comparing the representations of women in adbusters and woman

How have the representations in the magazines you have studied been shaped by sociohistorical and cultural circumstances?

 The 'sex, drugs and rock and roll' lifestyle of 1964 is not reflected at all in woman, woman are portrayed in a sexist manner despite slight elements of feminism. Adbusters was made in a complete different time which revolved around equality which is reflected in the magazine and particularly contrasts with 

-Simplistic layout, centred to the left.

-the dominant colour of the design is the white, with blue and small parts of black

-the image is positioned at the top so it's the first thing you see according to the z format whilst the text is the last

-the font is small but the black typography makes it stand out against the white background

-the images is a high angled close up preventing the model from having an identity, gender or sexual premise- the focus of the photo is her hands and the fact she is in the bath rather than her figure

- the lighting is natural preventing the photo from feeling staged adding to the impact of the ideology encoded by the producer

-the location is the bath, the text anchors it as in brazil

-rather than a costume the model is naked and you can see her tattoos

-the only form of graphics is the photo's border, which has a colloquial effect

-The audience is not directly addressed 

-informative lexis 

-wrinkly hands, polysemic luxury or poverty

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-high angle close up of tap

-mise-en-scene of woman's body

-mid shot suggests having a bath 

One fundamental difference with regards to the sociohistorical context of the magazines I have studied can be seen in their respective representations of women. For example, Adbusters uses a high-angled close up shot to position the audience in a non-sexual viewerpoint of the model, any stimulating parts of her naked body aren't in the frame preventing the audience from sexualising her at all- the close up shot also suggests that having a bath is a private and intimate activity- not for the purpose of others. 

The breeze ad from woman completely contrasts with these ideologies encoded by the producers. The mid-shot of the woman allows her to be a spectacle for the readers and positions them as a voyeur to her naked body, it also suggests having a bath is an open experience, the empty frame functions as a symbolic code for this. The mise-en-scene of the bubbles denote to the audience that her body is wet, implicating sexual themes. In addition, the mise-en-scene of her hair and makeup represents women as people who must look good at all times, despite the fact that in the bath this would be next to impossible- this encodes hegemonical, stereotypical representations of women which were incredibly common at the time of adbuster's release.

Adbuster's subverts the male gaze theory, which suggests that all women featured in media products are only their to visually appease heterosexual men, with it's lack of sexual and scopophilliac themes.