The Face Analysis

The Face

Connotations of boldness, daring to ask the questions no one else does, also the Face of, i.e. what’s hip in….. pop, culture, art, fashion etc.

White on Red, bold, large block capitals; neither masculine nor feminine specifically.

 

Strap lines

Captions in stencil print, this one in pink colour to carry theme through of model PINK in centre of cover. Also clue that she is the cover story, themes covered include sex and drugs, ‘very good acid’ implies acceptance of it. Mid-shot from below waist tilted slightly up.

Pink has strappy top on revealing quite a lot of flesh but not actually being revealing in any way.

She looks out at us from under a brushed down fringe, only part of one eye is visible, heavily rimmed with kohl and mascara.

Mouth is open and lips are parted but teeth quite clearly clamped together and even lips draw to one side in almost a snarl!

Her hands are wrapped round the straps of the top like into braces with long glossy painted talon, on one hand linked together by a piece of chain through two of the nails, a ring on one little finger, a tattoo of calligraphic writing round one wrist.

The overall effect being one of overt challenge.

What’s hip and what’s not. Especially dead stars – they seem to be gaining a new lease on life.
The weird world of kidnap

Sex games also implies fascination with, not Condemnation of.

Possible a band reference.
Fashion – sportswear
Ethnic music from Leeds, Bradford. Local rivals to well-known band
Interview with Elijah Wood from Lord of the Rings the Rings.

Across the bottom in large stencil font in Fluorescent pink – just the name PINK!

 

Advertising

Fragrances

Yves Saint Laurent for Men – picture full page, naked male full frontal, black and white, bottle of fragrance is only colour orange.

Givenchy pour homme – picture full page male in foreground no shirt because he’s stretched it out on ground for young lady to step out of car onto, woman, looking at him, long legs stylish shoes, beautiful.

Joop! Rococo for men – caption ‘the new male fragrance for the modern hero’ – double page back to back features blond, spiked haired male in mid shot behind the wheel of an open topped car sunset colours in background, car silver, he’s wearing a red unzipped sleeveless ruffled leather jacket and has a rose attached to his, out of the car, hand by a metal twist. He looks much worked over by the graphic artist, his parted lips have a definite black line between them and his skin looks airbrushed. In lower right hand corner a small bottle of scent with tear off sample. On back of page is full size bottle of fragrance

Joop! Homme – close up of dark skinned, hirsute male torso, arm clenched across chest, tanned, smooth and skin has a sheen to it. On upper right bicep is one dewdrop of pink fluid, obviously from bottle lying on its side at bottom right corner. Colour photo with small amount of pink background visible.

Dolce and Gabbana parfum – male and female both in undergarments tanned and fit, possession indicated by his hand on her thigh and lips on her throat; he has close shaven head and she has long dark hair head thrown back so that hair swings free; both have eyes closed.

Higher Dior – eau de toilette pour Homme

Jean Paul Gaultier “Le Male” – a very feminine male model sailor with puckered lips and heart tattoo; even the bottle is suggestive, a well-muscled male torso with a self-striped top, in tones of blue.

 

Clothes

Wrangler – 2 page ad left is wild west prob sherrif’s office scene and right side is modern male in jeans and denim jacket holding them at …banana point!

Diadoro – trainers low angle shot of male from waist down face up against a wall feet spread and arms handcuffed behind his back. Pun on caption ‘a trainer with more history than you’ implying a history of rebellion and breaking the law or rules (the trainers that break the rules?)

Lambretta – full page male and female, her positioned in front of him, she’s ion mid shot looking to her left away from camera, him in longer shot arms clasped behind head looking up away from camera. Black and white.

Fred Perry – page divided into 9 boxes; 8 cgi’s of males, mid shots each sporting different colour way of classic Fred Perry sports shirts, all hands on hips and looking at camera in challenging pose. In centre blue on white FP logo the laurel wreath.

Schuh – Reebok Casoni – leather shoes available exclusively at Schuh. 13 single shiny boots and shoes, light glinting off polished leather on black background.

Soletrader – the home of designer footwear.

Ben Sherman – 2 pages, mixed models.

Skechers – collection footwear; celebrity model (can’t remember who he is though! Unless it’s Robert Downey Jr?) Caption, ‘redefining style.’

 

Games ,dvd, video, cd

Grand theft auto vice City for the Playstation 2 –certificate 18

Minority Report – available to own soon.

Lord of the Rings

Twin Peaks

 

Miscellaneous

Fuji Digital camera – caption ‘sorted’ and long mid shot of bald headed man playing with the cuffs of the shirt sticking out of his long black jacket, wearing shades, implying the bouncer type.

