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Peyton Vitter Dr. Erin Dietel-McLaughlin WR 13300 7 October 2011 Cover to Cover: The Effects of Magazine Covers on the image of Tiger Woods From Kobe Bryant to Mark McGuire, star-athletes have been all over the covers of magazines. Not all magazines portray the same image of a single athlete. However, the type of magazine adds to the athletes reputation. With the compilation of magazine covers, a public image can develop. Similarly, a website or multiple web pages produce a public image for an athlete. With the developments of personal and social networking websites, profiles of highstatus athletes are easily created and received. These websites influence the creation and modification of an athletes profile or avatar, similar to the public image created through magazine covers. Tiger Woods, arguably one of the best golfers in the world, has made use of magazine covers recently that changed his public image drastically. In 2009, he was found unconscious outside his home with his car smashed into a pole. Every type of media wrote a report that revealed all of his lies and changed his public image forever. By taking a magazine created before the incident and one published more recently, the changes in Tiger Woods public image can be seen through his depiction on each magazine. Through the analysis of Tiger Woods physical image, colors of the magazine cover, and its text, the transformation of Tiger Woods image from a well-renowned gentleman on the cover of GQ (Gentlemens Quarterly), published in 1997, to a scandalous gangster on the cover of Vanity Fair, published in 2010, can be witnessed.

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Avatars or profiles are developed through websites that include information including text and pictures. These avatars assist in creating and maintaining an identity, particularly for star athletes who are watched by millions. In the same way, magazines create a profile, like an avatar, through photos and text on its cover. Through the depiction of an athlete on the covers of magazines, an image is created similar to an avatar. Since a picture is worth more than a thousand words, these covers play a large role in the reputation and Americas view of its recipients, such as star-athletes. Athletes must not only be aware of what goes on the Internet but also how they are depicted on the covers of magazines that are not as easily removed from the public as a web picture that can be firewalled and encrypted. Each cover serves as a piece of a persons reputation as it is physical proof that a person has been associated with such an idea that the magazine represents. Magazines of many different interests have displayed Tiger Woods on their covers, creating both a good and bad identity for him. The covers of GQ and Vanity Fair, published before and after his life-changing incident respectively, display opposite images of Tiger Woods that highlight very different aspects of his life. Even though Tiger Woods is displayed alone on the cover of two magazines, the appearance in clothing or lack of clothing, colors, background, and body gestures convey extremely different images of him in a span of thirteen years. This allows the readers to better understand the attitude portrayed from the magazine covers as more than just an image and collectively as a piece of art that includes symbols and styles that define the tone of the cover. Tiger Woods has seen extremely dynamic changes in popularity over the past fifteen years of his career. Tiger Woods at an early age was deemed a prodigy that threw him into the spotlight as early as two years old. He boasts winning the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship and U.S. Amateur Championship a combined six times. In his major debut at the 1997 Masters,

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he won by a record twelve shots and became the youngest player to win a major. This fame shot him onto the covers of multiple magazines, including the cover of GQ and Vanity Fair. The use of the GQ cover not only defined him as a famous athlete but also as a man who has more than just a good golf game. His image was practically perfect. However, in the fall of 2009, his entire life unraveled. The revelation that more than half of his identity developed through the press and superficial media was false. His good morals and behavior were far from the truth as many sex partners came forward to Americans as witnesses of Woods faults. With the desecration of Tiger Woods reputation also came the downfall of his golf game. The cover of Vanity Fair depicts a man coming clean about his frustrating past and irreversible decisions. The appearance of Tiger Woods on the cover of GQ is classy, clean-cut, poised, and innocent through the relaxed posture and dapper style that formulate a genuine, respectable identity across the community of readers. In Identity Management in Cyberspace, Suler states that We express our identity in the clothes we wear, in our body language, through the careers and hobbies we pursue...Similarly, in cyberspace, people choose a specific communication channel to express themselves. As people make avatars online to express their identities, clothing and body language in pictures can create a similar identity. Tiger Woods relaxed look is emphasized by his posture. His leaning against the wall shows the lack of tension and composed look that a poised man should possess. His clothing states his maturity and appeals to not only young men but also older businessmen. His attire adds to his authority statement and creates a powerful, well-liked identity. A well-dressed, clean-cut man is often a sign of wealth and power that produce a positive identity. Having his hands in his pockets adds to the relaxed look that gives Woods the image of being composed and classy. His gigantic smile lights up the cover and adds a sense of innocence to Tiger Woods identity. With his smile stretching from

