Attitude Magazine Flashcards
Context
- Launched in 1994 (10 years before the Civil Partnership Act) and so attitudes towards homosexuality were different today and homophobia is extremely common
- Guidelines ensured Attitude was able to publish gay content in hostile publishing and cultural environment
- Retailers were still able to exert some control as often Attitude was banished to the ‘top shelf’ or hidden from view
Audience
- 20s to 50s, gay male
- Affluent, professional, financially prosperous and with earnings considerably higher than the national average and high disposable income (ABC1)
- Diverse interests but have the common trait of their sexuality
- Brand loyal, fashion conscious
The first issue
- Appeared in May 1994
- A separate Thai edition has been published since March 2011
- Editions in Belgium and the Netherlands launched in February 2017
Mission Statement
- ‘Undisputed, heavyweight, best-selling’
- ‘Most well-respected gay title in the UK’
- Served up with Intelligence and wit’
Targeting an ABC1 audience through Partnerships and Sponsorships
Built with companies who advertise premium products on the website
Targeting an ABC1 audience through language
- Very formal and complex
- Mirrors middle class values and educational background of an ABC1 demographic
Targeting an ABC1 audience through its relatable activities
- Incorporated into narratives and competitions to create connections
Ownership
- Began publication in 1994 as part of the Northern and Shell Group
-Acquired in September 2016 by contract publisher Stream Publishing
Cultural Industries theory (Hesmondhalgh)
- Northern and Shell decided to start publishing Attitude to diversify its titles within the magazine marketplace thereby minimising risk and maximising audiences
Splash pages
- Used to promote a company, service or product or are used
Popularity and distribution
- Print Circulation: 50,000
- Digital Circulation: 12,200
- 1.8 million online users
- 3.6 million pages viewed
- 42,000 people subscribed to their newsletter
Attitude’s Website
- Much of their website ‘teasers’ for the magazine content, so there are not many full articles
- Stand alone content available online
- Clickbait, not from ‘premium brands’
- Many men still objectified despite representation
Hyper-sexualisation of Men
- Topless, provocative clothing, tight underwear
- Lack of representations of different body types
- Celebrities who are straight are represented in a way that appeals to a gay male audience
- Exotic lifestyles
- Focuses on gay men being ‘out there’
Gay men in online articles
- Mainly focusing on things such as grooming, holidays, fashion and celebrities
- Heavy emphasis on external appearance
- Marginalised gay men with singular stereotypical representations
How is the LGBTQ+ community represented as a whole?
- Articles about violent attacks towards the community which may reinforce the idea that they are marginalised and threatened by society
- LGBTQ+ community is normalised in adverts
How is a Gay audience offered escapism
- May be seen as a utopia where ‘everyone is gay’
- The LGBTQ+ community are accepted on the website
- May give some the confidence to ‘come out’
How are Gay Men stereotyped?
- Stereotypically attractive males are seen in the articles
- Gay men liking pop music, musical theatre, and interior design etc
- Seen as vulnerable in regards to the ‘coming out’ narrative
- Article on gay rugby team focuses on their bodies rather than their talents
Cultivation theory (Gerbner)
The media participates in ‘Symbolic Annihilation’ of the LGBTQ+ community by negatively stereotyping them, rarely portraying them in realistic ways, or by not portraying them at all
Pick and Mix theory (Gauntlett)
-The LGBTQ+ community are underrepresented in the mainstream media, but things are slowly changing for the better
-Tolerance of sexual diversity is growing in society and images of sexual diversity may assist in making the population generally more comfortable with alternative sexual lifestyles
Attitude Website Homepage
-Main articles are similar to what is seen on the front of a tabloid newspaper
-Advertisements for brands that may be of interest to LGBTQ+ readers
-Links to social media, but audiences are unable to comment under articles on the website
-Considered niche as whole website reports news important to gay men
Masthead of Attitude
-Sans-serif font
-No capital letters
-This is modern and informal
Colour Palette of Attitude
-Bright colours
-Lots of white space
-Crisp, clean layout
-Topic colours with stories underneath
-Rainbow banner colours
Layout and design of Attitude website
-Newest stories at the top
-Stories are categorised by topic
-All shaped the same creating a clean and consistent layout
-Easy to navigate
-Professional, but not too flashy
Features on Attitude’s website
-Navigation bar
-Search box
-Picture slideshows at the top of the website
-Hyperlinks
-Videos
-Links to other social media pages
Mediation and Ideology of Attitude
-Most stories are specifically linked to homosexuality
-Gay culture
-Things that affects gay people
-Left wing, liberal ideology
Binary Opposition (Levi-Strauss)
-Articles that are positive about homosexuality have pictures in colour
-Articles that are negative about homosexuality have pictures in black and white
Traditional representations of Homosexuality in the media
-They were previously represented as ‘violent’ and a threat to society, much being to do with religion
-From the 1990s onward, the representations of homosexuality have increased, and the community now protects its own culture in order to gain visibility in the media
How does Attitude represent Race/Ethnicity?
- Attitude have been accused of being ethnocentric, though over recent years they have tried to change this
- They had an article about the change of the iconic Rainbow Flag at Manchester Pride to a flag that includes black and brown stripes (this is because LGBTQ+ Ethnic Minority groups find it harder to come out, and feel less represented in the community)
- They aim to normalise Ethnic Minority representations of homosexuality, and they are doing this through repetition (Gerbner).
How does Attitude represent age?
-Doesn’t have many representations of men
-May reflect the demographic of the magazine, though it could be argued that it reinforces the stereotype of homosexual men being obsessed with youth and appearance
