Visual analysis of GQ magazine covers: intersections between gender, race,

and sexuality

Rūta Latvėnaitė

Department of Journalism, Media and Communication

Master of Arts – 120 ECTS

Global media studies

Spring term 2020

Supervisor: Jörgen Skågeby

Date of submission: 2020-06-12

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Abstract

This thesis widens the application of intersectionality into the study of visual media. This

study examines representational patterns on GQ magazine covers issued in the US with

specific regards to gender-race-sexuality intersections. Also, this study seeks to grasp what

meaning is conveyed via those representational patterns in conjunction with the visual and

linguistic modes, and what social effect it imparts. The study employs a mixed-method

approach combining the quantitative content analysis with the social semiotics, and the inter-

categorical methodological approach to intersectionality.

The findings show that GQ magazine employs the same representational patterns

acknowledged in culture and the magazines’ market. Those patterns manifest in the sexual

objectification of women, racial exclusion, and emphasis on white heterosexual maleness.

Additionally, the intersectional analysis revealed that women of color and sexual minorities

are in the least favorable position regarding representational patterns on GQ magazine.

Keywords

Visual analysis, GQ magazine, representational patterns, representational meaning,

intersectionality, intersections between gender, race and sexuality, social semiotics

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Table of Contents

Abstract ..................................................................................................................................... 2

1. Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 5

2. Theoretical Framework and Literature review................................................................. 8

2.1. Gender, Race and Sexuality ......................................................................................... 8

2.2. Representation and its meaning ................................................................................... 9

2.3. Representational patterns on magazine covers ........................................................ 11

2.4. Men's magazines .......................................................................................................... 14

2.5. Intersectionality ........................................................................................................... 17

2.5.1. Intersectional black women's live experiences .................................................. 17

2.5.2. Intersectionality and social divisions .................................................................. 19

2.5.3. Intersectionality in the real world....................................................................... 21

3. Methodology ....................................................................................................................... 24

3.1. Three methodological approaches to intersectionality: anti-, inter- and intra-

categorical ........................................................................................................................... 25

3.2. Quantitative Content Analysis ................................................................................... 27

3.2.1. Sample selection.................................................................................................... 27

3.2.2. Reliability .............................................................................................................. 28

3.3. Social Semiotics ........................................................................................................... 29

3.3.1. Sample selection.................................................................................................... 30

3.3.2. Reliability .............................................................................................................. 31

4. Results and Analysis........................................................................................................... 32

4.1. Results of quantitative content analysis .................................................................... 32

4.1.1. Domination of whiteness, maleness, and heterosexuality ................................. 32

4.1.2. Skin exposure ........................................................................................................ 34

4.1.3. Intersections of clothing, body view, and pose categories ................................ 36

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4.2. Social Semiotic Analysis and Discussion ................................................................... 38

4.2.1. Sexual objectification of women.......................................................................... 38

4.2.2. Sharp representation of men ............................................................................... 43

4.2.3. GQ’s stereotypical representational patterns .................................................... 47

4.2.4. The meaning and its social effects ....................................................................... 49

5. Conclusion ........................................................................................................................... 50

References ............................................................................................................................... 52

Appendices .............................................................................................................................. 55

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1.Introduction

The mass media may inform and update us about the latest events, and yet, mass media has a

significant role in visually representing reality and the world that surrounds us, showing it in

photos, images, and any other form of visual media. As Billy Hawkins (1998) states, "we live

in a society where visual images are paramount and where the mass media is a powerful

medium for perceiving reality" (Hawkins 1998:48). Additionally, Gillian Rose (2016) claims

that "visual is central to the cultural construction of social life in contemporary Western

societies" (Rose 2016:1). Furthermore, following Stuart Hall's (2013) theory of

representation, visuals (language, image, signs) that are socially constructed carry socially

constructed meaning. The magazine covers are attention-getting visuals that aim to advertise

and seduce people to purchase the publications. Additionally, being thoroughly and socially

constructed, magazine covers carry power and influences society.

Magazine covers "provide a window into societal roles regarding whom deem to be more

important and of greater social value" (Wasike 2017:4). Consequently, magazine covers are

capable of conveying powerful messages with mirroring certain social constructs and

ascribing social roles and status for people (Wasike 2017). These processes manifest in the

using of the specific representational practises.

Magazine covers have attracted a great deal of interest for media scholars. Stereotypical

gender representation, gender disparities, sexualised representation, production of fame, and

celebrity have been the main topics addressed in examining magazine covers. Previous works

have widely focused on measuring frequencies and relied on quantitative estimations.

Moreover, there is a tendency to examine the depiction of women on women's magazines'

covers and representation of men on magazine covers that are aimed at men. Consequently,

traditionally gender categories gained a great deal of attention in the analysis of

representational on magazine covers. However, other social categories, such as race and

sexuality, have been neglected in the studies of visual representation. Furthermore, the

research of representation on magazine covers tends to focus on female's magazines; thus,

males' magazines are still understudied. (Lambiase and Reichert 2005)

Drawing on the literature of representation, meaning-making, and intersectionality this study

aims to fill the gap in the media research and investigate how the covers of GQ (Gentlemen's

Quarterly) magazine published in the U.S., work in relation to a broader system of meaning

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by focusing on multiple axes – gender, race, and sexuality. The research aim is threefold.

Firstly, this study seeks to examine representational patterns that appeared on GQ covers and

quantitatively measure those patterns. Secondly, this study aims to grasp the meaning of those

patterns by analysing the composition of visual elements and text on GQ covers. Additionally,

the social effects of that specific meaning gain interest here. Thirdly, this paper recognises

that "a different, more complex and more holistic reading of signs and symbolic orders" can

be carried out by the intersectionality approach (Barnum and Zajicek 2008:111). The

intersectionality was neglected in investigations of magazine covers in previous studies and

has not been fully addressed in analysing visual media in general. Therefore, this study seeks

to investigate how intersections of gender, race, and sexuality operate in representational

patterns and its meaning on GQ covers through the lens of intersectionality. For achieving

these aims, this study addresses the following questions:

RQ1: What representational patterns are constructed on GQ covers with specific regard to

gender-race-sexuality intersections? Moreover, to what extent those patterns occur?

RQ2: What meaning is conveyed via those representational patterns in conjunction with the

composition of visual signs and text on GQ covers? Moreover, what is the social effect of that

meaning with specific regard to gender-race-sexuality intersections?

The mixed-methods approach that combines the quantitative content analysis with the social

semiotic analysis, and the intersectionality approach, will be employed to answer these

questions. Applying the intersectionality approach has been challenging since there is no

collective agreement about which social categories must be included in the analysis to make it

intersectional enough. The utilisation of different racial categories varies within different

scholars and research fields. The black feminists usually apply the classical model of 'triple

oppression' (race, gender, and class) (Yuval-Davis 2006). The sociology scholars who focus

on social stratification see class as the central social category (Yuval-Davis, 2015), the

feminist scholars see gender as the leading category in the intersectional analysis (Lykke

2010). The intersectionality approach is both theory and method (Yuval-Davis 2006; Lykke

2010; Collins and Bilge 2016). It is acknowledged here; thus, the intersectionality approach in

this study operates as a theoretical and methodological tool.

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The personal interest made an influence on choosing the topic and material for this study. I

wrote an assignment focusing on GQ covers, that employed the intersectionality approach for

the course of 'Mediatized Intersections: class, ethnicity, gender, sexuality.' I was encouraged

by course teachers that this assignment has the potential for expansion into a master thesis. I

overviewed previous studies and found out that GQ magazine covers have not gained

attention among media scholars. Moreover, a small number of researches that analysed GQ

covers did not employ the intersectionality approach. These factors, together with the evident

gap in media research listed above, became a motivation for conducting this inquiry.

On the whole, this study extends current knowledge of representational practices that have

been employed in men's magazines. These practices will be examined through

intersectionality lenses. It will lead to broadening the knowledge that multiple social

categories such as gender, race, and sexuality are interwoven that shapes representational

practices. It is hoped that this research will contribute to widening the application of the

intersectionality approach to the analysis of visual media, such as magazine covers.

This section is followed by briefly introducing the defined social categories included in this

study. Then the theory of representation and meaning-making are presented with an overview

of previous research of visual representation on magazine covers and, specifically, men's

magazines. These sections are followed by a section that introduces the intersectionality

approach. The next chapter explains the methodological approach and the three methods that

are applied in this study. This chapter is followed by distinguishing the results of quantitative

content analysis and the results of social semiotics. Additionally, there is the final discussion

that brings together the results of quantitative analysis and the outcomes of social semiotic

analysis. The final chapter concludes the study by emphasising the most striking results,

discussing the limitations of this study, and proposing further research questions.

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2. Theoretical Framework and Literature review

2.1. Gender, Race and Sexuality

The social categories of gender, race and sexuality are at central in this study. Therefore, it is

important to present how these categories are acknowledged here and will be operating in this

study.

Gender

The gender is determined drawing on the feminist approach provided by Nina Lykke (2010).

She states that feminism scholars established the intersectionality theory because they always

perceived gender (social category) as being intersectional. That gender "should always be

considered in relation to its intersections with constructions of other social cultural categories

such as race, ethnicity, class, sexuality, age, dis/ability, nationality, and so on" (Lykke

2010:50).

Race

The race here is understood as socially constructed. "Race is a legal, social, and cultural

invention rather than given in nature, and the knowledge of race and its deployment are

exercises of power expressed in the encounter among groups for control over resources”

(Gray 2017: 53).

Sexuality

Jeffrey Week's view of sexuality is applied to defining the term of sexuality. "Sexualities are

produced in society in complex ways. They are a result of diverse social practices that give

meaning to human activities, of social definitions and self-definitions, of struggles between

those who have power to define and regulate, and those who resist. 'Sexuality' is not a given,

it is a product of negotiation, struggle and human agency" (Weeks 2016: 31).

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2.2. Representation and its meaning

The point of departure of the theory of representation is that representation constructs

meaning. Stuart Hall (2013) states, "representation is an essential part of the process by which

meaning is produced and exchanged between members of a culture. It does involve the use of

language, of signs and images which stand for or representing things" (Hall 2013:1). Hall

understands language in a broad sense and describes it as "in language, we use signs and

symbols, whether they are sounds, written words, electronically produced images, musical

notes, even objects – to stand for represent to other people our concepts, ideas and feelings"

(Hall 2013:xvii). Hall (2013) suggests a constructivist/constructionist approach for

understanding how the representation of meaning works through language. This approach

acknowledges that meaning is socially constructed and fixed in advance using the

representational systems. According to Hall (2013), constructivists believe that meaning is

constructed and conveyed by "social actors who use the conceptual systems of their culture

and the linguistic and other representational systems" (Hall 2013:11). This study adopts a

constructivist approach and claims that meaning conveyed on GQ covers is socially

constructed by social actors – magazine editors and owners.

