Attitude Online is a strange choice of text!
This is an online gay lifestyle magazine that is updated fairly regularly. This means that your case studies can vary day to day
Attitude Online is arguably a promotion for Attitude the magazine. It has fairly low production values and through its lexis is clearly targeting a more working class audience. This differs wildly to Attitude the magazine, which is more middle class. This is to target a larger, more more diverse audience who may not otherwise read the magazine
Media language and website anatomy
Applying postcolonial theory to Attitude
Paul Gilroy argues that representations of ethnicity are formed through a complex system of othering. Evaluate this theory of representation. Make reference to Attitude to support your answer [15]
Paul Gilroy argues that postcolonial attitudes still exist in British society, and these are reflected in media products. Gilroy argues that British ideologies are still primarily ethnocentric, and that this is reflected through the lack of representation of people of colour. By choosing not to represent black people, or severely underrepresenting them, producers are engaging in a process of othering, a process of segregation a group away from mainstream, hegemonic society. However, through focussing on LGBTQ+ issues, I will argue that Attitude represents communities who have previously been marginalised.
One way in which attitude uses representations of ethnicity to form a complex system of othering is through the representation of [INSERT REPRESENTATIONAL GROUP HERE!!!]
White people - lack of representation of POC, a diverse and inclusive representation of white people! Yet this reinforces certain hierarchies through this overrepresentation, and serves to other POC
Black people - a representation of black people as stylish, confident and aspirational. In the article “It’s all a blur in the Attitude March/April Issue Let's get lost in the haze.”, two hegemonically attractive black models are constructed in an aspirational confident mode of address, which initially seems to dispel Gilroy’s argument. However these representations are few and far between, and there is a massive emphasis on stories representing white celebrities. Black people are consistently underrepresented, which not only marginalises POC, but also others them.
Gilroy would argue that the producers of Attitude are not overtly racist, yet living in a postcolonial society, are demonstrating unconscious bias, and are reinforcing certain hegemonic ideological expectations. However, one marginalised group the attitude certainly does represent in a complex and fascinating manner is queer people. In the article “Brandon Flynn sheds the layers for Calvin Klein’s 2023 Pride campaign”. The MES of the model’s tight and heavily suggestive underwear is further anchored through the lexis ‘this is love’, printed directly on the underwear itself. Far from seeming ashamed of his sexuality, the model’s facial expression encodes a presentation of pride and confidence. The notion of pride suggests confidence in the face of years of social exclusion, and this is especially important considering that gay marriage in the UK was only officially recognised in 2014.
The extensive use of queer coding in this article constructs a highly complex representation of gay people that challenges the notion that they should be closeted and othered.