In terms of representation, bell hooks suggests that feminism is an ongoing struggle to end social and patriarchal oppression. Following this, she suggests that feminism is more of a political commitment rather than a lifestyle choice, and that race, class and sex determine the extent to which individuals are exploited, discriminated against or oppressed.
It can be argued that within The Big Issue we can see hooks’ ideas predominantly through the Grayson Perry ‘Letter to my younger self’. With the inclusion of the trans community, a more positive and progressive representation of feminism and identity is demonstrated. Having this article, which is honest and gritty as well as topical, combined with the picture preceding the article of Grayson Perry themselves wearing what they feel comfortable in could be seen as a political move by The Big Issue, aligning with hook’s ideas. Whereas in a mainstream media product these issues may be considered too topical to talk about, The Big Issue does not shy away from addressing more sensitive subjects. The inclusion of this part of the magazine is important as it doesn’t ostracize the trans community, instead it could be seen as actively taking part in ‘the struggle to end patriarchy.’
Furthermore, on the ‘moving on’ page, ‘Marvina Newton’ dominates the page, acting as the focus on the double page spread. This can be seen as progressive, as we have a woman of color being the most important and central figure of the double page feature. However, arguably this could be seen as tokenism, as this appears to be the only representation of race out of the whole product. In the moving on section as well as the product on a whole, the inclusion of women in comparison to men seems to be sparse. Overall men appear to dominate the product.
In alignment with hooks’ third point about race and class, the Big Issue is designed to ‘give a voice to the voiceless’- most of these in the magazines case, being the lowest possible class.
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