Jessica Ennis in Podium Magazine

In what ways can we use van Zoonen and hooks’ theory to understand the representation of Jessica Ennis in Podium Magazine?

The representation of Jessica Ennis on the cover of Podium Magazine suggests that a female athlete like herself can still be a public figure for fashion and beauty. One of the cover lines contain a quote by Ennis which states "Im in tracksuits most of the time, so I do love to glam up and get my hair and make-up done". This gives the impression that Ennis does indeed enjoy looking 'glamorous' which is clear through the medium shot used as the main image for Podium Magazine. This supports van Zoonen's notion of the ideology relating to gender not being fixed. This is supported by the idea that sports is mainly associated with males especially in the past as the first woman who competed in the Olympics for athletics was in the year 1928. Also, the fact that she states that she's usually in tracksuits but still enjoys to put make-up on supports van Zoonen's idea of gender's not being fixed. However, you could argue that this cover of Podium Magazine goes against what bell hooks' stated, feminism should not be trendy or fashionable but instead it has a real purpose. 

Also, from the main image in the Podium Magazine we can clearly see that Ennis is wearing make-up and wants to look appealing to the audience to attract them into buying their product. She is wearing a unique costume of different materials which further emphasises this idea of being appealing to the audience. This supports what van Zoonen has argued about woman often being objectified where representation emphasises body and appearance. You could also argue that the representation of Ennis is going against what bell hooks actually believes about feminism which is that feminism is not meant to be trendy or fashionable instead it should have a real purpose. 

'Golden Girl' is a headline used to attract the audience. They have done this on purpose to link Ennis to her actual profession. Ennis is a very established athlete in the Olympics and a very decorated one winning many medals in her career. The use of the word 'golden' represents her success in the career of track and field. It's also a very appropriate word as Ennis has won one gold medal in the Olympics. This link to the costume chosen by her designer as it has elements of gold material on it. Again in another image we see her wearing a gold coloured dress and beside her is another quote "it will definitely take a personal best to win the gold medal in London". This gives the impression that she was determined to be beat herself (personal best) but in doing so he also won the gold medal. This suggests that she is a determined athlete. 

Because Ennis is retired it links to the reason why she isn't shown in her track and field costume. This is telling us that Ennis is moving forward after her career and is trying to be someone else outside of athletics. She is trying to be her own person and could be looked as inspirational to many other woman who are afraid of 'going outside the box'. She could be linking in to bell hooks as feminism having a purpose, Ennis could be encouraging other woman to be strong and not be afraid of doing something people aren't used to seeing.