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Extract A
Extract B
“Stereotypes tell us men are strong and emotionless, women meek and emotional. And to place value on the physical difference between male and female is to say our place on this planet is dictated by our breeding potential. It’s why LGBT+ rights have always stood on the side of challenging gender stereotypes, and why I get angry when gay men show misogyny.
Gender division is the most violent thing to ever happen to humanity. It’s suppressed the voices of millions of queer and gay people for millennia. Anybody who challenged the binary was silenced, often violently: from the concentration camps of Nazi Germany, to the recent purge of LGBT+ people in Chechnya, and barbaric Islamic State executions.
Encouraging outdated ideas of masculine/feminine is buying into the ideals of murderers who believe that a man loving another man should be punishable by death. To them, gay love is unnatural and against God. Male dominance is born of violence and oppression, not anything remotely biological or "natural." What many understand as masculinity is too often a regressive by-product of this desire to dominate. Maybe we should aspire to be matriarchal by nature, like elephants, bees and ants.
All this is why I have, on occasion, donned a wig and thrown on a dress for a mad night out with my sistas. It’s why drag is so powerful; it’s not about men ridiculing women, it’s about men undermining the oppressiveness of masculinity.
I’d love to do away with all the labels and expectations of how a man should act and dress. Imagine having a conversation with another gay man and not worrying if they think you’re masc enough, or if that straight guy is judging the way you talk... This is the root of my frustration with the idea of gender differences. You see, I despise what men have done to this planet.
Look at the extracts and answer the questions.
1. What sorts of representations of masculinity are constructed by extract A? What traditional representations are challenged? Think carefully about:
The body language of the front cover model
Costume decisions and the subversive connotations of those choices
Make-up decisions
Anchorage provided by sell lines and colour choices
Extract A constructs a subversive version of masculinity that challenges heteronormative stereotypes. The performative presentation of the model wearing a US army costume, mascara and nail varnish presents a deliberately confused image juxtaposing stereotypically masculine and feminine signifiers to suggest that gender identification can move beyond simple gender binaries. The feminized ‘hand on hip’ pose further contributes to the sense of ‘gender trouble’ constructed by the imagery, supplemented by an aggressive fourth wall break that is both provocative and confident. The sell lines surrounding the main image reinforce a sense of acceptance of the character's androgyny.
Extension activity: visit this Guardian link to take a look at some more iconic front covers produced by Attitude over the last twenty years. In what ways have the front covers changed?
2. Using extract B, write three or four sentences that describe the editor’s stance regarding contemporary gender politics. Think about the following:
The tone of language used to articulate the editor’s viewpoint
The impact, as described by the editor, of traditional masculinity on society
The tactics used by the editor to undermine traditional masculinity
The editor takes direct aim at traditional masculine identities, suggesting that traditionally gender has been constructed through stereotypes. The tone offered by the magazine’s editor-in-chief is important in that he frames the ethos and value system in which the magazine and website operate.
3. In what ways do the front cover and extract make links to the theoretical thinking of Judith Butler? Butler is not a named theorist that you need to study in relation to Attitude, but you may find some of her ideas helpful when analysing representations here. You might want to think about the following:
The idea that gender is constructed through performance
The idea that gender identities are fluid
The image in extract A ultimately connotes that contemporary masculine identities are complex and open to negotiation, reinforcing Butler’s notion that gender is performative rather than being innately fixed. The playful nature of the army uniform further suggests that the cover model forges his identity through costume and performance. The sell line’s identification of Jake Shears as ‘playing it straight’ is also suggestive of the non-fixed nature of gender identification.