Samsung – flat screen monitor – full page overall colour scheme grey and dark lilac, long dark-haired girl looking directly into camera though with back in forefront of picture, holding monitor under arm wearing maroon low backed top and ribbon lace up shoes; caption ‘digital temptation.’

Davidoff Classic – double page spread ad for cigarettes; lower fifth of page is the health warning; caption ‘ you know the difference’, close up shot of side of male face hand up to face with cigarette in fingers far left and far right an open pack showing snowy white sticks with silver scroll work and silver autograph ‘Davidoff’.

Marlboro – double page spread, photo at night of a man and his quad bike, he’s having a break at a picnic table under a floodlight.

Sony Ericsson mobile phone – with picture phone book, male hand holding it, message in screen is from Jane and has a cartoon witch picture.

Panasonic – customisable mobile phones; mixed group of young 20’s 2 female and 3 male all holding their phones out for our inspection.

Swatch diaphane transparent irony – an 8 page fold out for swatch watches, theme is transparency, so pages have misty shots of the internal workings, the only pictures in focus and clear are of the whole watch and the swatch logo; lots of numbers and technical specifications and even a diagram; mostly black and white and grey, yellow on inside pages for names of watches and details overlaid in black, and white cross on red background. (Do the words actually mean anything or are they just meant to intrigue or impress?)

Pulsar by Seiko – black and white except for a red banner across bottom with important technical details and blue face of metal watch itself. All writing in white; model is male, out of focus hot of gym equipment, he’s sweaty, hair wet and straggly, has towel round his neck and tattoo on his knee, not looking at camera but away to his right.

Tiger – beer, full page, oriental night scene, caption ‘Discover the Tiger.’

Beck’s – 3 pages, but following each other on right hand side so that you could flip them; different captions: cosmetic surgeon, fashion victim and blessed, perhaps implying that this beer is all things to all people but the last one with a metal ruler next to it implies ‘size matters.’

Absolut – by ~Jean Paul Gaultier; vodka.

 

Language

Complete your slightly sad Granny-chic ensemble with an absurd purse. Now you’re, like, kooky.

Waste of time, mate.

OK, Jen we get it.‘ (of Jennifer Lopez)

Language is varied, from jargon full: “Retro-revivalism is like a spotlight that sweeps….“, to quite sophisticated: “We know where our TV’s gone in the past ten years – cruelty based reality shows spawning countless just-add-water instant celebs……..“, to basic and obvious; not to mention sarcastic and derogatory: “Are you done strutting around like some kind of jerky-chewing Texan redneck in your perilously perched trucker’s headpiece?” ! Including clear opinions like: “…the Church might move on to the ….issue of the world’s biggest-ever child abuse scandal. But, hey – no hurry!

A well-practised teenager can hot-wire one in little under a minute…And the worst thing is that, rather than selling the scooters for crack, they just crash them into a wall and the come back for another one.

 

Odds and ends

Barometer is a section devoted to what is up and what is down e.g. Pictures of men ‘imitating Christ’, bearded celeb wonders, but they’re not hip apparently! Down arrow! And the Pope testing Catholic priests to find out if they are gay. Also down Review of a Miami resort with details, and a swinger’s convention! But Brazil is up because of a new film and its thriving dance scene. So is London’s women only R&B club scene where the action’s hot.

Christian hip hop magazine rather dismissive but at least it’s here!

Another with common ground is the review of right wing Christians invading pop culture and the Greenbelt festival.

Fashion advertorials – Issey Miyake 10 pages full gloss treatment.

Y3, Yohji Yamamoto’s first collection for Adidas. 8 pages male and female models.

Cut out an keep guide to New York’s clubs. Emphasis on gay and transsexual scene.

Other promotions for Orange, Media Messaging.

Showcases on very new designers e.g. Way Perry.

A clubs section; film review section; bands; games; and one item of concern in this case on ‘data mining.’

Photo of male lap with semen! In a section devoted to real photos of celebs and friends.

Loyalty card shopping and the scam!

 

Major article

The life and trials of PINK complete with fashion shots in sheer tops; caption ‘what’s my appeal to gay girls? Because I’m strong, assertive, cool, hot. I’m a girl’s girl. And my assistant likes my nipples.‘ 10 pages, photos b/w; Fuji, Samsung and Minority Report ads between. Lots of detail about her misdemeanours, drug taking, abuse of all sorts, tattoos. And no she’s not gay!

