How does your media product represent particular social groups?
My magazine is an urban music magazine, therefore represents a similar social group as urban music. The urban genre is made up of mainly R&B and Hip-hop music, both of which can have some positive connotations such as mirroring the worst aspects of the culture that it emerged from: materialism, sexism, an internalized racism, violence, and antipathy towards intellectualism. However, I do not think my magazine portrays these negative aspects of the urban social group.
The artist in my magazine is featured in three different outfits throughout the photographs: a floral, zip-down crop top, tracksuit bottoms and trainers; pink denim shorts and a knitted, skull jumper & a fur lined hoodie. These items of clothing all represent the urban social group as they are notoriously known for wearing hoodies, trainers and tracksuit bottoms. The female members of this social group are sometimes portrayed as dressing slightly provocatively, therefore the crop-top and shorts portray this and the skull on the jumper conveys the rebel-like aspect of the attitude of members of the urban social group.
The social group is often referred to as ‘urban’, however it seems to be a part of the ‘hip-hop’ sub-culture too. The members of this social group are known for having a uncaring attitude towards society and are depicted to be predominantly black, or African-American, therefore the fact that the artist in my magazine (Jade) is white and British shows the versatility of the social group and deters from the conventions of this culture.
Throughout the majority of photographs, Jade’s body language also portrays the ‘carefree’ nature of urban members of society. She is either leaning against a wall or has her shoulders angled in every shot which highlights the easy-going attitude in comparison to a member of a more formal and high-class social group, who would be expected to stand straight with good posture and without slouching their shoulders.
In the majority of the photographs, Jade has a monotone expression and is not smiling. This depicts the social group of the ‘hip-hop’ culture as they are usually seen to be quite serious. I assume this sombre tone derives from the fact that the first members of this social group came from quite a difficult background in Bronx, New York which is known as a dangerous place where crime lurks around every corner. However, in order to make Jade more relatable, there are some photographs where she is smiling and her floral print top breaks into the serious tone and adds a refreshing sense of happiness to the magazine.
There are not any major props in the photographs, except from the headphones on the front cover. This is because the graffiti in the background acts as such a strong prop in itself. The different colours evoke a happy vibe as they are bright and almost seem luminous against the simple colours of Jade’s skin and clothing. Graffiti is known to be a sign of rebellion intertwined with creativity. It is almost as if the graffiti artists are trying to prove the public that they are credible artists and committing the crime of vandalism is meant to portray their passion for their art and that they will go to any length to prove their skills. It is almost always associated with Hip-hop music and can be seen on not just urban music album covers, but also on the clothing that members of this social group wear.
Lastly, the tone of the article is very passionate throughout, but does not only portray the pleasant, innocent side of Jade, but also depicts her more rebellious side. The article praises Jade’s passion and commitment for music as well as informing readers that she can get angry and is not always the gracious ‘girl next-door’. There is a sense of honesty to the article, which not only mirrors the honesty of urban music, but of member of the urban social group as a whole. Their attitudes may seem arrogant or conceited, however they are just honest members of society who are passionate about their arts and skills and want the world to appreciate this.
I think my article portrays the urban social group in a positive light and highlights their strengths, without conveying too many of their flaws, therefore making the social group seem unique, respected and on-trend, which will hopefully encourage readers to buy my magazine rather than insulting anyone or using ‘taboo’ phases that would deter people from my magazine.
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