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Attitude - Coggle Diagram
Attitude
Industry
- Launched in 1994
- Best selling gay magazine
- The world's biggest LGBTQ media brand
- Owned by Stream plc - smaller independent publisher - Stream bought out Attitude in 2016 via horizontal integration
- Stream own car marketing mags, Winq (gay mag), Rolling Stone
- Darren Styles OBE owns Stream plc and is a gay man himself
- Generate revenue through:
- Advertising (banner, side bar)
- Sponsored articles (step-by-step guide for sensitive skin - Clarins)
- Converged tech (apps on phones, kindle subscription etc -cheap to produce and distribute as no printing)
- Advertorial articles (Look like articles but are adverts - Diesel)
- Collabs with companies (create competitions etc)
- Creating and marketing live events
- Subscriptions - Complete package (£60), Digital only (£3.99)
- UK's consumer magazine saw a circulation decline of 11% in 2022 according to ABC
- The combined average circulation fell to 24 million in 2022 across print and digital compared to 26.8 million in 2021
- Sold in 31 countries including coast-to-coast in the USA via Barnes and Noble
- Available for download everywhere - including 73 countries where homosexuality remains illegal - not profit orientated
- Digital form has readers in 120 countries
- The magazine is for exclusives - George Michael coming out, Sir Elton John and David Furnish spoke exclusively about their wedding; first and only title to shoot and interview with a member of the royal family - Prince Willian 2016
- Attitude widens through social media:
- Uses variety of media - books, singing, TV to engage all varieties of audiences
- Focuses on popular products and current trends/current political affairs to direct traffic back to website ('Best show on TV right now #TheLastofUs) (Harry Styles) - link to Hesmondhalgh minimising risk to maximise audiences
- All social media directs traffic back to their website - uses a cultural industry (Twitter) to direct to their brand
- Celebs encourage interaction (clickbait) - Dyers Star theory
- Pinned posts used to direct audiences to traditional media (pre-order the front covers)
- NSFW click bait is salacious to create audience engagement (social media regulation/filtering to create audience intrigue)
- Moral phobia/panic created about American politicians (Rob DeSantis)
- Wide audience on social media - Facebook (740k), X (200k), Instagram (400k), TikTok (20k)
- Regulation:
- Magazine loses out on interactivity on their website - prioritise protection on their website for marginalised audiences
- Do have comment sections on on social media which are full of homophobia
- By not using interactivity they are not using the full potential of the internet which may be removed to protect citizens (L+L)
- Internet Watch foundation works to block illegal content such as child abuse images
- Element of 'self-regulation' as it becomes a 'brand' that could be damaged by negative publicity gained by breaching unwritten codes that can cause offence
Audience
- Target audience:
- Gay males - high image to text ratio, lack of emotional content, short paras, factual written style
- ABC1 - Jaguar, Calvin Klein partnerships/sponsors, formal register in standard English, content is middle class (theatres, 5* holidays, premium restaurants)
- 26-55 (millennials, Gen X) - Socials, celebs, retro stories looking back to the 90s, led 'talkability' - younger audience would want feedback features
- Lifestyle/activities - Current affairs, politics, fashion, celeb gossip, bachelor (fashion, travel, consumerism), without children - mature audience, luxury couple breaks, entertainment focus, soft-news celeb led content
- Reformer/Aspirer - Political articles/narratives (tumultuous/right wing American politics - Charlie Kirk's wife article) or comments on social issues (End of life care) - LGBTQ, homelessness, voting rights
- Uses and gratifications - Informed, educated, identify, entertained, social interaction, escape
- Heated Rivalry:
- Headline uses emotive, confessional language signalling emotional depth rather than fandom - 'conflicted' 'trauma' 'hates this show'
- Direct quotes dominate article - authenticity and intimacy - gay male
- Layout has large pull quotes, close-up images of actors - visually contrasts glamour with pain which engages audience who appreciate celeb references and images