Natalia Vodianova – a new Russian Supermodel a fairy tale story; from abject poverty to superstardom.

Interview with who makes TV in UK today.

Kidnap experiences.

 

Gender construction

No hang ups about private parts, but not salacious, merely there.

Men drink beer,

Women drink vodka

Both smoke though in the ads only men are shown doing it.

Alternative lifestyles pretty much the norm within these pages.

Men like shoes and designer sports gear.

Women like fashion but much of what is profiled here is not really for buying.

Women like purses, jewellery and fragrances though these all come in the form of tiny ads.

Men like quality in Soundsystems, Computer technology, cameras etc

Both like mobile phones.

Both like the look of the thing not necessarily for itself. (Of perfume: ‘Well, it all smells more or less the same. But check those bottles.‘)

 

What is the magazine selling?

A lifestyle: what is expected of a person of a reasonable disposable income, probably no family ties; here you can learn what to wear as well as what to do with your spare time. How to enjoy whatever your scene is but how to do it safely. Life is about having fun and a bit of experimenting along the way.

You shop therefore you are.‘ Quote from the editorial staff is a parody of the philosopher Descartes’ famous expression: ‘I think therefore I am.’

The editorial seems to be jeering at the modern stars of the music world that they wouldn’t know how to misbehave if someone gave them directions! Yet our respected leaders of TV can do it! Ironic isn’t it!

The editor’s letter this month refers obviously to a barrage of mail when he says “You were still having trouble reading our mag in polite company but were mostly unhappy about seeing Justin Timberlake…among the rebels , visionaries and superstars of our heroes list…Get over it!” Pretty much sums up the mags intentions: to be different, to feature new people and new things but also more established stars in a new light. And since it makes no apologies it intends to shock! And judging by one e-mail the new direction of The Face is good though some obviously do read it for the fashion rather than the gratuitous nakedness!

The downturn in sales of the more traditional lads mags that may or may not herald a wiser understanding of what is and isn’t really acceptable exposure of women in today’s society has led to the post-lad-mag popularity of ‘Jack’ for example

Audience

Since the intended audience is both male and female there is plenty of stuff about dance and club scenes, music and what’s going on and where. But I would think this mag could have an appeal for anybody with an interest in the less mainstream music scenes since there is pretty thorough coverage of: electroclash, Scandi-garage, beat-mix, R&B, indie-rock, bhangra, hip hop etc.

The Face crosses the boundaries of youth culture, fashion and music. It is the UK’s first and foremost style title, documenting a moment in time. Keep your finger on the pulse by taking out a subscription” From www.emap.com

 

The Male Gaze and Objectification of women

Normally the male gaze is the concept that even women see themselves through men’s eyes, that what men have over centuries come to accept as ideals for women’s looks, behaviour and attitudes are actually what is best for women and this myth often goes unchallenged.

Objectification is the forcing of women to be viewed as objects and not as persons in their own right. For example the use of female bodies to sell any kind of product.

In the vast majority of magazines for women or for men the myth is perpetuated, with blonde blue-eyed long legged stick thin women adorning front covers and pouting at the potential purchaser. Women buy the magazine on the mistaken assumption that we want to look like this and be like this, have this perfect lifestyle and that the magazine holds the key to finding this ‘perfection’, this woman is destined to be unfulfilled!

The traditional lads magazine panders to the child inside that men are used to suppressing but through the pages of these they are allowed to be free from their usual restraints. Here it is alright to drink too much, to fart in public, to ogle women’s naked bodies and indulge in excessive behaviour that in reality would be considered at the very least impolite. In this way these magazines are as much catering to personal fantasy as women’s own magazines.

Magazines the theorists

Naomi Wolf: The Beauty Myth

Women’s mags are believed to trivialise, sentimentalise and transmit the worst aspects of the beauty myth.

Readers are ambivalent too, ‘I buy them as a form of self-abuse‘ one woman said.

In late 1802 women’s emancipation was under way. The Queen and Harper’s Bazaar began perfecting the mass production of beauty images aimed at women. Ads were first taken in early 1900s. Victorian mags ‘catered to a female sex virtually in domestic bondage,’ but by WW1 they ‘quickly developed a commensurate degree of social awareness.

By the 1920s they had settled into the cosy intimate relaxed style they still have today.

By the 1940s again war production work was glamourised; to enlist huge numbers of women who were first time workers, glamour was a main tool. With these new avenues of employment women developed a new sense of competence and confidence, ‘the precious right of women to be feminine and lovely‘ became a raison d’etre for the war. Women war workers were still encouraged to look their best.