According to Hall (2013), stereotyping is a very widely and frequently used representational

pattern/practice/system in visual culture. He analysed photos depicting racial and ethnic

differences in terms of stereotypical representation. Hall (2013) states, "that what is said about

racial and ethnic difference could equally be applied in many instances to other dimensions of

difference, such as gender, sexuality, class and disability" (Hall 2013:215). Thus, Hall's ideas

about stereotypical practices are employed in this study that focuses on representational

patterns in terms of gender-race-sexuality intersections. Stereotypical representational

patterns construct meaning, which "depends on the difference between opposites" (Hall

2013:225). There are already existing binary oppositions/categories in every visual image that

is socially constructed. As Gordon Fyfe and John Law (1987) argue, "a depiction is never just

an illustration…it is the site for construction and depiction of social difference" (Fyfe and

Law 1987:1). Binary oppositions shape the power structures in society. Jacques Derrida

(1972) points out that "one pole of binary is usually the dominant one, the one which includes

the other within its field of operations. There is always a relation of power between the poles

of binary opposition" (Derrida cited in Hall 2013:225). Accordingly, Hall (2013) argues that

"we should really write, white/black, men/women, masculine/feminine, upper class/lower

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class, British/alien to capture this power dimensions in discourse" (Hall 2013:225, emphasis

in original).

Hall (2013) suggests that stereotypical representational practice expressed in showing

differences, has two main features: (1) reducing, essentialising, naturalising, and fixing the

differences; (2) being the practice of closure and exclusion. The first characteristic means that

difference as such operates and shows the difference between people, usually, between the

binary oppositions. The reduction, exaggeration or simplification of a person's traits creates

the difference between people. The second characteristic "sets up a symbolic frontier between

the 'normal' and the 'deviant'…what 'belongs' and what does not or is "Other" (Hall

2013:248). Hall (2013) provided examples of how this feature occurs in stereotypical racial

representation where people of colour, and in his analysis, particularly black people, are

depicted as someone that does not meet with white culture; the split between them and us is

apparent. That leads to excluding black people from society as they are represented as

someone who does not belong there.

Hall (2013) argues that "stereotyping tends to occur where there are gross inequalities of

power. Power is usually directed against the subordinated or excluded group" (Hall

2013:248). Consequently, the stereotypical practice has aspects of hegemony and hierarchy,

and it works as a way to reinforce hegemony and hierarchy. Hall (2013) also refers to Richard

Dyer, who states that:

“the establishment of normalcy (i.e. what is accepted as 'normal') through social- and

stereo-types is one aspect of the habit of ruling groups...to attempt to fashion the

whole of society according to their own world view, value system, sensibility and

ideology. So right the world view for the ruling groups that they make it appear (as it

does appear to them) as 'natural' and 'inevitable' - and for everyone - and, in so far as

they succeed, they establish their hegemony” (Dyer cited in Hall 2013:248).

It is important to emphasise that power here is understood as the power of representation as

such, or as Hall (2013) defines it as symbolic power. "The power to represent someone or

something in a certain way – within a certain 'regime of representation.' It includes the

exercise of symbolic power through representational practices" (Hall 2013: 249).

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To further understand that meaning is constructed not only via representational patterns but

via broader representation systems per se, the study relies on the science of reading signs. The

GQ covers here are understood as being "multimodal texts – texts whose meanings are

realised through more than one semiotic code" (Kress and Van Leeuwen 2006:177). Mode,

code, and sign are used here as equal terms. Gunther Kress and Teo Van Leeuwen (2006)

established the concept of multimodal texts and explained it via the social semiotics approach.

Social semiotics acknowledges that any artefact, for instance, advertisements, book

illustrations, magazines, banal artefacts such as maps, child's drawings are made by

integrating various signs: text, visual signs/elements, colour. Recognising the composition

and integration of those various signs is at the centre of the social semiotic approach. "In our

view, the integration of different semiotic modes is the work of an overarching code whose

rules and meanings provide the multimodal text with the logic of its integration" (Kress and

Van Leeuwen 2006: 179). In other words, various modes co-operate and create meaning. As

Carey Jewitt et al. state (2016), "different means of meaning-making are not separated but

almost always appear together: image with writing, speech with gesture, math symbolism

with writing and so forth" (Jewitt et al. 2016: 2). Also, Kress (2010) states that "image shows

what takes too long to read and writing names what would be difficult to show" (Kress, 2010:

1). Consequently, this study recognises that GQ covers convey multiple meanings: meaning

that is constructed via representational patterns; and meaning that is made by integration of

visual signs and written text (cover lines). In other words, the cover image acquires additional

meaning when the image is materialised by written text on it. In this study, the social

semiotics approach is applied as a method, and a more detailed explanation about it can be

found in the methodology chapter.

In addition to the outlined theoretical concepts about representational patterns, it is necessary

to explore the practical application of representational practices. The overview of previous

research about representation on magazine covers is presented in the following section.

2.3. Representational patterns on magazine covers

Hall's definition of stereotypical representation practice that reduces a specific person's traits

is widely used in the representation of women in visual media. In the study of gendered

messages related to the body on magazine covers, Malkin et al. (1999) concluded that "visual

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images on both men's and women's magazine covers tend to portray what women should look

like and what men should look for" (Malkin et al. 1999: 653). In other words, women are

portrayed to satisfy men's desires. Women's sexualised objectification is also often explained

by the term 'male gaze' developed by Laura Mulvey (1975) in cinema research. Mulvey

(1975) argues that women's figure is constructed respectively considering the male gaze -

enabling men to experience visual pleasure by visually controlling women. She states that "in

their traditional exhibitionist role women are simultaneously looked at and displayed, with

their appearance coded for the strong visual and erotic impact that they can be said to connote

to-be-looked-at-ness" (Mulvey, 1975: 11). Also, Mulvey (1975) suggests that the male gaze is

associated with male domination and hegemonic heterosexuality. Michele White (2017) states

that "any forms of looking relationships occur in contemporary society, but the normative

white heterosexual male gaze is a key process of heterosexuality and racial exclusion" (White

2017: 76). Accordingly, women are likely to be presented by emphasising their bodies,

sexuality, and gender, and reducing their traits like professional skills, mind, or career

achievements. Meanwhile, men are mainly represented by emphasising what they have

achieved in their personal life or their careers. The enhancement of male's mental and

professional characteristics is evident in representational practice. Accordingly, the difference

between women and men is essentialised, naturalised, and become fixed.

Erving Goffman's (1979) investigation of stereotypical gender representations in commercial

advertisements is well-known and frequently cited in the literature of visual media and

representation. Consequently, gender representation has been the dominant theme in the

visual analysis of imagines on magazine covers; however, advertisements in magazines have

gained more attention than magazine covers among media scholars. There is a tendency to

analyse the depiction of women on magazines designed for women and the depiction of men

on magazines directed to men. Jennifer B. Webb et al. (2017) investigated the representation

of women's body on the covers of Yoga Journal magazine of 40 years period. They found out

that models are likely to be depicted stereotypically: slim in body size, thin in body shape, in

high body visibility, and revealing a great deal of skin exposure (Webb et al. 2017).

Another trending theme in the research of representation on magazine covers is gender

disparities. Ben Wasike (2017) investigated the depiction of women and men on sport

magazine covers: Sports Illustrated and ESPN The Magazine. The results indicated that

women tend to be represented in a more sexualised fashion compare to men. Also, that

research showed that "men were likelier to be portrayed in active poses, and the cover lines

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emphasised gender over athletic achievement for women" (Wasike 2017:1). Eventually, the

findings, which showed that on magazine covers women's bodies are more sexualised than

men's bodies, have shaped the research theme in later visual analysis.

Consequently, sexualised representation on magazine covers, images, and advertisements in

magazines has been widely studied. Several studies have found that highly sexualised

representation of women on magazine covers has been persistent. Nicole Krassas, Joan M.

Blauwkamp, and Peggy Wesselink (2003) analysed sexual rhetoric in editorial photographs in

Maxim and Stuff magazine issues. That analysis provided interest results since scholars also

aimed to discover the frequency of race of the models depicted in images. The results

demonstrated that women are sexualised and objectified more than men and that white models

constituted more than 80% of all images (Krassas et al. 2003).

Cynthia Frisby (2017), as Wasike (2017) investigated the same sports magazines' covers

(Sports Illustrated and ESPN The Magazine) and focused on sexualisation and objectification

of males and females. Additionally, Frisby (2017) investigated the frequency of racial

depiction of female athletes. Her study confirmed Wasike's findings that women are more

objectified than men. Also, Frisby's (2017) findings demonstrated that male athletes are

portrayed more often than female athletes on sport magazine covers. In terms of racial

representation, the findings showed that out of 109 covers, only six covers depicted female

athletes of colour.

An interesting analysis was conducted by Eric Hatton and Marry Nell Trautner (2011), who

aimed to measure the frequency and intensity of sexualisation of men and women on Rolling

Stone magazine covers between 1963 to 2009. Rolling Stone covers were divided into

categories: non sexualised, sexualised, and hypersexualised. The results indicated that the vast

majority of men's images fell into the non sexualised category, and the decrease in the

sexualisation of men during the investigated period was approximately 2-3%. The overall

result of images of women showed that women's sexualisation was continually increasing,

and the vast majority of images of women fell into the hypersexualised category. The most

striking result to emerge from covers of issues in 2000, is that women are sexualised at the

same rate as men are not sexualised. Hatton and Trautner (2011) concluded that "sexualised

images can suggest victimisation for women but confidence for men" (Hatton and Trautner

2011: 273). Scholars suggest that the Rolling Stone's representational pattern of women can

only be defined as sexual objectification.

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Little is known about how other social categories such as race and sexuality are represented

on magazine covers. Eric Primm, Summer DuBois, and Robert Regoli (2007) investigated

racial representation on Sports Illustrated (SI) covers of the period of 1954-2004; however,

they only included one social category - race. Another weakness of the study is that the race

variable was coded only into two classical categories– black and white. Nevertheless, their

study showed noteworthy results. Primm's et al. (2007) study demonstrated that until 1975

black athletes were underrepresented, and only approximately a quarter of all covers

portrayed black athletes. Interestingly, the results showed that between 1975 to 2004, the

frequency of representation of black and white athletes was nearly the same: 56.1% of all SI

covers depicted white athletes; 53.9 % of all SI covers depicted black athletes. In conclusion,

Primm et al. (2007) suggested that "racial tolerance and integration appears to be increasing"

(Primm et al. 2007: 229).

Jon Arakaki and William P. Cassidy (2014) included gender and race categories in their

investigation of the covers of People magazine. The study aimed to measure the frequency of

featured celebrities regarding race/ethnicity and gender over the period from 2000 to 2010.

Their study demonstrated that the covers featuring actor amounted to 48.4% of the total

covers. Also, the results showed that 58.8% of depicted celebrities were female. In terms of

racial representation, white celebrities constituted a significant percentage (87.9%) of the total

represented celebrities. However, the research did not provide any discussion of the

interrelation between different categories – celebrity type, race, and gender.