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ear to ear, this creates a friendly mood and identifies Woods as innocent and kind. By himself, Tiger Woods holds an identity attractive to anyone on the cover of GQ; but this image is not shown on all magazine covers. On the contrary, the appearance of Tiger Woods on the cover of Vanity Fair is scandalous, intimidating, and tense through the lack of clothing, beads of sweat all over his body, and stern facial expression that transforms Woods identity as being a kind, courteous gentleman in GQ to a aggressive, tough thug. Woods identity shifts dramatically from one of class to one of rash decisions. The beads of sweat, bulging veins, and substantial weights in his hands show the distress of body and of his entire situation. His lack of shirt adds to his overall manliness and aggressive nature, contrary to the refined look seen on GQ. Ironically, with the numerous sex partners coming forward publicly, one would imagine that Woods would be covered up rather than shirtless. Because Tiger Woods is presently dealing with such an overwhelming aspect of his life, the tense look is completely appropriate in identifying him as stressed and frustrated. This shows the contrary from the GQ cover that displays a calm, collected Tiger Woods. His intense look screams pain and frustration, depicting him as enraged. With his eyebrows down, eyelids slightly closed, and straight-lipped mouth, Woods shows only the pain that he has experienced through the unraveling of his life and intimidates the reader who identifies him as a tough, aggressive man. The facial expression change from a smile in the GQ cover to a straight face in the Vanity Fair cover describes the identity with which Tiger Woods is given from people across America. Another aspect of appearance is the color selection about which T. L. Taylor, author of Where the Women Are, states, Avatars are objects that not only represent people in the virtual world, but influence and propel the formation of identity and relationships (170). The

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mature colors or the objects of the GQ cover identify an avatar of Tiger Woods as responsible and dependable (Taylor 170). The black and white colors portray maturity and responsibility that allows the reader to identify Woods as a well-reputable man. Red, the most influential color on the cover, is only used in the title of the magazine. This emphasizes that the focus of the magazine is in its reputation of being a suave gentleman and identifying Tiger Woods as a gentleman. The bright background alludes to the fact that Woods has nothing to hide at this point in his career. Because white is typically associated with purity and cleanliness, Woods is identified as having a clean record. Unlike the mature colors of black and white, the dark colors of the Vanity Fair cover identify Tiger Woods as mischievous and depressed. The faded blues and greens connote a sense of depression. Dark colors obscure vision and, by extension, make this cover mysterious. The brightest colors are used in the subtitles MYSTERY and EXCLUSIVE! in the top half of the cover. This emphasizes the focus of the cover to be on Woods mystery and secret life. The analysis of the colors on each cover identifies the shift in focus of the cover from the reputation of the magazine in GQ to the story of mysterious Tiger Woods featured on the cover Vanity Fair. In addition to the color scheme, the arrangement of the text paints a deeper picture. In An Overview of Rhetoric, James A. Herrick states, Arrangement refers to the planned ordering of a message to achieve the greatest effect, whether of persuasion, clarity, or beauty (14). Arrangement of the text can emphasize certain aspects of a work. The arrangement and size of the text on the cover of GQ emphasizes the focus on preserving the gentlemanly reputation of the magazine and, by extension, identifies Tiger Woods as being a gentleman. By looking at the size of the texts, the reader can sense the importance of the magazine and the

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relative importance of the stories within. Because GQ is by far the largest text on the page, it is the primary focus of the cover. Through this focus, Woods is associated with the high reputation of the magazine and his clean image is emphasized again. The title The Coming of Tiger Woods, Sports Next Messiah as being the next largest print on the cover emphasizes Woods maturing and establishing an identity through the mentioning of Coming or making of Tiger Woods. This title and emphasis ties Woods to the proper gentleman image as he becomes an adult in his prime of career. The words Sports Next Messiah indicates an extremely attractive identity that Woods possesses. The naming of Tiger Woods as a Messiah is incredibly honorable and shows the reader how the public adores Woods. Until Tiger Woods, golf was not a well-televised event. Through his dominant, inspiring play, golf was in a sense saved; therefore, Woods identity of Messiah is appropriate. The full use of Tiger Woods name emphasizes a formal view of him in this cover. Most magazines would use only his first name because it is incredibly distinctive, but GQ keeps its reputation by keeping things classy and formal. The subtitle LOOK LIKE A PAGE OF GQ At Work, on the Links, Through the Night emphasizes to the readers that Tiger Woods looks suave and is an example of how people want to look during their everyday lives. This imitation of Tiger Woods is one of the highest forms of a compliment. The entire image of Tiger Woods presented on the cover of GQ inspires readers to imitate his gentleman ways. However, the text on the cover of Vanity Fair is not as praiseworthy. The arrangement and size of the text on the cover of Vanity Fair emphasizes the focus of the magazine to be on Woods story with the title of the magazine taking a secondary role. The placement of Woods image in front of the magazine title emphasizes to the readers the focus of the magazine. Unlike in GQ, Tiger Woods is dominating the entire cover and even its title of Vanity Fair not only his

