Examples for First Assignment

Here are some examples for the first assignment, with some comments from Roland Barthes.

Barthes talks about ideology as supported by ‘myths’ – ideas that teach us to interpret the world in a particular way. He says such ‘myths’ are a “prohibition for man against inventing himself.” By that he means that they provide a sort of framework through which we understand the world. What’s he’s interested in is who that framework benefits and how we not only accept it, but accept it without even thinking about it.

These examples all from his book Mythologies.

Example One:
“I am at the barber's, and a copy of Paris-Match is offered to me. On the cover, a young Negro in a French uniform is saluting, with his eyes uplifted, probably fixed on a fold of the tricolour. All this is the meaning of the picture. But, whether naively or not, I see very well what it signifies to me: that France is a great Empire, that all her sons, without any colour discrimination, faithfully serve under her flag, and that there is no better answer to the detractors of an alleged colonialism than the zeal shown by this Negro in serving his so-called oppressors. I am therefore again faced with a greater semiological system: there is a signifier, itself already formed with a previous system (a black soldier is giving the French salute); there is a signified (it is here a purposeful mixture of Frenchness and militariness)…"
-Barthes



Example Two:

“Such is the world of Elle: women there are always a homogenous species, an established body jealous of its privileges, still more enamored of the burdens that go with them. …the feminine world of Elle, a world without men, but entirely constituted by the gaze of man…. Love, work, write, be business women or women of letters ,but always remember that man exists, and that you are not made like him; your order is free on the condition that it depends on his…” -Barthes










This is an image from a fashion magazine from the late 1920s. Note the car in the background.

This is another article from a French fashion magazine. Note both the similarity of all the models and the fact they're all doing housework.

This comes from a later edition of Petit Echo de la Mode. A good way of figuring out the ideology behind something like this is to think of what 'story' the image is attempting to impart. Note the inclusion of the boat and the varied ages of the women in the picture.





What do all these images have in common?
What signs they're all using?
What are they trying to sell?
Who benefits from those sales?


Example Three:
Here's some more contemporary examples.


These are less obviously trying to sell clothes. What is the point of magazines like this? What are they trying to sell and to whom?

Note the mass of text on the cover, surrounding the model. If we take each of these as signs, connecting to each other, what meanings is this cover trying to convey? Those meanings are obviously trying to convince you to buy something, but what exactly?

There's less text on the cover, but this magazine definitely provides an image of 'right' and 'wrong'. Again, what is it trying to sell and to whom? And how is it doing that?

This is a French edition of Marie Claire. Even without being able to read the text, is it possible to guess the meanings the cover is trying to convey and identify which audience its aiming at? It's obviously not trying to sell clothes.

In the week three reading there's an overview of Louis Althusser's notion of 'interpellation'. The reading defines this as:

"Individuals are interpellated (have social identities conferred on them) through ideological state apparatuses from which people gain their sense of identity as well as their understanding of reality."

How can we apply that idea to these images?


Example Four:

The last images were all covers from magazines aimed at women. Playboy is obviously aimed at men - yet its cover shares one basic simularity with the above images. Why is a magazine aimed at men, ostensibly a totally different audience, using the same central sign as magazines aimed at women?











Think about those things in relation to the questions for the first assignment and answer the following:

(1) What 'myths' or ideas are these magazines trying to sell you? In other words, why would you want one of these magazines?
(2) Who benefits from you buying these magazines?
(3) What do you think of these magazine covers? Are there parts you agree with? Are there parts you disagree with?