These outlined findings verify earlier stated theoretical arguments that stereotypical

representational patterns are widely employed practise in culture. Representing the difference

results in objectifying women and reinforcing men's power, excluding people of colour, and

enhancing whiteness. The overview of literature focused on different types of magazines. This

study focuses on GQ magazine, and it is necessary to review research that has investigated

GQ magazine covers regarding its representation practices. The following section presents

some research that focused on both GQ magazines and men's magazines in general.

2.4. Men's magazines

GQ magazine is a men's fashion magazine. It was argued in the introduction section that very

little attention had been paid to GQ magazine compared to other fashion and lifestyle

magazines designed for men. A few research investigated advertisements published in GQ

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magazine (Hurd Clarke et al. 2014; Thompson, 2015). Jacqueline Lambiase and Tom

Reichert (2005) state that trendy and high circulated men's magazines such as FHM, Maxim,

Stuff, former magazines Loaded and Details, have been extensively investigated in terms of

their content, advertisements and cover images, and yet scholars argue that focus on men's

magazine covers is still very limited in academia. As a result, Lambiase and Reichert (2005)

conducted research that aimed to grasp if men's magazines Details, Esquire, GQ, and Rolling

Stone followed Maxim's representational practice – featuring women with the emphasis on

their bodies and sexuality. Lambiase and Reichert (2005) argue that Maxim magazine covers

have been attention-getting not only among its readers but also among press and trade articles.

Therefore, Maxim has been widely analysed in media research. Lambiase and Reichert's

(2005) study showed that between 1995 to 2000, the period including Maxim's debut in 1997,

women were more likely to appear on magazine covers than men, and sexualised tone

increased after Maxim's debut. One part of the analysis was focused on the comparison

between two different periods: before Maxim's debut (1995-1997) and the period after

Maxim's debut (1995-2000). The comparison indicated that the only thing that has not

changed is the pose of model: "pose" was similar both before and after—most persons were

shown standing—body view, lack of clothing, and sexual tone increased after Maxim's debut.

For instance, 32% of covers contained "head shots" beforehand, compared to only 19%

afterward" (Lambiase and Reichert 2005:79). Scholars concluded that men's magazines have

steadily adopted Maxim's representational practice of covers. However, Lambiase and

Reichert's (2005) analysis provided general information about all analysed magazines and did

not distinguish GQ magazine and the changes of GQ's representational pattern as such. Also,

the sample included magazine covers from 1995 to 2000. This study includes data from a

more extensive period of GQ publications and has a specific focus on GQ covers.

Although this study does not focus on the magazine market and circulation of the magazine, it

is important to briefly explain another reason behind the objectified and sexualised women's

representation in men's magazines. As it was stated earlier, women are featured 'to-be-looked-

at-ness' considering males gaze and their visual desire. Lambiase and Reichert (2005) state

that there is a massive competition in the magazine market and the images of sexualised

women work as a strategy to sell more magazines. According to Jeff Gremillion (1997),

"Maxim has achieved success because it has "devoted its covers to B-list female celebs, with

an accent on cleavage and come-hither looks . . . and fashion spreads with lots of buxom

models as set dressing" (Gremillion cited in Lambiase and Reichert 2005: 69). Lambiase and

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Reichert referred to Tom Reichert's (2005) study that "assessed the effects of sexy cover

content found that sexual attractiveness of the cover model, and the subsequent sexual arousal

it generated, were related to interest in the magazine" (Reichert in Lambiase and Reichert

2005: 73). Lambiase and Reichert (2005) suggest that adage "sex sells" appears to carry

currency in the current men's magazine market and beyond" (Lambiase and Reichert 2005:

73).

Jonathan Bignell (2002) analysed signs and codes expressed in monthly magazines that aimed

at women and men by employing the semiotics approach. He argues that women's image

operates as a visual sign per se: "the photographs of scantily dressed women which make up a

significant proportion of visual signs in men's style magazines very often have a connection

with consumer media culture" (Bignell 2002: 61). Thus, sexualised representational patterns

are employed not only for boosting magazine's sales but also for triggering men to purchase

more products advertised in magazines. Bignell (2002) claims that specific construction of

signs creates the mythic men's world that "is a world of consumption, including not only

buying but also 'consuming' by gazing at many kinds of media imagery" including women

who appears on the magazine covers (Bignell 2002: 61). Interestingly, famous women claim

that the sexualised representation of women is of cooperative nature of "publishers and

models/actors working together to produce the ideal look…and have been empowered by

their "exposure" (Lambiase and Reichert 2005: 81-82). However, Julienne Dickey (1987)

argues that those "are representations of a male-defined ideal; we might argue that men find it

easier to 'consume' depersonalised images than to relate to 'real' women, and that this

consumption enhances their perceptions of their own power" (Dickey cited in Lambiase and

Reichert 2005: 82).

Taking everything that was stated in sections above, the representation arguably relates to

power: the specific representational practices operate either as advantaging or disadvantaging

different social groups. The intersectionality theory recognises that differentials among

different social groups are formed by intersections of different social categories: gender, race,

sexuality. A broader explanation of the intersectionality approach will be provided in the

following section.

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2.5. Intersectionality

Many intersectionality scholars (McCall 2005; Lykke 2010; Walby et al. 2012; Collins and

Bilge 2016) state that the intersectionality term first was highlighted by Kimberlé Crenshaw

(1989,1991). However, scholars (Collins and Bilge 2016; Yuval-Davis 2005; Lykke, 2010)

acknowledge that the intersectionality has existed under other names before the official

definition. I argue that the outline of the definitions of intersectionality, which existed before

Crenshaw's definition, it is too great for this project considering the required length of master

thesis. Consequently, this section introduces to Crenshaw's work, followed by the other two

works. It is important to emphasise that this section does not aim to provide detailed

chronological development of intersectionality but rather to present scholars whose work and

ideas have been accepted as significant for intersectionality advancement.

2.5.1. Intersectional black women's live experiences

Sylvia Walby, Jo Armstrong, and Sofia Strid (2012) claim that Crenshaw "in developing the

field of intersectionality is sufficiently significant that her work is very frequently cited in

later literature" (Walby, Armstrong and Strid 2012:226). Crenshaw's contribution to the

intersectionality field is praised as well as her research per se because her analysis revealed

black women's invisibility in the US social justice system. According to Lykke (2010),

Crenshaw's development of the intersectionality concept was followed by aspiration "to create

an appropriate tool for analysing and resisting discrimination and exclusion of women of

color" (Lykke 2010:71).

Crenshaw (1991) established the intersectionality concept by criticising identity politics,

antiracism politics, and feminism theory. In her first work, Crenshaw (1989) explained issues

of black women's employment experiences in the US by examining court cases, anti-

discrimination doctrines, and public policy debates. She claims that "in race discrimination

cases, discrimination tends to be viewed in terms of sex- or class-privileged Blacks; in sex

discrimination cases, the focus is on race and class-privileged women" (Crenshaw 1989: 140).

Considering her works altogether, generally, Crenshaw (1989,1991) suggests that race and

gender should be treated as mutually inclusive categories that shape the multidimensional

black women's experience. Crenshaw (1991) states that feminism and antiracism politics lack

the acknowledgement that people's identities are intersectional. So, considering one

dimension of black women's identities, for instance, only race or gender, antiracism politics is

unable to grasp power differences within the same social group. For example, while white

18

women experience social inequality because of their gender, black women experience double

marginalisation "because of their intersectional identity as both women and of color within

discourses that are shaped to respond to one or the other, women of color are marginalised

within both" (Crenshaw 1991: 1244).

Crenshaw was more specific in her other work and defined two kinds of intersectionality.

Crenshaw (1991) analysed cases of violence against women of colour and considered that the

outcome of those violent experiences is the overlapping effect of racism and sexism. She also

presented how social projects such as battered women's shelters produce structural

intersectionality. The structural intersectionality signifies intersections of unequal social

groups and considers that black women's experiences of battering and rape profoundly differ

from those of white women (Crenshaw 1991). Therefore, support and help systems designed

based on white women's experiences do not work for women of colour but even makes the

situation worse – intensifies exclusion of women of colour. Crenshaw describes 'intervention

strategies based solely on the experiences of women who do not share the same class or race

backgrounds will be of limited help to women who because of race and class face different

obstacles" (Crenshaw 1991:1246). Political intersectionality suggests that political projects

and legislations should be revised and reformulated considering that gender and race are

interwoven and that women of colour, who belong to two marginalised groups – blacks and

women – experience social injustice by being at the centre of conflicting political agendas

(Crenshaw 1991). Crenshaw (1991) claims that:

“Among the most troubling political consequences of the failure of antiracist and

feminist discourses to address the intersections of race and gender is the fact that, to

the extent they can forward the interest of “people of color” and “women”,

respectively, one analysis often implicitly denies the validity of the other. The failure

of feminism to interrogate race means that resistance strategies of feminism will often

replicate and reinforce the subordination of people of color, and the failure of

antiracism to interrogate patriarchy means that antiracism will frequently reproduce

the subordination of women” (Crenshaw 1991:1252).

Crenshaw's approach seems to be acceptable and reasonable since the establishment of her

approach is grounded in the lived black women's experience and are reasoned by the

comprehensive analysis of policy projects and court. However, a serious weakness with her

approach is that she focuses only on black women, and claiming that the intersectionality is a

tool to grasp the specific forms of social injustice such as racism and sexism. Since Crenshaw

(1989, 1991) focuses on the fixed identity category – black women – it seems that her

19

approach generalises that only black women's identities are intersectional, and only their

experience can be analysed by applying the intersectionality approach. I argue that this is the

major flaw in Crenshaw's approach, and it raises questions if her intersectionality concept can

be employed in the analysis which includes other races than black and another gender than

women, and other social injustice forms, for instance, discrimination of sexuality. Therefore,

Crenshaw's intersectionality perspective has been accepted as being limited among

intersectionality scholars, and her perspective has not escaped criticism.

The next two sections introduce two approaches that noticed some weaknesses of Crenshaw's

approach and extended the application of intersectionality.

2.5.2. Intersectionality and social divisions

Crenshaw's approach was criticised by Nira Yuval-Davis (2006, 2015) in her work by

emphasising that intersectionality "should be applied to all people and not just to marginalised

and racialised women, with whom the rise of intersectionality theory is historically linked"

(Yuval-Davis 2015:93). Yuval-Davis constructs her approach of intersectionality in "more

general terms, applicable to any grouping of people, advantaged as well as disadvantaged"

(Yuval-Davis 2006:201). She argues that the intersectionality approach meant to be the

analytical tool to understanding that identities are multidimensional, however, it has "become

a kind of fragmented identity politics, in which the focus is no longer, for instance, women or

Blacks, but Black women" (Yuval-Davis 2015:93). That is to say, analysis claiming that only

intersections between gender and race produce multidimensional obstacles, emphasises fixed

identity groups and does not indicate the dynamic process of identities (Yuval-Davis 2006).