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physical image but also his name in text. Tiger Woods name is the largest text on the cover. Again, the size of the text emphasizes Woods publicly imposed identity instead of fitting Woods into a particular identity as GQ illustrates. Woods identity in Vanity Fair is completely RAW. His identity is given to readers for criticism unlike in GQ where it is highly modified to a particular standard of a gentleman. The subtitles MYSTERY AND EXCLUSIVE emphasize the enigma of Woods past identity and a closer look into what Tiger Woods has become. These subtitles connote distrust of Woods since he is named a MYSTERY. The smaller text WE THOUGHT WE KNEW emphasizes the past identity and enigma of Tiger Woods instead of focusing on the future Tiger Woods in GQ that states the Coming of Tiger Woods. Contrary to the formal use of Woods name in GQ, the mentioning of Tiger Woods first name only emphasizes the informal identity given to Woods. This informal use of his name identifies with pattern of how Woods is portrayed on the cover. All the main points of text are identifiable with social aspects of life instead of business related aspects of life, portrayed on GQ. Some may not agree on this specific interpretation of these two covers and may object that the subtitle Safe Sex in GQ is connoting a negative image for Tiger Woods. Even though this story does present a possible negative identity to Tiger Woods and mentions how to cheat on your wife, at this time in Tiger Woods career, he is a bachelor seeking class and a wellrounded image. His main focus was not to acquire women; however, even if it was a primary focus for Woods, adding in Safe Sex would not be so troubling considering the way in which Tiger Woods is identified in GQ as a young, powerful bachelor. The ironic part of Safe Sex is that it alludes to what he is to become many years before his lies were revealed. Because Tiger Woods on the GQ cover has his hands in his pockets, this could connote an aspect of deception. Also, the lack of shirt on the cover of Vanity Fair could emphasize that

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Woods has nothing to hide. Each counter interpretation could easily agree with what the rest of the other cover suggests. However, because Tiger Woods image in GQ is incredibly biased toward his maturing and Coming as the next Messiah, concealing something at this point would seem ludicrous and virtually impossible for someone of this high status. Tiger Woods lack of shirt in Vanity Fair could very much so be interpreted as a symbol that he has nothing to hide at this point of his career. However, the mentioning of MYSTERY reveals that he is an enigma and that his entire life is still remaining to figure out. Although these counterarguments may be likely interpretations of the covers, the rest of the cover itself suggests the contrary. In conclusion, Tiger Woods is identified in GQ as a gentleman with all the right moves and a ground-breaking golf game that has earned for him the right to be named Sports Next Messiah. On the cover of Vanity Fair, the lack of shirt, weights, and headline titles like MYSTERY identify Tiger Woods as a deceiving image as his reputation has brought him to become. In a world dominated by media and celebrities casting their images on the covers of magazine, it is important to interpret what identity the magazine is suggesting for a celebrity. A person not using proper rhetorical skills could easily put these covers side to side and suggest that Tiger Woods has not changed at all over the span of thirteen years. However, a closer analysis of each cover reveals that his image is largely different on each cover. Because Tiger Woods is such a large celebrity in America, it is important to realize that both magazines depict mainly his image off the course. Neither image has any reference of golf. This is important in understanding how dramatically his personal life has changed; yet he is still the same golfer he was before his incident. As Herrick states, If...truth is a matter of social agreements, rhetoric plays a major role in shaping our view of the truth (24)

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Works Cited Page Herrick, James A. "An Overview of Rhetoric." The History and Theory of Rhetoric: an Introduction. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 2001. Print. Suler, John R. "Identity Management of Cyberspace." John Suler's Psychology of Cyberspace. Journal of Applied Psychoanalytic Studies, Apr. 2000. Web. 6 Oct. 2011. Taylor. "Where the Women Are." Print. Rpt. in (E)dentity. By Stephanie Vie. 1st ed. Southlake, TX: Fountainhead, 2011. Print. GQ Apr. 1997. Print. Vanity Fair Feb. 2010. Print.

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