- Focus on professional sports target males
- 'This show has dragged up a lot of personal trauma' - use of direct quotes adds authenticity appealing to middle class who valued loved experience - emotional content is reflective not dramatic
- Sullivan praises show but critics=ises its lack of realism - balanced tone targets older audience - analytical language aligns with graduate/professional ABC1 readers
- Focus on sport, culture and masculinity - appeals to socially aware, educated men - no slang or informal register reinforces maturity
- Rosie Jones:
- Confrontational language appeals politically engaged mature reader
- 'EXCLUSIVE' reinforces credibility for ABC1 readers and profanity signals seriousness and does not shock - older audience
- Rosie Jones framed as outspoken and authoritative - value representation and allyship, typical of educated professionals
- Mature content positions article for 26-55 audience which encourages empathy rather than debate
- Jones talks about lived experience, intention (punching up vs down) and the impact - themes that resonate with a socially conscious ABC1 reformer audience
- Josh Cavallo:
- 'Brave' and 'fails' juxtaposition in headlines target emotionally literate male readers
- 'EXCLUSIVE' signals insider content and credibility - ABC1 audience who value authoritative journalism
- Central focus on football and a club owner's perspective directly targets male readers and sports fans - football acts as a cultural context for masculinity
- Challenges traditional norms - encourages identification from male readers without alienation
- Josh Cavallo's lived experience of being sidelined due to homophobia highlights institutional issues fitting the educated ABC1 audience's preference for structural rather than trivial commentary
- 7 Standout menswear moments:
- List format is easy to scan (male young readers who want a summary)
- Celeb event assumes cultural knowledge - ABC1, 26-55
- Fashion focus aligns with ABC1 lifestyle interests
- Suits and tailored outfits reinforce strong, aspirational masculinity
- Lexical field of prestige ('tailored' 'iconic') targets middle-class professionals - fashion presented as identity not trend chasing - older audience
- Specialised audience:
- Genre of gay webzines (Out Diva, Gay Times) - Attitude conforms to this
- The news stories/person interest stories focus on alternative stories for the media (won't cover mainstream topics - Josh Cavallo)
- Identity:
- Fashion features (blog style) reflect Attitude audience identity - reinforces core identity of being metrosexual and presentable
- Olly Alexander - use of gay icons (celebs) to offer successful gay men to emulate
- Travel articles in dangerously homophobic nations allows the identity of being adventurous to not be hampered by their sexuality - supports bachelor lifestyle
- Soft news celeb gossip (Bad Bunny Calvin Klein campaign, Donald trump, Chappel Roan)
- LGBTQ reps
- News section covers vast range of topics (politics - Trump, LGBT issues - Chemsex, Celeb culture - Vivienne)
- Salacious thumbnails used
- Nostalgia articles (Harry Potter) - nostalgia trip
Representation
Heated Rivalry:
- Article rejects the stereotype that LGBT athletes are fully accepted or 'safe' in male elite sports - through Zach Sullivan's voice, Attitude expose the false stereotypes of easy coming-out narratives often seen in mainstream media
- Reject hyper masculine stereotypes of male athletes by including a personal experience from Zach Sullivan that evokes emotion
- Discusses hyper-masculinity, emotional suppression (‘man up’) and conformity culture in professional sport showing homophobia as systematic rather than individual
- Sullivan is not framed as inspirational but shown as conflicted and critical – aligns with Attitude’s broader ideology that educates its audience rather than reassuring them
- Attitude suggests that the series appears realistic to a general audience but shows verisimilitude for people who cannot easily come out shown through the binary opposition of the show’s depiction and Sullivan’s lived experience – Sullivan undermines the show’s self-presentation as authentic - implies that the representation claims realism, but it is partial and selective
Heated Rivalry - attitude:
- Gives a voice to a rarely represented group - bisexual male professional athletes