Therefore, Yuval-Davis emphasises the importance of acknowledging positioning, location,

the cultural and historical context in the intersectional analysis (Yuval-Davis 2006). For

example, "in some cultural traditions the elderly are considered to be wise while in others the

elderly can be constructed as in 'second childhood' (Yuval-Davis 2006:199). Some social

categories can be emphasised more than others and have more influence on producing social

inequality with regard to specific location and context. Thus, Yuval-Davis (2006) suggests

that more social categories should be incorporated into the intersectionality analysis rather

than employing the traditional model of 'triple oppression' – race, gender, and class –

formulated by black feminists.

Additionally, Yuval-Davis uses the term social divisions and claims that "social divisions are

about macro axes of social power, but also involve actual, concrete people" (Yuval-Davis

20

2006:198). According to Yuval-Davis' approach of intersectionality, that analysis aims to

examine "the differential ways in which different social divisions are concretely enmeshed

and constructed by each other and how they relate to political and subjective constructions of

identities" (Yuval-Davis 2006:205). She claims that social divisions manifest in four different

forms: organisational, intersubjective, experiential, and representational (Yuval-Davis 2006).

The organisational social divisions are expressed by "state laws and state agencies, trade

unions, voluntary organisations and family" (Yuval-Davis 2006:198). The intersubjective

form of social divisions manifests in specific power relationships that affect actual people,

sometimes informally. The experiential social divisions appear in people's daily lives: how

people experience themselves and others. The representational form is expressed "in images

and symbols, text and ideologies" (Yuval-Davis 2006:198).

Yuval Davis examined how the intersectionality concept was incorporated into international

public debates for "political, legal and policy purposes, especially in forum discussing UN

human rights' discourse" (Yuval-Davis 2006:196). Additionally, she reviewed what specific

methodological tools are constructed and employed in those public discourses, and she

outlined the advantages and disadvantages of those tools. Yuval-Davis emphasises that the

intersectional methodology used in policies should examine the different forms of social

divisions separately, and it would let to avoid the "fragmented, additive model of oppression

and essentialise specific identities" (Yuval-Davis 2006:205).

Yuval-Davis' intersectionality concept seems to be innovative and works as a multi-axes

framework. Therefore, some of her ideas are applied to this study. For instance, her claim that

social divisions exist in representational form seems suitable for the analysis of

representational practices. Additionally, since this study focuses on intersections between

three different social categories – gender, race, sexuality-, it is accordingly supporting Yuval-

Davis suggestions on including more social categories and focusing not only on one long-

standing interest of black women. However, Yuval-Davis claimed that intersectionality seeks

to grasp how different social divisions are constructed and how they interact with the

constructions of identities. This study does not focus on identities. Consequently, an

additional perspective of intersectionality is necessary for this study. Thus, the next section

introduces another approach of intersectionality that seems to be the most suitable for this

study.

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2.5.3. Intersectionality in the real world

Before official naming of intersectionality, Patricia Hill Collins expressed her black feminist

thought by stating that black women experience triple oppression because they are women,

black and from the working class: "paradigm of race, gender and class works as interlocking

systems of oppression" (Collins 1990: 221). Collins (1990) suggested that other social axes

such as religion, sexual orientation, and age are essential and must be included in analysing

black women's experience, that is significantly different from what Crenshaw (1991)

suggested one year later. Collin's perspective seemed promising multi-axes framework.

However, at that time, her main focus was on fixed identity group - black women – the same

focus as Crenshaw (1989,1991) had. Two decades later, in Collin's collaboration book with

Sirma Bilge, Collins and Bilge (2016) provided an extensive definition of intersectionality,

focusing on all human experiences rather than only oppression, and they did not specify any

fixed social groups:

"Intersectionality is a way to understanding and analysing the complexity in the world,

in people, and in human experiences. The events and conditions of social and political

life and the self can seldom be understood as shaped by one factor. They are generally

shaped by many factors in diverse and mutually influencing ways. When it comes to

social inequality, people's lives and the organisation of power in a given society are

better understood as being shaped not by a single axis of social division, be it race or

gender or class, but by many axes that work together and influence each other.

Intersectionality as an analytic tool gives people better access to the complexity of the

world and of themselves" (Collins and Bilge 2016:2).

Additionally, Collin and Bilge (2016) suggest that intersectionality is not only a critical

inquiry but also a critical praxis. They see "both scholarship and practice as intimately linked

and mutually informing each other, rejecting views that see theory as superior to practice"

(Collins and Bilge 2016:42). They state that scholars, universities, and colleges have a stake

in the advancement of intersectionality perspective, yet these advancements, as Collins and

Bilge argue, are frequently narrow. Therefore, the greater recognition should be given to

practical applications of intersectionality occurring in the real-life setting and to real-life

problems rather than praising only intellectual side of intersectionality: "people take actions

that are far broader than passively receiving knowledge or contemplating or even criticising

the world around them" (Collins and Bilge 2016:34). Thus, intersectionality as a form of

praxis is a tool for examining "a range of topics and…can occur anywhere…can take many

22

forms…is also a tool for empowering people" (Collins and Bilge 2016:30-31). It has been

shown above that the intersectionality approach is widely addressed in the politics of identity,

human rights discourses, and international policies (mainly of the United Nations). Therefore,

the application of intersectionality has been bounded, and there was a lack of understanding

that social inequalities or, as Collins and Bilge (2016) stated, any social complexities occur in

different forms than policies, laws, and legislation.

Collins and Bilge (2016) provide a few examples of how intersectionality can be employed in

the examination of various topics that allow us to grasp the complexity of social inequality.

Collins and Bilge (2016) provide detailed instructions on how the intersectional analysis as an

analytical tool can be employed in the examination of global events. For example, analysing

the organisational structure of football by investigating the FIFA World Cup, focusing on

global social inequality problems. Another example, the examination of actions of Afro-

Brazilian women's movements in the matter of tackling racism and sexism (Collins and Bilge

2016). Furthermore, the attention is drawn on practical employment of intersectionality to the

real-world and to different areas (social work, criminology, pedagogy, public health) for

solving social problems. It is illustrated by providing examples of already employed

intersectional practices, initiatives and also probable applications, that indicate that

intersectionality is undoubtedly accessible and practical beyond academia (Collins and Bilge

2016).

Collins and Bilge (2016) express their criticism about intersectionality scholar's claims that

intersectionality is a theory of identity and feminist theory. Their attitude significantly differs

from already mentioned Crenshaw's and Yuval-Davis' approaches. The former focused on

feminist theory and identity politics. Hence, her approach was accepted as the establishment

of feminist theory and identity politics; the latter stated that "intersectionality can be described

as a development of feminist standpoint theory" (Yuval-Davis 2011:27). Collins and Bilge

(2016) argue that defining intersectionality as a feminist theory of identity, however, is a

narrow pathway to determine intersectionality. They argue that intersectionality has been

understood as a theory of identity because identity has been central in a significant number of

intersectional analysis, and "intersectionality does value the richness of multiple identities that

make each individual unique…but intersectionality also means much more than this" (Collins

and Bilge 2016:115). In other words, intersectionality can be applied to the analysis, which

would not necessarily focus on identity.

23

Collins and Bilge (2016) shed a significantly different light on intersectionality. They stress

that intersectionality approach is highly attainable. The emphasis of the practical side of

intersectionality endorsed by comprehensive examples from the real world enhances the

universality of the intersectionality approach. Moreover, Collins and Bilge (2016) avoid

predetermined social categories, social identity groups, and the forms of social inequalities

and social injustice.

Since the importance of this research is the employment of different social categories such as

gender, race, and sexuality and focus on various social groups, Collins and Bilge's (2016)

approach is applied here. Moreover, this study supports their idea that intersectionality is

more than a theory of identity. Finally, Collins and Bilge's (2016) approach allows us to

perceive any social process or social relationship as being complex; thus, no social

mechanism, inequalities, and injustice need to be determined in advance as it has been done in

Crenshaw's and Yuval-Davi's work. Therefore, in addition to the earlier claimed statement

that the representation here is understood as socially constructed, it can be added that the

representation is a complex process "that is shaped by many factors in diverse and mutually

influencing ways" (Collins and Bilge 2016:2).

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3. Methodology

The methodology of this study employs a mixed-method approach and includes a two-phase

analysis. Firstly, the quantitative content analysis will be conducted, followed by the social

semiotic analysis. John W. Creswell (2014) suggests "that each type of data collection has

both limitations and strengths, we can consider how the strengths can be combined to develop

a stronger understanding of the research problem or questions (and, as well, overcome the

limitations of each)" (Creswell 2014: 263). Drawing of that statement, combining two

different methods here is considered as complementing each other. What cannot be

unrevealed about research problems by the quantitative content analysis can be complemented

by a qualitative method such as a social semiotic analysis, and vice versa.

A mixed-method approach is beneficial for this study. The quantitative content analysis

addresses the representational patterns on GQ covers and the frequency distribution of those

patterns. In contrast, the social semiotic analysis addresses the additional meaning imparted

by those patterns in conjunction with visual signs and text in a broader sense that cannot be

recognised by the quantitative analysis. Consequently, both methods address both research

questions:

RQ1: What representational patterns are constructed on GQ covers with specific regard to

gender-race-sexuality intersections? Moreover, to what extent those patterns occur?

RQ2: What meaning is conveyed via those representational patterns in conjunction with the

composition of visual signs and text on GQ covers? Moreover, what is the social effect of that

meaning with specific regard to gender-race-sexuality intersections?

"Methodologically, intersectionality is a multi-method approach that can be used in

quantitative as well as quantitative studies" (Barnum and Zajicek 2008:111). Additionally, the

methodology of intersectionality is embedded in both analyses in this study. Leslie McCall

(2008) suggests three methodological approaches to intersectionality, and one of them - inter-

categorical approach – is used as a method in this study. The inter-categorical approach

requires comparison; thus, the quantitative content analysis and the semiotic analysis will be

25

comparative. All three McCall's (2008) approaches and the application of the inter-categorical

approach to this study are thoroughly explained in the separate section below.

3.1.Three methodological approaches to intersectionality: anti-, inter- and intra-

categorical

Leslie McCall (2008) discusses three different approaches for exploring "complexity of

intersectionality in social life" (McCall 2005: 1772). She emphasises not the complexity as

such, but that the specific methodology of intersectionality allows studying social relations

and experiences which are very complex and diverse, and grasping that complexity existing in

the world (McCall 2005). Her approaches "are defined principally in terms of their stance

toward categories, that is, how they understand and use analytical categories to explore

complexity of intersectionality in social life" (McCall 2005:1773). All three approaches are

explained here. Showing how they differ makes it more evident why a specific approach has

been chosen and how it will benefit for this study.

The first approach is anti-categorical complexity "based on a methodology that deconstructs

analytical categories" (McCall 2005:1773). According to McCall, comparing all three

approaches, anti-categorical complexity has been revealing complexity very successfully by

developing "great skepticism about the possibility of using categories in anything but a

simplistic way" (McCall 2005:1773). The anti-categorical approach claims that the social

process of categorisation leads to creating boundaries, differences, and inequalities.

