How does your media product represent particular social groups?Media EvaluationQuestion 2Eliza Chapman-Smith

Jewellery By including strong jewellery on her hands I have given the illusion that my model is successful. Jewellery implies wealth as they can afford to splash out on something that isn’t essential, and that they don’t do much manual work as they would need to have undecorated hands to do this. This represents the social group of young metropolitan singletons as they are aiming to get to this sort of status and therefore they aspire to look and live like the people on the cover. Conversely it could be relatable if they are already in this situation and so they empathise and feel like a part of the community depicted in the magazine.

MakeupI have chosen to put quite strongmakeup on my model, in the form ofdark colourful lipstick and smoky eyeshadow. I did this because I wanted her to come across as very feminine, and also proud of her femininity. The choice of makeup puts this across as it is a very visible symbol of womanliness and she is not wearing a subtle neutral shade, she is wearing a very bold lip colour. Therefore she is not portrayed as young vulnerable girl, more of a strong woman. This would represent the social group of young women as they would want to associate with this type of woman. Feminism is becoming more and more of a recognised cause and it is encouraged to be strong and confident, and I have tried to capture this feeling by having a confident woman on the cover of my magazine.

EthnicityThe model I chose to use has darkskin and this positively representsthe social group of ethnicminorities as she is portrayingconfidence in her race. She is not trying to hide her race or exemplify the stereotypes of her race or any other- she is just being herself. This is a positive representation due to the fact that she is being very overt about who she is and she isn’t conforming to any stereotypes. It is an empowering representation, it is encouraging being who you are and not hiding form anything.

Eye contactBy choosing to have my modelmake direct eye contact with thecamera she is portraying confidence. This is often stereotypically associated with theatre people, and so my cover represents the social group of actors. Most people would expect performers to be very confident and self-assured, so by the model displaying this trait she is making herself more relatable to the audience of young actors and actresses. Her slight smirk portrays a sense of youth, which in turn suggests that she is still starting out in this industry. This makes the audience even more able to identify with her, as a lot of them would be in a similar situation, trying to make their way in the musical theatre industry.