When it was belatedly realised that women would not necessarily give up their jobs when the men returned from war the magazines were used to provoke domesticity. (3m US and 1m UK women were fired or quit their jobs.)

Magazines reflect historical change but they can and have been used to determine change as well.

1950s mags re-enabled hassled mums to get in touch with their ideal self – Ann Oakley stated: “That self that aspires to be a good wife, a good mother and an efficient home-maker…women’s role was to strive after perfection in all three roles.

In 1950s advertising revenues soared. Betty Friedan in ‘The Feminine Mystique‘ traced how American housewives’ ‘lack of identity and purpose …are manipulated into dollars.‘ The post-war economy needed people to spend or it would crash and so women were targeted; the career woman was unhealthy from the advertisers point of view and so magazines were slanted so as to prevent ‘this group getting any larger….they are not the ideal type of customer. They are too critical.

The advertiser was encouraged to imbue his product with a spiritual value so that dull and unremitting housework which could be done by anybody would become a matter of skill and specialised knowledge. The marketer’s reports concluded, for objects with ‘added psychological value the price itself hardly matters.‘ Betty Friedan asked, “Why is it never said that the really crucial function women serve is to buy things for the house?

However boredom did eventually drive women to the work place, advertisers lost their primary consumer. So a new beauty myth was invented along with its $33 bn thinness and $20 bn youth industry! All to save magazines and advertisers from the economics of the women’s revolution!

In the 1950s there was “no other way for a woman to be a heroine” than to “keep on having babies;” today a woman must “keep on being beautiful.” Friedan.

In the 60s the women’s movement, the lure of the workplace and ‘style for all‘ fashion led to the magazines loss of popularity. All that was left now was the body. In 1969 Vogue offered the Nude Look and began to focus on the body. Women’s mags completely invented a new look. By elevating a hardly existing problem to the existential female dilemma, dieting became the new religion. From 1968-1972 diet related articles rose 70%.

In a backlash against feminism ‘experts’ arose all over to proclaim that a feminist must be ugly and unable to gain a husband to be a feminist. In drawing attention to the physical characteristics of women’s leaders they can be dismissed as either too pretty or too ugly thus preventing women’s identification with the issues. It was a no win situation for women.

In 1965 the revamped Cosmopolitan initiated the new wave. Its formula said in a can-do tone, ‘be your best and nothing should get in your way.‘ A focus on female sexuality was meant to convey sexual liberation. But the formula also includes an element that contradicts and undermines the overall pro-woman stance – in diet, skin care and surgery features it sells women the deadliest version of the beauty myth that money can buy.

Why are women’s magazines so important? Because general culture takes a males view on what is newsworthy, only through their magazines can women get another view. The Super Bowl is on the front page while a change in child care legislation is carried on page 3 in a paragraph. Life Magazine’s covers for 50 years showed many women but only 19 were not actresses or models – Eleanor Roosevelt is always famously referred to as ‘ugly.’

But women’s mags are trapped. Yes they can include uplifting editorial but they pay for their license with ‘beauty backlash trappings’ or advertisers will go elsewhere.

20 years ago when the offices of the Ladies Home Journal, were occupied, a list of alternative articles was offered up, e.g. How to Get an Abortion; a Divorce; What Detergents do to our Rivers etc. This type of article is now mainstream; these mags have popularised women’s issues and have become, “Very important instruments of social change.” Wolf. Indeed criticisms of the beauty myth are now found in them more often than anywhere else: Glamour, “How to make peace with the body you’ve got“; She: “Fat is not a sin.” Etc.

The mass part of their appeal is important. Women can learn how to be financially independent, take charge of their health; women’s fiction gets a higher profile; so do women achievers and women related legislation. Letters can provide a platform for woman to woman debate. Yes, women resent the elements of their format that follow repetitive formulas; women are disturbed when mags seem servile to the economic bottom line of the beauty myth.

The voice of the magazine gives women an invisible female authority figure to admire and obey. The voice encourages them to trust. It is loyal to the reader. It is like a club, an extended family and interest group and therefore it is difficult to read with a sharp eye as to how thoroughly advertising revenue influences the copy. It is easy to misread the whole thing as if it were a coherent message from the editors telling women, ‘You should like this.‘ In fact if we were able to read it in a more informed way we could take the pleasure and leave the pain.

Editors really feel the pressure from advertisers now who will withdraw if articles are not suitable. TV ads have increased but memory of them has reduced! Worldwide pornography is now the biggest media category grossing more than the legitimate film and music industries.