Generally, for scholars who apply anti-categorical complexity, the emphasis is "on socially

constructed nature of gender and other categories and the fact that a wide range different

experiences, identities, and social locations fail to fit neatly into any single "masters"

category" (McCall 2005:1777).

The second approach is intra-categorical complexity. Scholars employing this approach focus

on a particular social group and place it at the intersections of multiple categories. The intra-

categorical complexity is usually applied for examining marginalised identities. For instance,

this approach is evident in previously mentioned Crenshaw's (1989, 1991) and Collins' (1990)

work where they focused on black women. The latter examined them as a single social group

which was placed in unique intersections of race and gender. The former studied black

women as the single social group and positioned it at the intersections of race, gender, and

class. McCall states that this approach falls "in the continuum between the first approach,

26

which rejects categories, and the third approach, which uses them strategically" (McCall

2005:1773).

The third approach, inter-categorical complexity, sometimes also called categorical

complexity, is not very known and widely applied. The approach is complicated, yet as

McCall firmly believes, it is the most advanced approach which allows us to study "the

intersections of the full set of dimensions of multiple categories and thus examine both

advantaged and disadvantage explicitly and simultaneously" (McCall 2005:1787). The inter-

categorical complexity "begins with observation that there are relationships of inequality

among already constituted social groups, as imperfect and ever changing as they are, and

takes those relationships as the center of analysis" (McCall 2005:1785). The method requires

the systematic use of categories, and the analysis itself is comparative. McCall gives an

example of how inter-categorical complexity should be applied as a methodological tool into

the intersectional analysis:

"The incorporation of gender as an analytical category into such an analysis assumes

that two groups will be compared systematically—men and women. If the category of

class is incorporated, then gender must be cross-classified with class, which is

composed (for simplicity) of three categories (working, middle, and upper), thus

creating six groups. If race-ethnicity is incorporated into the analysis, and it consists of

only two groups, then the number of groups expands to twelve" (McCall 2005:1786).

Even though McCall (2005) claims that intersectionality is the feminist theory, she argues that

her intersectional methodology can be applied to research from any other discipline. She

justifies this statement by referring to her intersectional analysis of racial wage inequality in

the USA (McCall, 2001). McCall states, "my own research provides a concrete example of

how the methodology of categorical complexity is informed by feminist work on

intersectionality and yet applicable in other interdisciplinary sites" (McCall 2005:1788).

Therefore, the research employing the inter-categorical approach "falls outside the core of the

feminist theory" (McCall 2005:1781). This approach has not been embraced by feminist

scholarships and remains to be widely applicable outside women's studies (McCall 2005).

The inter-categorical approach seems innovative and easily adaptable because it does not stick

to any specific discipline and can be employed in intersectional research in any field of study,

such as the analysis of the representational practice of visual media. It was stated in the

27

previous sections that this study relies on Yuval-Davis' and Collins and Bilge's (2016)

approach that emphasises the importance of multiple groups and criticises the overemphasis

of fixed groups in intersectionality analysis. Consequently, the inter-categorical

methodological approach to intersectionality is the most suitable for this study.

3.2.Quantitative Content Analysis

The quantitative part of the study revolves around the first research question: What

representational patterns are constructed on GQ covers with specific regard to gender-race-

sexuality intersections? Moreover, to what extent those patterns occur? The quantitative

content analysis seems to be the most suitable method for answering these questions. The

quantitative content analysis offers a systematical "reading of images, text, and any other

symbolic matter" (Krippendorff 2013:10). Also, the quantitative content analysis leads to

grasping the patterns that "single cases cannot reveal" (Krippendorf 2013:85).

Moreover, quantitative content analysis allows to "count frequencies of certain visual

elements and analyse those frequencies" (Rose 2016: 88). Consequently, the quantitative

content analysis will operate here as a systematical reading of GQ cover images and will

allow us to grasp GQ's representational patterns. Also, the quantitative content analysis works

here as a numerical process that will provide the frequency distribution of those

representational patterns. The categories of gender, race, and sexuality were operationalised

into codes and embedded in the coding scheme (see Appendix A) for counting the occurrence

of those social categories and grasping intersections between them. Additionally, the gender-

race-sexuality intersections of representational patterns and their meaning will be identified

by integrating McCall's inter-categorical approach.

3.2.1. Sample selection

The accessibility to GQ magazine covers has influenced the process of sample selection. In

the official GQ's website, the covers are available from 1957 to December 2017. Until March

1975, GQ magazine covers depict not only people but also illustrations. This research seeks to

investigate cover photographs that portray live human, thus covers from the period of 1957 to

March 1975 were excluded. The cover lines accompanying cover photographs will be

analysed in the qualitative part of the research. Therefore, the sample included only the cover

photos that are accompanied by the cover lines stating a person's name depicted on the cover.

28

The publication of cover lines associated with cover photo started in 1978. However, until

1984 cover line did not appear on every single monthly issue and was published irregularly.

The quantitative analysis aim is linked to patterns and consistency; thus, it was decided that

sample will consist of issues published from 1984 to 2017 when the publication of cover lines

accompanying cover photographs was consistent.

The random sampling technique was applied. According to Rose (2016), random sampling

requires "a random number generator to pick out a significant number of images to analyse"

(Rose 2016: 90). This research random number generator was the first issue of each quarter:

January, April, July, and October. However, on some GQ's publications the cover line was

unconnected to a cover photo and the person featured on the cover. For example, the

publications in April 1993, July 1994, April 1998. In these cases, the next months' issue was

selected: May 1993, August 1994, May 1998. Also, from 2012, every April and October, and

one time in July 2015, three or more different issues were published per each month. In these

cases, only one issue that appears the first in the sequence of listed covers in the GQ's website

was selected. In total, the data set included 136 GQ magazine issues that can be found in

Appendix C.

3.2.2.Reliability

This study acknowledges that a quantitative content analysis is a research technique that is

expected to be reliable (Krippendorff 2013). The classical methods for establishing reliability

are inter-coder agreement or reliability test (Neuendorf 2002; Krippendorff 2013). These

measurements here are understood as preferable and additional, and coding scheme is

recognised as an obligatory technique that operates as an assurance of reliability. In this study,

the codes that define representation were operationalised and set up in the coding scheme (see

Appendix A), and thus the coding scheme vouchers for the reliability of the quantitative

content analysis. The vast majority of variables and values in this study's coding scheme were

adopted from the previous research that has employed the inter-coder agreement. Although

this study created a few additional categories, they are exhaustive and mutually exclusive

since they were established depending on the theoretical framework and the secondary

information from reliable sources such as government agencies.

29

3.3. Social Semiotics

The qualitative part of the study focuses on answering the second research question: What

meaning is conveyed via those representational patterns in conjunction with the composition

of visual signs and text on GQ covers? Moreover, what is the social effect of that meaning

with specific regard to gender-race-sexuality intersections? Remembering that theory section

indicated that GQ magazine covers here are understood as multimodal text that combined

visual signs and text, can be investigated by applying the social semiotics approach. The

composition of visual mode and text on GQ covers will be examined by applying two

compositional principles – information value and salience – established by Kress and Van

Leeuwen (2006). Information value focuses on how elements are placed and how they are

attached to particular 'zones' of the image: left and right, top and bottom, centre, and margin.

It indicates 'where things can go' and how the positioning of the elements in a composition

endows these elements with different information values in relation to other elements" (Kress

and Van Leeuwen 2006: 201). The salience grasps which element is the most important and

gets the most viewer's attention. In other words, the salience shows the hierarchy of placed

elements regarding their importance. The degree of salience can be measure by visual clues

such as "placement in the foreground or background, relative size, contrasts in tonal value (or

colour), differences in sharpness, etc." (Kress and Van Leeuwen 2006: 202). These two

principles will be applied for both visual signs, any visual element on the cover that cannot be

considered as written text, and to cover lines that are considered as linguistic signs.

Also, remembering mentioned Kress's (2010) idea that what cannot be said by the written text

can be defined by the image, the social semiotic analysis allows us to grasp the linkage

between the cover image and the cover text and indicate what meaning that conjunction

imparts. In order to examine that, Van Leeuwen's (2005) approach about visual-verbal linking

is applied here (see Table 1 below).

30

Table 1: Overview of visual-verbal linking (Van Leeuwen 2005: 230).

Image-text relations

Elaboration Specification

Explanation

The image makes the text more specific (illustration)

The text makes the image more specific (anchorage)

The text paraphrases the image (or vice versa)

Extension Similarity

Contrast

Complement

The content of the text is similar to that of the image

The content of the text contrast with that of the image

The content of the image adds further information to that

of the text, and vice versa (‘relay’)

Additionally, Rose (2016) states that semiotic scholars "are centrally concerned with the ways

in which social difference is created", and acknowledge that those differences are

"constructed and articulated through the working of signs in images themselves" (Rose 2016:

109). Also, the social semiotics approach recognises that using specific signs to convey

specific meaning is always a thoughtful decision. That meaning always benefits someone,

usually, the sign makers, and simultaneously disadvantages someone (Kress 2010; Jewitt et

al. 2016). Therefore, social semiotics allows us to understand the social effects of meaning

(Rose 2016).

As in the quantitative content analysis, so in social semiotic analysis, intersectionality

between gender-race-sexuality will be identified and analysed by employing McCall's inter-

categorical approach.

3.3.1. Sample selection

Since this study combines two different methods, a sample for semiotic analysis was selected

from the 136 GQ covers used for the quantitative content analysis. The quality of covers

influenced the selection process. GQ covers that are low-resolution were rejected because

cover lines on them are blurred and impossible to read. Therefore, the sample included only

high-resolution covers on which text can be clearly read. The final data set was selected

31

relying or Rose's (2016) suggestions that "semiologists of any sort seem to choose their

images on the basis how conceptually interest they are," and images that can explain the

social significance of meaning-making (Rose 2016: 110). McCall's approach helped to choose

the most significant GQ covers. Since the inter-categorical approach focuses on multiple

social groups and places them at the centre in comparative analysis, it was decided to select

those GQ covers that will allow them to constitute multiplicity. Therefore, 6 GQ covers were

selected that depict:

1. white female

2. white male

3. black female

4. black male

5. female of mixed-race

6. male of mixed-race.

Suitable size covers will be embedded in the section of semiotic analysis results. The bigger

size covers are available in Appendix B.

3.3.2. Reliability

Rose (2016) argues that the meaning of each sign is complex since that meaning is multiple.

Also, Hall (2013) states that every compositional visual carries more than one meaning,

which is often ambiguous. "It is worth emphasising that there is no single or 'correct' answer

to the question, 'What does this image mean?' or 'What is this ad saying?' (Hall 2013: xxv).

