The Fashion Police: Gender and the Rules of Beauty

Culture has always defined what a man or woman should wear. It has got its norms and expectations about what it means to be a man or a woman, based on their appearances. Gender and the rules of beauty differ from one culture to another. For example, in the Indonesian culture, traditional Scottish culture and portion of West African culture, men wear particular clothing that in the Western Culture would be deemed as a skirt. Culture also influences our gendered appearance where there are rules to define the ideal body size and proportion that is desirable for each gender. An excellent example in the Western Culture where women are to have a youthful, slim, athletic and well-toned physique.

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In this paper, I am going to examine and analyze two different magazines one for men and another for women. The goal of the analysis is to find how they portray both the men and women on their covers from their body types, poses, postures, and styles. Besides, I am going to analyze the color choices and the phrases used in these magazines. This will help in identifying how they reflect current society's gender and rules of beauty. For this paper, I chose to concentrate on "Shape" and "Men's Health," with the "Men's Health" concentration on men and "Shape" on women.

On the cover of "Shape" the woman's body type is skinny, athletic and well-toned, she also has a perfect figure and glowing skin. Within the pages, most women appear to be more like blondes and Caucasians. The cover is flawless, and her clothing has full coverage. The model poses an attractive and thought-provoking facial expression. On the other hand, the cover model on "Men's Health" had very sculptured body and is in perfect shape. The model is tall and very attractive to the eye. He also poses standing straight and has a bold posture showcasing the strength and might. The cover model also has facial hair that is well groomed. These attributes reflect the societal view of what makes a man and woman. The society indicate that men should be muscular and always show strength whereas women should be well-toned, athletic and have perfect bodies and skins,

The cover model on "Shape" is well-dressed and very fashion, she has a ton of makeup on and has well don hair. She has won a bright colored cloth to ensure that her radiance is seen. This help the readers know that she is a model and actress. When it comes to "Men's Health" the model has no shirt own to show his abs and muscular body. The model appears to be a fitness model and personal trainer. In "Shape" magazine, the cover was taken outside in a serene with flowers. Indicating that women are always associated with glamour and beauty. On the other hand, the "Men's Health" magazine's cover seems to have been taken in a studio with a white background. This was mainly to portray that man are plain and do not need any beautification.

"Shape" magazine uses pink and dark colors whereas "Men's Health" uses yellow, dark and light brown colors. Both magazines use bold texts to stress on their key issues, however. Men's Health uses capitalized text and yellow highlights to make emphasis. "Men's Health" also uses bulleting and boxed text to bring user attention to certain issues. In "Shape" magazine the title is capitalized to indicate it's the logo. The magazine uses both and capitalized letters for the model's name and numbers. Every key topic is bolded and is in small fonts. On the other hand, "Men's Health" uses both capital letters on their key topics and the rest are in small letters.

The "Men's Health" has capitalized and bolded the words "Fight Fat and Win," "Hack your DNA" and "Get a grip" and "8 power foods". "Shape" magazine, on the other hand, has bolded the words "Life Advice," "Spring Beauty Goes Bold" and "Add veggies to everything." The words on "Shape" explicitly tell women the need to get that athletic and feminine body. They are also advised that to achieve this; they have to add vegetables their diets. It however inexplicitly explains the for the summer one has to have a summer body - the perfect and gradient body. The magazine cover is all about classic bodies, beauty and embracing the feminine side.

"Men's Health" has the word "fight fat and win" indicating that a man is not supposed to have weight. A man should be muscular. The word also addresses the need for work out, healthy living and body requirement of a man. It all about muscles, strength and good looks. These covers support the gender norms and the rules of beauty. "Men's Health" shows that men should be muscular and well-built, the gender norms also address that means are should show strength and power when it comes to body types, poses, and posture - appearance. "Shape" portrays women as petite, slender and very attractive. The show what the average body and looks of a man or woman should be. Both women and men are required to always take care of their bodies to prevent them from aging and being less appealing. They also provide the tips and standard on how to maintain a younger looking skin and body.

"Men's Health" has an image of a Caucasian man whereas "Shape" has an image of a mix-race model. This helps in stressing the message or key issues of the more. This does not affect any of the message portrayed by the cover as some of these norms apply to all genders, sexual orientations, and races. Both the magazines are keen on passing their message to their audiences in a simple and more comprehensible way. They outline that healthy living, work out and good food is key to beauty and better appearance in both men and women. However, both differ in that "Shape" is more into beauty and looks while "Men's Health" is all about strength. This difference is because being men is not always viewed regarding looks.

These magazines make people feel insecure about their appearances and give them the urge to put in more effort to be like the models. Besides, they make use judgmental. Whenever we see someone who has a toned or perfect body, we say they are the exact reflection of how that gender should appear. Also, we will tend to shame others who don't have bodies and looks reflected by the magazines. This, therefore, pressures them to try and conform to these norms. However, these magazines contradict the truth about beauty, looks, and appearance. Everyone is forced to live up to the high standards reflected by the magazine.