- Avoids glamorisation and focuses on mental health, sleep deprivation, isolation and career impact
- Layout and imagery give legitimacy and seriousness positioning Zach as credible rather than marginal
- Present honesty suggesting an sim to rep stereotypes fairly and bring light to minority views
Contemporary attitudes towards being gay:
- Commonly features salacious photography - topics that would once have been marginalised - inclusive and outspoken brand - social acceptance and a move away from historical stigmas around homosexuality
- Attitude as a global LGBTQ+ media platform often publishes on identity, politics, equality, and community events, signalling that being gay is part of mainstream cultural conversation — not marginalised
- Examples like Prince William appearing on Attitude’s cover show how LGBTQ+ visibility now engages with national culture and acceptance
- There is pressure on LGBTQ people to be a symbol of progress rather than fully human
Intersectionality:
- ‘Attitude revisits Moldova Pride 2024: a country slowly emerging from its past to carve a new queer identity’ – Brings in stories of queer experiences and different cultural and national contexts
- 2020 issue featured the first sexual and first intersex people on the cover – recognise other underrepresented identities within the community
- Kinks article - article primarily focuses on white, cisgender gay men, so intersectionality (race, disability, age, gender identity) is limited - Some subcultural diversity is present (fetish, kink communities), but broader ethnic, gender, and ability representation is largely absent
Ethnicity as diverse:
- Attitude's homepage includes features that reflect global queer identities and cultures such as stories on queer film festivals and experiences beyond UK - effort to rep range of ethnic and cultural backgrounds
- Kinks article - While LGBTQ+ culture is celebrated, racial representation is not fully inclusive, reflecting residual hegemonic norms
Men as expressive:
- Kinks article - The text includes quotes and commentary from the photographer/subjects that discuss identity, sexuality, and personal choice - This humanises men beyond their sexualised bodies, showing emotional vulnerability and self-reflexive identity performance - This challenges the stereotype of men as emotionally stoic
- Heated Rivalry article - Zach Sullivan openly talks about how he feels about the emotional impact the series had on him, ‘I don’t know if that makes me feel angry, upset, acknowledged, or happy. I’m deeply conflicted.’
Men as sexualised:
- Kinks article - The imagery focuses heavily on nudity, fetish wear, and erotic poses, foregrounding sexualised representations - This aligns with the male gaze (Laura Mulvey) in that the body is visually central, though the in-group LGBTQ+ audience may decode it differently, as celebratory rather than objectifying
- 'Attitude launches 2nd issue of digital little brother mag Uncut, themed around photography’– In this article there are many visual images of naked men posed in explicit ways which focuses on muscle definition and attractiveness showing how men’s bodies are presented in a way that appeals to the gay male gaze
Kinks - stereotypical:
- The article emphasises; nudity, eroticism, kinks and sexuality reinforce the stereotype that gay men are hypersexual
- Narrow representation of LGBTQIA+ community, absent representation of lesbians, transexual people, non-binary etc. Reinforces a hegemonic hierarchy within LGBTQ+ media, where gay male voices dominate
- Reinforces hegemonic beauty ideals within gay community – young men, toned bodies, mostly white etc
- The article draws attention to the taboo subject of sexuality and kinks – large image to font ratio, kinks captured as artwork (editing and photoshop) rather than sexual deviance
- Women are seen as controlling and dominant over men – the image of two men tied up held by a woman with a rope
- The subheading ‘boys to men’ show how sexuality is not a choice, people grow up gay and this has always been
- The content is produced by and for the LGBTQ+ community rather than by mainstream heterosexual media so avoids misrepresentation of LGBT community
Men as strong:
- 'Mika and Holly Johnson unveiled as Attitude’s latest cover stars – as they talk homophobia, HIV and Pleasuredome’s enduring legacy’ – This article features two famous celebs who openly talk about difficult subjects but are portrayed in a strong light through visual images (stance and outfits) and emotionally show the hardships they have been through
- Men are often photographed with muscular, toned physiques, using mise-en-scène and lighting to emphasise physical power and dominance - This reinforces a form of hegemonic masculinity, suggesting that strength is a key masculine trait
Media language
Media language:
- High image to text ratio, white space and short paragraphing, list articles and bullet points
- F-scan reading pattern - condense text, emboldening, sub headers
- Elliptical headers, omitting words to facilitate fast read speeds
- Global story content using syndicated stories from around world
- Teaser headlines - clickbait - salacious headlines, celeb gossip, exclusivity
- Imagery captured from public domain source - candid shots - authenticity
- Sponsored content and advertorials, foreground advertising content - header spaces dominated by ads, wraparounds
- Social media act as a marketing tool to promote sit content, 100 character tweets with an accompanying image create optimal reader impact
- Intertextuality
- Masthead 'attitude':
- Implies they will show people's attitudes towards men
- May be a nod to stereotypical camp gay flamboyant behaviour
- Bite/Rebellion to their publication
- No capitalisation - rebellion of conventions of grammar
- Sans serif font connotes informal, clean, cool - fashion
Strauss:
- Binary oppositions within stories and articles using them to humanise and 'normalise' homosexuality
- Old/young, Straight/gay, confident/nervous, progressive/regressive
- Many cover stars deliberately mix male and female signifiers to disrupt gender conformity
LGBTQ+ authors:
- Teaser headline - signals conflict and political controversy
- Uses news values such as: Negativity, relevance and elite nations (Galtung and Ruge) which help to capture and maintain audience attention
- Quickly establishes who/what/where content summary (active narrative voice)
- Condensing and chunking text for on-screen reading - short paras, clear sub-headers, white space - easy for consumption on mobile devices
- Advertising is separated from editorial content - balance prevents from overpowering the article so maintains credibility while supporting commercial nature of online media
- Advertising uses cookie ads - more personal and direct to audience
- High image to text ratio - visually engage audience
- Barthes code of rainbow bookshelf signifies LGBTQ
Heated rivalry:
- Imagery captured from a public domain source and are candid to create a sense of authenticity
- Teaser headlines - clickbait - celeb gossip 'conflicted' 'Heated Rivalry' 'past traumas'
- Large image to text ratio - Two male ice hockey players subverts traditional reps of ice hockey as exclusively heterosexual exposing them immediately to the topic of the article
- F-scan reading pattern - understand the article before reading the body of text
- Bold headline discussing trauma and realism creates a tension between idealised on-screen rep and the lived reality of gay athletes
- Clean layout, white space and sans-serif font ensure image is not sensationalised - serious and political - activist LGBTQ media outlet rather than gossip based
- Sullivan argues the show disregards the trauma he felt trying to come out 'moulding' 'robotic' 'fit in' - exposing harsh realities of life as a gay man
Mika met Holly front cover:
- Using conventions of luxury women's lifestyle/fashion mags
- Star Power
- Aggressive outspoken message
- Binary opposition of icons who have come out as gay
- Metrosexual - groomed look, focus on fashion
Rosie Jones:
- Headline - shocking and grabs attention immediately 'Shut the f* up'
- Swearing increases the anger, bold and emotional - confrontational activist tone - matches Attitude's tone as outspoken and unapolagetic
- 'Exclusive' - important and urgent and implies Attitude has special access
- Language is informal and aggressive - different from traditional neutral news reporting - Attitude is sharing opinions and taking a stance
Josh Cavallo:
- Standfirst - LGBTQ community are having more power in society
- Key words in bold draws in the audience