He suggests that instead of trying to grasp the 'right' meaning, the focus should be on grasping

the preferred meaning. For instance, if the focus is on magazine covers, then the analysis

should seek to find out which of many meanings on the cover does the magazine mean to

privilege. Kress and Van Leeuwen's (2006) framework of concrete compositional principles

work here as the guidance for grasping that preferred meaning that will lead to objective

interpretations. Also, embedding results of the quantitative content analysis will operate here

as measures for assuring impartial interpretations since the quantitative data is always

considered more reliable than the qualitative data.

32

4. Results and Analysis This section is divided into two parts. The first part presents results that address RQ1: What

representational patterns are constructed on GQ covers with specific regard to gender-race-

sexuality intersections? Moreover, to what extent those patterns occur?

The second part presents the social semiotic analysis addressing RQ2: What meaning is

conveyed via those representational patterns in conjunction with the composition of visual

signs and text on GQ covers? Moreover, what is the social effect of that meaning with specific

regard to gender-race-sexuality intersections? Also, this part will operate as a discussion

section, incorporating the quantitative results into the social semiotic analysis.

4.1. Results of quantitative content analysis

4.1.1. Domination of whiteness, maleness, and heterosexuality

The findings indicated that the vast majority of GQ magazine covers depicted a single male

(80.5%), followed by a single female (18.4%) and the depiction of females and males together

(1.5%). The results showed that categories of white, male, and heterosexuality intersected to

the greatest extent. The striking result to emerge from the data was that white heterosexual

men amounted to 79% of the total of covers depicting one man, two men, and a group of men

(see Figure 1 below). The non-white males constituted a minor number of represented males:

18% of covers depicted black and African American males followed by mixed-race males

(2%), and people who fall into a category ‘other race’ (2%). Asians, American Indians,

Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, and other Pacific Islanders were not represented at all

on GQ covers.

Interestingly, the vast majority of the covers featuring a group of men portrayed white men

together with black or African American. Only one cover depicted three men on the same

cover whom all fall into a category ‘other race’. In comparison with covers depicting males

and females together, all cover models on them were white.

33

Figure 1: Frequency distribution of coding categories for male, two males, group of the

males, race and sexuality on GQ covers.

The categories of white, female, and heterosexuality intersected to the greatest extent compare

to the intersections of non-white, female, and heterosexuality. Covers representing white

heterosexual women amounted to 21 of the total of covers that depicted a single woman.

Covers featuring black or African American and mixed-race women were equal – 2 covers for

each category.

The comparison between the male-race intersections and the women-race intersections

revealed that black women are underrepresented compared to black men (see Figure 2 below).

Covers featured black man amounted to 11% of the total covers featuring single models.

Relatively covers portraying black women accounted for 2% of the total covers portraying

single models. Remarkably, white women amount to a large proportion of representation

comparing to black men and to all gender models that fall into categories ‘mixed-race’ or

‘other race’. These results lend to support to previous findings in the literature (Arakaki and

Cassidy 2014; Frisby 2017) that showed that black people are underrepresented on magazine

covers. The correlation between mixed-race, other race, male and female showed that both

females and males that fall into categories mixed-race and other race constituted the same

percentage of the total covers featuring single cover models.

79%

13%

3% 3% 2%

Heterosexual men

white

black or African

American

white and black or

African American

together

mixed race

other race

34

Figure 2: Frequency distribution of coding category gender and race on GQ covers featured

single cover models.

As regards sexuality, the heterosexuality is predominant, and other types of sexuality is

excluded. All 136 GQ magazine covers represented people who are heterosexual in real life.

All six covers which portrayed more than one male did not imply heterosexuality or

homosexuality. In terms of visually expressed sexuality, GQ covers represented men in a very

neutral manner. Two covers depicted one man with a group of women. Only one of them

portrayed intimate touching: two women were very closely standing next to the man, and both

women embraced the men with their legs. That is counted as implying heterosexuality.

4.1.2. Skin exposure

The striking results of skin exposure confirmed previous studies (Krassas, Blauwkamp and

Wesselink, 2003; Lambiase and Reichert, 2005; DuBois, Primm and Regoli, 2007; Hatton

and Trautner, 2011; Wasike, 2017) and indicated that women’s skin is more likely to be

exposed on GQ magazine covers than men’s skin. The analysis demonstrated that out of the

total 111 covers which portrayed men, 103 covers depicted men fully clothed, and only on

one cover, one man was depicted nude. In comparison to it, out of the total 25 covers which

represented women alone, on all of them, women’s skin was exposed at a certain extent, and

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

white black or

African

American

Asian American

Indian and

Alaska

Native

Native

Hawaiian

and other

Pacific

Islander

mixed

race

other race

Race and gender

Male Female

35

40% of the covers portrayed women wearing only undergarments or bikini, followed by 20%

of the covers depicted nude women. Figures 3 and 4 show the frequency of categories for

males, females, and skin exposure.

Figure 3: Frequency distribution of categories for females and skin exposure in numbers.

Figure 4: Frequency distribution of categories for males and skin exposure in numbers.

In the cases when males and females were represented on the same GQ cover, women’s skin

was more exposed than the men’s. For example, the 1993 July cover featuring Robert

Downey Jr. wearing a suit, and he is surrounded by four females whose arms and legs are

exposed. Another example is from the 2006 July cover. It depicts Will Ferrell standing in the

0 2 4 6 8 10 12

fully clothed

exposed legs

exposed arms and/or shoulders

exposed midriff

exposed bust

exposed torso

wearing only undergarments or bikini

topless

botomless

nude

Females

0 20 40 60 80 100 120

fully clothed

exposed legs

exposed arms and/or shoulders

exposed midriff

exposed bust

exposed torso

wearing only undergarments or bikini

topless

botomless

nude

Males

36

middle of two women wearing an only bikini, whereas Will Ferrell is wearing much more

clothing: t-shirts and shorts (see Figure 5).

Figure 5: 1993 July cover featuring Robert Downey Jr., left; 2006 July cover featuring Will

Ferrell.

4.1.3. Intersections of clothing, body view, and pose categories

The findings show that there is a tendency to portrait men standing, fully clothed when the

full or ¾ of their body is apparent on GQ magazine covers (see Table 2 below). A slightly

more than a third of covers featuring men individually (35.7%) showed them fully clothed,

standing, and in a full or ¾ body shot. Surprisingly, covers that exposed men’s skin to a great

extent also exposed their body’s view to a high degree. The cover featured the topless man

portrayed him in a bust view, and the cover featured the nude man portrayed him in a body

view.

37

Table 2: Frequency distribution of categories for male, body view and clothing in numbers.

Body view

Clothing

Face/headshot Full

body or ¾

body

Torso Bust

Fully clothed 26 47 13 12

Exposed torso

2

Exposed legs

1

Topless

1

Nude 1

In comparison with the men, women’s representational patterns are significantly different,

implying that women’s skin is exposed more, and women’s body view is exposed at large

degree and more frequently. If a female is depicted wearing only undergarments/bikini or

being nude, she is more likely to be depicted in a full-body or ¾ body shot (see Table 3

below). The frequency of full body view and different poses for women were as follows:

standing (19.3%), sitting (9.7%), and kneeling (3.2%). Interestingly, a slightly more than a

fifth of the covers featuring a man (22.6%), depicted them facing forward and in face shot,

whereas none of the women were featured facing forward and in face shot. Also, none of the

covers featured women in an active pose. Although the number of covers depicting men in the

active pose was not significant - only four covers featured men in active pose out of the total

111 covers portraying men.

Table 3: Frequency distribution of categories for females, body view and clothing in

numbers.

Body view

Clothing

Face/headshot Full

body or

¾ body

Torso Bust

Fully clothed

Exposed torso 1

Exposed legs 3

Exposed arms 2

Exposed midrff 1

Exposed bust 2

1

Topless 3 1

Botomless 1

Nude 6

1

Wearing only

undergrments or

bikini

4

2

38

The correlation between the time period and the frequency of women's appearance

on GQ covers worth noting. Over the period from 1984 to 1996, women appeared only on one

cover, and they were depicted together with one man. Since 2000 there has been a moderate

increase of covers featuring women individually, specifically, in the period from 2000 to 2010

women were portrayed per each quarter. After 2010 women have appeared on covers more

frequently, nearly at least one cover per year, compared to the time before 1996. These

findings correlate with Lambiase and Reichert's (2005) study and support their idea that men's

lifestyle magazines have been employing Maxim's representational practice of depicting

sexualized women. Since Maxim's debut, "each Maxim cover has featured a scantily clad

woman" (Lambiase and Reichert 2005: 69, emphasis added). This study indicates

that Maxim's representation patterns have been adopted by GQ magazine by enlarging the

number of covers featuring women.

There was a slight difference between the intersections of different men's racial groups, pose,

and skin exposure. All men of white, black, mixed-race, and other race fell for category fully

clothed. Covers featuring men topless, nude, with exposed arms or torso, were in favor of

white men. Also, the category 'facing forward' was in favor of white men; only one cover

depicted man of other race facing forward. Covers depicting two males or more showed them

either facing forward or standing. The comparison between different women's race groups,

poses, and skin exposure was not examined since the non-white make a tiny proportion of all

covers featuring women; accordingly, the vast majority of different categories of pose and

skin exposure are in favor of white women.

4.2. Social Semiotic Analysis and Discussion

4.2.1. Sexual objectification of women

The cover of the 1999 October issue captures white actress Ashley Judd in a full body view

(see Figure 6 below). She is wearing a red short lace trim nightgown with keeping her breast,

arms and legs explicitly exposed. The female is sitting on the couch and is leaning forward;

this specific placement makes her breast even more exposed.

39

Figure 6: The cover of the 1999 October issue.

The image of the woman takes almost all space on the cover. The separation between the

main cover line and her image is evident: cover line positioned down at the bottom-left,

whereas the woman takes all right side of the cover, and she is placed at the right-top.

Regarding the principle of informative value, the female is depicted as something ideal: "what

has been placed on the top is presented as the Ideal, and what has been placed at the bottom is

put forward as the Real" (Kress and Van Leeuwen 2006: 186). The information that is present

as the ideal is usually the most salient part, and the real is the opposite and presents

information that is not significant and only has a practical role. Evidently, the actress is the

most salient sign of the whole composition. The great significance is achieved not only via

the placement of women and the size of her picture, but also by the color contrast - women's

red dress contrast with white background.

The main cover line 'Smart, Sexy Ashley Judd: A Ball-buster We Love' also gets into viewers'

attention since the cover line is colored in black contrasts with white background. However,

the placement of visual mode and text favors the image of female rather than emphasizing the

importance of the text. Actress' surname is written in the big, bold font and is eye-catching;

however, the word 'sexy' is also written in quite a big font and is attention-getting. Moreover,

40

'sexy' is the most salient word comparing to the other two words' smart' and 'a bull-buster' that

can be ascribed as personal traits. In terms of text-image relations in meaning-making, the

main cover line serves as elaboration – the word 'sexy' paraphrases what is already shown by

a visually sexualized depiction of the woman; and as a complement – 'smart,' 'a ball-buster'

adds other additional information about the woman that of her image. The other four cover

lines are in small size, tightly aligned to the left cover edge by allowing the woman's body to

be at the top in the hierarchy of importance of compositional elements.

