLIN, M., Bodies of Subversion: A Secret History of Women and Tattoo.2 nd Ed. New York: Juno Books  MISSER, K., Inside the Tattoo Circus: A Journey Through the Modern World of Tattoos. United States: Schiffer Publishing  MULVEY.L., Fetishism and curiosity. London: British Film Institute  TURNER, B.S., Orientalism, postmodernism and globalism. London: Routledge  VALENTINE, B., Gangs and their tattoos: Identifying gangbangers on the street and in prison. USA: Paladin Press  WOODWARD, K., Questioning Identity: Gender, Class, Nation. London: Routledge  BIGNELL.J., Media semiotics: an introduction. Manchester: Manchester University Press  GAUNTLETT. D., Media, gender and identity: n introduction. 2nd ed. New York: Routledge  HALL, S., The Work of Representation. In: HALL, S. Representation: Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices. London: Sage  MIFFLIN, M., Bodies of Subversion: A Secret History of Women and Tattoo.2 nd Ed. New York: Juno Books  MISSER, K., Inside the Tattoo Circus: A Journey Through the Modern World of Tattoos. United States: Schiffer Publishing  MULVEY.L., Fetishism and curiosity. London: British Film Institute  TURNER, B.S., Orientalism, postmodernism and globalism. London: Routledge  VALENTINE, B., Gangs and their tattoos: Identifying gangbangers on the street and in prison. USA: Paladin Press  WOODWARD, K., Questioning Identity: Gender, Class, Nation. London: Routledge