Analysing men's magazine covers
To illustrate the changes in the old and new style men’s magazines, the 'Kirsty Gallacher, Nuts June 2004', is a good example to gather and analyse the old common style men’s magazine. Along with the big bold red title, the first thing the audience will see is a half-naked woman, posing in a very seductive manner. This style of cover would clearly be to attract a man’s attention to invite a purchase; the image was essentially to make them desire to see further photographs of the woman on the inside pages.
Women still do feature in a way which would attract men to buy the magazine, but this is in a more subtle way. For example, the front cover of the GQ July 2014 issue states ‘Sex. A successful man’s guide to online dating. By a woman who’s seen your tinder profile’. It could be argued that the inclusion in the statement that the guide was written by a woman, could be a direct attempt to minimise any accusation of sexism.
Similarly to July, the GQ August 2014 magazine, shows the same changes. The magazine is still focusing on the self, using very sophisticated advertising techniques, mainly focusing on men’s fashion. However, like the July edition, this GQ magazine still highlights a section about sex. ‘A Boob-ier tube. GQ’s guide to the new naked TV’. Unlike the July edition, this section doesn’t show that it was wrote by a women. However, it doesn’t focus on any women in particularly, therefore it still minimizes any sexism.