Figure 7 (see below) shows black model Tyra Banks on the cover of the 2000 January issues.

She is portrayed wearing only underwear, in a ¾ body shot. Even though the woman's long

curly hair covers her breasts, Tyra's breasts are still extensively exposed. Visual signs such as

a woman's red underwear and a red flower in her hair are eye-caching. The colour contrast

between a very highly saturated black background and those red-colored signs makes the

woman's image the most significant in the whole composition.

Figure 7: The cover of the 2000 January issue.

The specific integration of text mode and visual mode reinforces salience of the represented

woman. The main cover line is placed at the bottom right and takes little space. The rest 6

41

cover lines are aligned to the left cover edge. Consequently, Tyra’s image constitutes more

visual ‘weight’ than the rest of compositional elements on cover. In terms of role of visual-

verbal linking in meaning-making, the main cover line ‘Tyra, Please Pull Your Hair Back!’

works as extension of image. The content of cover line is an invitation for Tyra to expose her

body to a greater extent. Mulvey’s concept male gaze is very evident here. Although, the first

analyzed cover depicting Ashley Judd is also presented as emphasizing her body, yet the

cover line stresses her personal traits, whereas no personal traits are ascribed to Tyra and she

is connoted only as to-be-looked-at-ness. The cover line operates as perspective to change a

content of Tyra’s image. It implies that potential viewers have a desire for visual pleasure,

and the request to pull Tyra’s hair back means that desire needs to be fulfilled better. Also,

Tyra’s name is written in bold, red font which cooperates with other two red signs –

underwear and flower in her hair. Moreover, the way that the main cover line is integrated

into image, adds even more importance to women's breasts. The main cover line is placed at

just a bit above the level of Tyra’s waist, and it naturally shifts the viewer's gaze to her

breasts.

The cover of 2008 April issue features mixed-race model Adriana Lima in a ¾ body shot (see

Figure 8 below). The woman is portrayed nude only covering her breasts with her hair, and

her groin and left thigh is covered by palm leaf. The right thigh gets a bit of cover from leaf

but is still exposed at greater extent than the left thigh. Consequently, the palm leaf is

integrated into whole composition in the way that is attention-getting. It draws attention to the

woman’s body which makes her the most salient compositional element of the cover.

Additionally, the woman is placed at the center of the cover that serves as making her body

eye-catching. Excluding the main cover line, there are 9 cover lines. They are closely

integrated to each other and closely attached to each edge giving most of the space to be filled

with the woman’s image. As both elbows are covered by small font text, the rest of the

woman's body is completely visible. This specific text integration with visual signs results in

intensifying importance of woman's image.

42

Figure 8: The cover of the 2008 April issue.

The main cover line written in capital letters states: ‘OUR ANNUAL LOVE, SEX &

MADNESS ISSUE STARRING ADRIANA LIMA.’ Regarding visual-verbal linking for

meaning-making, the main cover line works as specification and explanation. ‘STARRING

ADRIANA LIMA’ makes the image more specific and indicates what is presented in the

image. Words ‘LOVE, SEX’, and the woman’s surname ‘LIMA’ are written in the same size,

bold font. Therefore, all these three words carry the same weight and have the same

importance. It implies that Lima personifies love and sex. Therefore, the line paraphrases

what can already be seen – the image of a sexualized woman.

The composition of text and image verifies Bignell’s suggestion that women operate as visual

signs per se. Additionally, to the main cover line that is related to love and sex topic, other

cover lines are also related to the theme of love, sex, romance. Some cover lines state: ‘The

strange life of the (very horny) godfather of soul’, or ‘Dying to be together, love in a war

zone’. Therefore, Lima works as a visual sign that signifies love and sex. Drawing on

Mulvey’s (1975) male gaze, only one attribute is ascribed to Lima that is an exhibitionist role

to display special Love, Sex & Madness issue as it is explicitly stated in the cover line.

Therefore, text and image are composed in that manner that Lima is portrayed as to-be-

looked-at-ness.

43

On the whole, the sexualized objectification of women as a representational practice is

evident on GQ magazine covers. The quantitative findings indicated that the vast majority of

women are depicted exposing their skin to the greatest extent, being nude or wearing only

undergarments, showing women in a full-body view. The semiotic analysis verified these

results and additionally revealed that sexualization that is expressed via a specific body shot

(full body shot, bust shot, etc.) and via a certain level of skin exposure is intensified by the

specific composition of text and image. Firstly, the text does not draw so much attention as a

woman’s image does. Therefore, the woman is the most important element on the whole

cover. Secondly, text directly emphasizes women’s sexiness by using specific words. Finally,

even though some personal traits are ascribed to female, still linguistic modes are linked to

visual modes in the manner that the woman operates as a single visual sign that is designed to

fulfill man’s visual desire.

4.2.2. Sharp representation of men

The cover of the 1997 October issue features white man – actor George Clooney (see Figure 9

below). He is fully dressed in a very sharp outfit, and in a ¾ body shot, and he is leaning to

the wall.

Figure 9: The cover of the 1997 October issue.

44

In terms of information value, there is an apparent vertical composition of text and visual

elements. The image of man is placed at the right cover edge, whereas seven cover lines are

aligned to the left cover edge. Also, cover lines take someplace on the image; thus, man's

body does not get much importance. Male's outfit is entirely black, and he is leaning to the

wall that is saturated in soft color. This color contrast leads to paying attention to the man.

Even though man's image seems eye-catching, the main cover line 'George Clooney and the

Meaning of Guyness' also attracts viewer's attention. It is easily salient because the cover line

is integrated by creating color contrast between black and white. Male's outfit is black, the

cover line placed on man's image is written in big, bold, white font. Additionally, all textual

elements take a great part of the whole composition and are placed on the image of man. As a

result, the male's body view becomes covered in the text, and instead of exposing clear ¾

body view, the upper body (from the chest up) is greatly exposed. However, it seems that

different modes are integrated very smoothly, and the composition is balanced.

"The viewers of spatial compositions are intuitively able to judge the 'weight' of the various

elements of a composition, and the greater the weight of an element, the higher is salience"

(Kress and Van Leeuwen 2006: 202). Judging the 'weight' of compositional elements allows

us to recognize how those elements balance. On this specific cover, the text modes are

important, but they are not the most salient, yet the visual mode also plays a significant part in

the whole composition, but it is not leading. Consequently, visual and text sign have the same

salience.

The overview of visual-verbal linking indicates that the main cover line gives additional

information about a portrayed man. Interestingly, the word 'guyness' does not exist as such.

Instead of using the word 'masculinity' or ‘maleness’, the alternative version of those terms

was simply used. It can be interpreted that George Clooney is very aware of what masculinity

is, and the text implies that Clooney embodies the 'guyness' that is significant, and the reader

will be enlightened in the sense that 'guyness' has.

45

Figure 10: The cover of the 2017 July issue.

The cover of the 2017 July issue captures black actor Mahershala Ali in a ¾ body shot

(Figure 10 above). He is sitting behind a table; thus, only his upper body is the most salient.

The man is wearing a stylish, slightly unbuttoned t-shirts and probably trousers, so only his

arms and neck are exposed. The text mode and visual mode are integrated in the way that the

man is at the center of the whole composition. Eight cover lines written in a small font are

aligned to the left cover edge. Comparing to other analyzed covers, this cover has a very long

main cover line stating: ‘LIVE THE AMERICAN DREAM SUMMER’ written in big, black,

bold font, followed by text ‘STARRING OSCAR WINNER & GREAT AMERICAN’ written

in smaller, white font, and ‘Mahershala Ali’ written in red font. The last two lines interrelate

with man’s patterned t-shirts that combines the same colors – red and white. The cover line

takes all corner at the bottom right and is attention-getting. Consequently, both visual modes

and text (the main cover line) carries the same weight and maintains balance.

Since the text ‘LIVE THE AMERICAN DREAM’ is written in the biggest, bold font

comparing to other cover text, it is the most eye-catching text sign on the cover.

Consequently, it implies that the content and the message that comes with it is the most

important. In terms of meaning-making by visual-verbal linking, the main cover line serves as

46

an explanation and complement. ‘LIVE THE AMERICAN DREAM’ cooperates with image

and implies that Mahershala Ali personifies the concept of living the American dream.

‘STARRING OSCAR WINNER & GREAT AMERICAN, Mahershala Ali’ adds further

information to that of the man’s image, which emphasizes his career achievements and

nationality. It is likely that nationality is stressed here since this is the cover of the July issue,

and American Independence Day is celebrated on the fourth of July.

Figure 11: The cover of the 2013 July issue.

The cover of the 2013 July issue captures the male of mixed-race – musician Drake (Figure

11 above). The man is fully clothed, sitting, and he is portrayed in a ¾ body shot. He looks

fancy by wearing a light gray shirt with rolled-up sleeves and white trousers. The man is

placed at the center of the whole composition, and he gains the greatest salience. The majority

of cover lines are written in big, bold font, and thus they are also attention-getting. This

composition of text and visual elements seems to be the same as two previously analyzed

covers depicting man, which means that there is a balance between different modes of

composition. Also, five cover lines out of the total six cover lines are partly placed on man's

image. Therefore, his body is not entirely exposed.

47

Interestingly, a few cover lines are the same size as the main cover line related to the person

depicted on the cover. Therefore, that indicates that the main cover line is not the most

important text on the cover than in previously analyzed covers. Even though in the main cover

line word 'DRAKE' written in the big, light blue font is eye-catching, in opposition to it, there

two cover lines that also have words written in big, bold font, thus they draw attention alike

cover line. The all main cover line states: 'DRAKE, STARTED FROM THE BOTTOM, NO

HE'S HERE.' In terms of image-text relations in meaning-making, the main cover line serves

as an extension to that of the image. The main cover line is the actual line from Drake's song

lyrics. Therefore, text works as a sign for signifying Drake's occupation, or at least as an

allusion to his occupation. However, this can be identified by that viewer who has enough

knowledge to understand that line is from Drake's song. When the viewer is not aware that

this is the line from the lyrics, the main cover line by connotation implies that Drake probably

has been struggling through life. The cover line can be acknowledged as either signifying

Drake's life journey or career journey: he was at the bottom and achieved enough to be here –

on GQ magazine cover.

Overall, social semiotic analysis implies that men are likely to be depicted looking very

dressy, covering their full body, that can be verified by the quantitative measurements, which

showed that 92% of covers depicting men portrayed them fully clothed. Although males are

likely to be depicted in the full or ¾ body shots, the semiotic analysis demonstrated that it

does not necessarily mean that men's bodies will be visible and exposed at its total size.

Covers capturing males, compose text and visual mode in the way that some of the text is on

top of men's image. Therefore, men are simply represented as whom they are by signifying

their personality or career by specific cover lines. Even though there were cases where men's

image served as signs to signify maleness and American nationality, there was no emphasis

on men’s body as it was in the cases where women served as signs of sexiness that made them

the victims of sexual objectification.