- '130,00 men playing professional football across the world, but only one of them was gay at the time' - toxic masculinity dominates the sports scene
- Headline is clickbait
- White space and F scan is easy to read
- Conversational tone of the journalist
7 Standout menswear:
- High image to text ratio - focus on outfits and people - interest is fashion
- Features Coleman Domingo - actor in LGBTQ films - wide variety of men represented
- Layout mirrors high fashion magazine like Vogue - gay men are not on the margins but are influential
- Uses fashion terminology 'Connor Storrie channeled Nouvelle Vague cool in Saint Laurent' - engages an educated audience
Barthes:
- Attitude's progressive ideologies of LGBTQ can become 'naturalised' and take on the appearance of 'common sense' or a 'myth'
- Attitude helps to perpetuate myths about gay masculinity in relation to body image and beauty
Baudrillard:
- The idyllic version of reality as a much more accepting UK society presented in Attitude only exists within the publication as a simulacra
- Their use of images create a version of reality that is a slight simulacrum - Josh Cavallo images taken from ig so not exactly exclusive and Rosie Jones is mediated to connote a debate
- Attitude as a brand creates a heightened reality of universal gay strength
- The hypersexual photography in Attitude creates a hyperreal image of male beauty
Context
Race:
- Discrimination and its impacts are widely discussed and awareness raised
- Wider progressive rep of race in the media but less thoughtful reps of Middle Eastern and Asian races
- BLM throughout 2010s in the UK
- Oscarsowhite - 2015 criticism - not enough black actors
- Icons pioneering rep - Michael Jackson, Will Smith, Samuel El Jackson, Denzel Washington, Beyonce, Oprah
Masculinity:
- Spornowear market is estimated to be worth £200bn
- Capitalism favours spornosexuaal men - they buy the products
- 86% of men say masculinity has changed versus their father's generation
- 9/10 men today see their caring side as a sign of strength
- Expressions of metrosexuality - David Beckham, Paul Mescal, Timothee Chalamet, Harry Styles
- Preocupation with fitness and gym culture - Magic mike, Pain and Gain, Marvel body, Baywatch, Love Island
- Paradox - society with expressions of more fluid masculinity yet at the same time the coinage 'toxic masculinity' and 'manosphere'
- More men's mental health awareness - Movember
LGBTQ:
- Was illegal (1533) but now legal (1967)
- Alternative sexual orientation is far more accepted in society
- Thatcher's section 28 act meant schools couldn't teach sexuality (1988) and prevented the acceptance/edcuation of diverse society
- 2004 civil partnership act - same-sex couples enter binding partnership
- 2013 same-sex marriage
- 2010 - Equality act - protect against discrimination
- Icons - Elton John, Will Young, David Bowie, George Michael, Bridget Jones, Glee, Saltburn, James Charles
Entertainment:
- Cinema is now dying and terrestrial tv due to digital streaming
- Rise in social media - fed and heightened celeb culture, cancel culture and people of influence held to account and destroyed
- Feeds society short-form (TikTok) but also democratised the music industry
- Algorithms in social media shelter audiences or create echo chambers
- Rise of on-the-go media (podcasting)
Disability:
- Strictly and BGT are huge influences on a more accepting society of disabilities
- Success of Paralympic coverage in recent years
- Success and prime time position of the last leg shows positive rep
Icons - Stephen Hawkins, Rosie Jones, Peter Dinklage, Warwick Davies
- Wider rep and awareness of neurodiversity - Sherlock, Sheldon
Class:
- Less of a class divide in modern Britain
- 2008 credit crunch - hardest for lower classes
- Legislation about funding and supporting working class areas
- Education 'reform' changes to 'close the gap' between classes
- Raising minimum wage
- More working class reps and narratives (TOWIE, Big Brother, Ken Loach's films, This is England, Oasis, Arctic Monkeys)
- Negative stereotyping - benefit fraud
- Austerity (Conservative governments 2010-2024)
- Marcus Rashford campaigning for free school meals
Consumerism:
- Society is just as consumerist
- E-commerce - online shopping - rise of Amazon and Ebay
- Niche/fan audiences can be marketed way more easily
- Instagram and social media feeds consumerism
- Vlogging as a trend fed consumerism