Editor's note
I love cheese – camembert, haloumi, even that of the Eighties music variety. What
I love considerably less than cheese (by which I mean: not at all) are stereotypes.
This is a difficult thing because they tend to be everywhere. They are why mechanics
will treat women like children even though there are petrolheads like Christine
Greyvenstein in our midst. This month, we decided that a good place to start was
with people who work with stereotypes in a way that we actually like – using them
for satire, and so Darren Gilbert got up close and personal with some puppets to
take a look behind ZANEWS and assistant editor Libby Allen sat down with Rico of
Madam & Eve fame to get his take on how to use the stereotype rather than have it
use you. That base covered, we opted for people who are breaking stereotypes:
I met with Mike Sharman to find out why he “does digital”
but refuses to call himself a guru and Allen got to know
the sangoma who tweets. Greyvenstein asks whether niche publications should make
the move away from being gender-centric and Joanne Carew tries to sort the tokoloshes
from the zombies with the people behind those Daily Sun headlines. Samantha Cook
weighs up polar opposites in journalism, creative editor Artwell Nwaila offers up
something of a rant about stereotypical font choices, and Leigh Andrews busts the
myth that the work being produced overseas is better than what we’re conjuring in
South Africa. I’ve not gotten to our coverage of the up-coming
MTN Radio Awards, our reflection on the Design Indaba,
nor our two Behind the Ad features this month. And as for the entertainment pages,
you’ll just have to visit them yourself because I’m fast running out of space here.
So I’ll just say that when it comes to the question we pose with this month’s issue,
I’m calling for more cheese and less stereotype. Not that you should trust my judgement
– I like Roxette. Marie
Issue 21
Wrapping people in stereotypes is as common to our
collective national mindset as Braai Day, vuvuzelas
or Malema (woodwork) jokes. Heck, those are stereotypes
themselves. With hipsters, jocks, emos, ladies-who-lunch,
fat-cats, hippies, gangsters, old school, new school,
punks, goths, conservatives, commies, Capetonians,
people-from-PE and so many more populating our
consciousness, we are a country infatuated with packaging.
Somewhere between a love of cheese and a frustration
with stereotype, April’s ‘would you like some cheese
with that stereotype?’ issue was born.
Click on the cover image to read this issue
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to download the PDF version
Creative Space
Are you a photographer, designer, animator? There is a space for you in our magazine.
Submit your best work and we will showcase it for you. For more info contact
artwell@coup.co.za
Behind the ad
Ever wondered how adverts are made? Take a look at our Behind the Ad feature, where
we take a behind-the-scenes look at the production process of adverts. If you are
working on an ad that is beyond the ordinary, and would like to open a window on
the process, contact
info@coup.co.za
ISSN 2220-2080