4.2.3. GQ’s stereotypical representational patterns

The quantitative content analysis results and the social semiotic analysis indicates that GQ

magazine arguably employs stereotypical representation practice. Remembering Hall's (2013)

48

explanation that stereotypical representational practice manifests in reducing or exaggerated

someone's traits that lead to fix differences, the emphasis on differences is apparent in GQ's

representational patterns. The men's traits and sharp look are exaggerated by the additional

and specific composition of text and visual signs, whereas the women's traits are absent, and

the sexiness of their body is the only characteristic that is emphasised. As a result,

GQ's representational gender disparities are created.

Hall (2013) also emphasised that stereotypical representation practice serves as closing and

exclusion. The social semiotics did not grasp any racial differences in representation on GQ

magazine covers. The analysis showed that white, black, and mixed-race women were

represented in the same sexualised manner. White, black, and mixed-race men were depicted

in the equally same way – fully clothed, looking sharp and signifying their personal

characteristics. But the findings of the quantitative content analysis that operated as a

systematical reading of GQ covers showed that racial representational disproportion is in

favor of white men and women. The covers that depict non-white models constituted less than

20% of the total magazine covers. Some of the races were not presented at all, for instance,

Asians, American Natives, etc. Therefore, these findings verify that GQ's representational

patterns are the practice of racial exclusion.

As an overview of previous research indicated, the gender differentials in representation are

apparent on many different types of magazines (Hatton and Trautner 2011; Burrell et al.

2017; Wasike 2017), advertisements (Goffman 1979) and cinema (Mulvey 1975). Therefore,

it allows us to argue that stereotypical representational patterns are culturally employed. As

Hall (2013) states that "at the broader level of how 'difference' and 'otherness' is being

represented in a particular culture at any one moment, we can see similar representational

practices and figures being repeated, with variations, from one text or site of representation to

another" (Hall 2013: 222).

Additionally, the literature review showed that the sexualised women's depiction not only

implies gender differentials as such, but works as representing products, enhancing magazine

sales, and fulfilling men's visual desire (Mulvey 1975; Bignell 2002). Those characteristics

are significant in representational practice in men's magazines. Therefore, in addition to

cultural patterns, another pattern can be distinguished - a pattern that is recognisable in the

magazine's market and is widely employed among magazine competitors. That pattern

49

operates as the technique that is expected to increase sales of magazine's publications

(Lambiase and Reichert 2005). As the quantitative content analysis indicated, the number of

GQ covers depicting women has been steadily increasing since 2000. Consequently, it can be

argued that GQ magazine follows the same representational patterns that can be recognised in

the culture and the magazine market.

4.2.4. The meaning and its social effects

Remembering that binary oppositions have an influence on shaping power structures in our

society (Hall 2013; Derrida cited in Hall 2013; Fyfe and Law 1987), it can be argued that in

the GQ case, representing the differences between the binary oppositions male/female,

white/person of colour, operates as shaping power relationships. Arguably, the men and the

white are the dominant poles in those binary oppositions.

White (2017) stated that "any forms of looking relationships occur in contemporary society,

but the normative the white heterosexual male gaze is a key process of heterosexuality and

racial exclusion" (White 2017: 76). The results showed that GQ magazine represents the

women considering the male gaze. Adding that GQ's representational patterns work as racial

exclusion, it can be stated that GQ covers reinforce white heterosexuality. The support for

white heteronormativity can also be illustrated by the fact that all 136 GQ covers depicted

only heterosexual models.

Additionally, the inter-categorical analysis led to acknowledge that multiple factors shape

different social forms of inequality that occur from stereotypical practices on GQ covers. For

instance, the intersectional analysis revealed that women of colour are in the least favourable

position regarding representational patterns on GQ magazine. The women of all races are

sexualised and objectified on GQ covers, which can be considered as women's

disempowerment. The non-white women, however, experience double disempowerment

because they are sexually objectified, and they experience racial exclusion.

50

5. Conclusion

This study aimed to grasp what representational patterns are constructed on GQ magazine

covers. The study also addressed the meaning that comes with that representational practice in

connection with the text and visual modes. Additionally, this study sought to examine GQ

covers through intersectionality lenses and achieve more holistic reading of visual

representation.

The overall findings show that GQ magazine employs the same representational patterns

acknowledged in culture and the magazine's market. Those patterns manifest in the sexual

objectification of women, racial exclusion, and emphasis on white heterosexual maleness.

The striking result to emerge from the quantitative content analysis data was that white

heterosexual men amounted to 79% of the total of covers depicting heterosexual men.

Additionally, the results showed that women are more likely to be depicted naked or wearing

only undergarments, whereas out of the total 111 covers featuring men, 103 covers portrayed

men fully clothed. The social semiotic analysis supported those results. The social semiotics

revealed that the cover line's specific composition with connection to image serves as giving

the most salience for women's bodies. In comparison, the covers depicting men keep a

balance between visual elements and text; thus, the men's body does not draw as much

attention as women's images do. Additionally, the social semiotics showed that women on

covers work as signs of signifying sexiness, love, romance, whereas men's images do not

work that way.

Applying a mixed-method approach has been useful for this study. The social semiotics could

not show some notable results, and yet the quantitative content analysis and inter-categorical

analysis revealed those results. The intersectional analysis noted that women of colour and

sexual minorities are in the least favourable position on representational patterns on

GQ magazine.

51

The intersectionality allowed to recognise the mutual interrelation between gender, race, and

sexuality in GQ''s representational practice. That interrelation results in different types of

social mechanism such as double disempowerment of non-white women, the dominance of

white patriarchy and white heteronormativity.

The research considers some of its limitations. As was stated in the introduction, there is no

collective agreement on what social categories must be included in the intersectional analysis

to make it intersectional enough. Therefore, this study does admit that choosing gender, race,

and sexuality as central categories might not have lead to indicate complexities and

inequalities as can be indicated by the classic combinations known as the triple oppression -

race, gender, and class, or by the combination of any other categories. However, the question

if this analysis is intersectional enough still remains.

For further research, GQ publications in other countries would be relevant to investigate.

Future studies can address the question if GQ issues in different countries have the same

representation patterns. Also, further research can consider intersections between other social

categories, for instance, gender and age, or gender, race, and nationality.

52

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Appendices

Appendix A (Coding scheme)

1. Race

The race of the people depicted on GQ covers was coded into categories: 1 – white, 2 – black

or African American, 3 – Asian, 4 – American Indian and Alaska Native, 5 – Native

Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander, 6 – other race, 7 – mixed-race. These codes were created

based on the information about existing races in the US provided by Census Bureau. This

agency collects data about American people for statistical purposes. Census Bureau belongs

to the US Department of Commerce; thus, the information from this agency is counted as

reliable. This study acknowledges that there are people who cannot match officially

recognized categories; for instance, Hispanics and Latinos are acknowledged as ethnicity

by Census Bureau. Also, there are people who can be ascribed to more than one race.

Therefore, categories ‘other race' and 'mixed-race' were created and added to categories

created by Census Bureau.

The coding of the race of the individuals featured on covers was done through a visual

inspection of the visual characteristics of individuals. If there were questions about a race of

the depicted person, additional resource – web search engine Google – was utilized for a more

detailed investigation about a person's biography, place of born and any other factor which

would let to indicate actual portrayed person's race.

2. Gender

The first two codes for this variable were adapted from previous research (Krassas et. al 2003;

Arakaki and Cassidy 2014; Frisby 2017), and gender was coded to: 1 – female, 2 – male, 3 –

transgender.

The gender variable interacts with the sexuality category. Therefore, additional values were

coded for gender. These categories were added: 4 – female(s) and male (s), 5 – two females, 6

– two males, 7 – a group of females (more than two persons), 8 – a group of males (more than

two persons). The following codes are validated as markers of visually represented sexuality.

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3. Visually represented sexuality

The investigation of the depiction of sexuality on magazine covers is complicated since that

depiction is static. The depiction of sexuality, investigation of sexual content, and sexual

behavior in films have been fully addressed, and there are a significant number of coding

schemes and coding books in terms of sexuality in cinema. However, they cannot be fully

applicable, and only part of them, with a small adjustment for static content, was applied for

analyzing images on magazine covers. Values were coded, relying on coding schemes

developed by Fisher et al. (2004), Jozkowski et al. (2016), Ellzey and Xue (2009). Visually

represented sexuality was coded to 1 – kissing (any use of mouth and tongue above

shoulders), 2 – embracing, 3 – intimate touching, 4 – neutral. The category of sexuality

applies only to cover photographs that featured more than one person. The purpose of this

category is to grasp how sexuality is represented through visual signs.

4. Actual sexuality

The people's sexuality was coded into categories: 1 – heterosexual, 2 – homosexual, 3 –

bisexual, 4 – asexual. These categories were created by relying on information about sexuality

provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a national public health institute

of the United States. Coding for this category was done through the investigation of

individuals' biographical details using the second source – web search engine Google. It is

important to emphasize that person's sexuality that existed at that year when a person was

featured on GQ cover, was recognized. For instance, after the death of Cary Grant, there was

new information that he was homosexual. However, the 1986 issue of GQ cover featuring

Cary Grant was added to category 'heterosexual' since in 1986, and later, he was married to

women and was heterosexual.

5. Clothing/Skin exposure

Codes were created relying on research conducted by Hatton and Trautner (2011), Milillo

(2008), and Webb et al. (2017). Values were coded to 1 – fully clothed, 2 – exposed arms

(wearing sleeveless tops) 3 – exposed torso, 4 – exposed midriff, 5 – exposed bust, 6 –

exposed legs (requires thighs and lower legs), 7 – wearing only undergarments or bikini, 8 –

topless (the person wearing clothing that covers only the bottom part of the body waist down),

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9 – bottomless (the person wearing clothing that covers only the upper body part waist up), 10

– nude (the person wearing nothing at all). If a person covered its body by plant, cloth, or any

other material object, it was not considered as clothing. The purpose of this category was to

examine whether a person is portrayed as an object and in a sexualized manner.

6. Pose

Codes were created, relying on Baker's (2005) study. These values were coded: 1 – facing

forward, 2 – sitting, 3– standing, 4 – lying down, 5 – bending forward, 6 – leaning back, 7 –

kneeling, 8 – active (in motion). These codes interrelate with skin exposure and body view

and lead to a more comprehensive examination if people are represented as objects.

7. Body view

Values for this variable were adapted from research conducted by Webb et al. (2017). Body

view coded into 1 – full-body or ¾ body (includes at least head, bust, hips, and thighs) 2 –

torso (requires hips; may also include head and bust), 3 – bust (requires chest; may also

include head), 4 – face/headshot only. Finding out how much of the body is exposed is related

to the person's objectification.

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Appendix B (GQ magazine covers examined in the social semiotic analysis)

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Appendix C (GQ covers analyzed in the quantitative content analysis)

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