Rolling Stone Magazine Double Page Spread Review

The image of Katy Perry taken from the double page spread in Rolling Stone magazine is almost solely designed to satisfy the male gaze. Firstly, she is placed in a kitchen, looking like she's preparing food. A stereotypical and arguably sexist view of women is that they should do all the cooking and they are associated with the kitchen.  Perry is staring directly at the camera, a provocative, sexual construction which sees her meet the audience's view. This brings her to life and almost gives her an amount of control, a rare challenge to the representation. She is wearing red lipstick, red being a colour of passion, danger, love, war and blood, which heightens the sexuality but also relates to Katy Perry's much-publicised dangerous/quirky personality. Her eyes are also well made-up and add to the perception that she is designed to satisfy the reader. Possibly most significant is Perry's costume... Or lack of it. She is wearing a brallette-style top with the zip half-undone a strap hanging off. The top looks as if it could easily come off and it reveals a lot of cleavage, satisfying the male gaze and adding a heightened sense of sensuality. She is also wearing extremely short, very tight shorts, which have the top button undone, again suggesting they could come off easily, a sexually suggestive move. The lemons on the side in the kitchen suggest that Katy Perry has a sour side.

The text is set out in a similar sans serif font to that of the Rolling Stone logo, in a newspaper-style column format. 

The quote central to the text tells us that Perry took "mushrooms" which is a reference to a slang term for drugs but also relates to the image of Perry in the kitchen. It says she "admits" this, which suggests the article is revealing of her and she admits to things she is embarrassed/ashamed by. She then goes on to say "I had to throw myself in the shower fully clothed afterward" which contrasts with the image and suggests that she is different to the image portrayed of her in the picture. It's ironic she poses for a picture with very few clothes on yet took a shower fully-clothed, when normally a shower is taken naked. It also suggests she was ashamed by what she had done, possibly because she does have a bad side as suggested by the lemons in the image but it is not one she is proud of, like in the image where the lemons are in the background as opposed to the foreground.