
The American flag has always been presented to the United States as a symbol of freedom and the adversity that the nation has overcome in order to get to where they are today. In January 2009, GQ Magazine released an issue with Jennifer Aniston on the cover sporting only an American flag colored tie. In many countries, it would be considered shameful for a woman to be shown to the public in that form, much less as the cover of a magazine. Thankfully, the United States is a democracy that allows freedom of expression and permits women to consent to the photos taken of them.

In previous societies, paintings and sculptures of naked people were seen as art because that is how one is originally brought into the world. It has become less common to see publicly displayed images nude images because of the line society has drawn between art and more scandalous categories. This can also be related to the role of women in society, for many years women have been seen as inferior and struggled to attain equality. In this photo, Jennifer Aniston is radiating a positive and confident demeanor that tells the person viewing the image that she's comfortable in her own skin. 

Although the visual text provides information to the viewer, many other things can be noted by the written element on the cover. On the cover, the viewer is able to see texts that read, "The Prez and I [/] >An Exclusive Look Inside the Last Days of the Bush White House by Robert Draper" along with "From JFK's Iconic Prep to Obama's Laid-Back Cool [,] All-American is Back." It seems that GQ Magazine chose a red, white, and blue theme along with these headers because 2009 was the inauguration year of President Barack Obama. The colors play a significant role in the magazine cover because it represents the United States and justify the theme of celebrating a new president. 

GQ stands for "Gentlemen's Quarterly" which means that their primary target market consists of a male audience. Not only is evidence of this shown with a naked Jennifer Aniston on the cover of one of their issues, but also the headlines further justify the context of what is in the magazine. One of the principle headlines located directly under the GQ logo reads, "Is It Just Us or is Jennifer Aniston Getting Hotter?" along with "The (Overworked, Slightly Distracted) Man's Guide to Finally Getting Productive." The use of a nude Jennifer Aniston is the attention grabber for the viewer, which will then make prospective buyer pick up the magazine and read the headlines to determine whether they should purchase the magazine or not. The colors of the magazine cover along with the headlines and font are significant because they ultimately are the "face" of the product. Therefore, these components of the magazine demonstrate the role theme play when trying to sell a product. 

The overall purpose of the Aniston magazine cover is to further prove that the United States is a "free country" that allows freedom of expression. In the same year as the GQ Aniston cover, Sacha Baron Cohen graced the cover of GQ Magazine completely nude for their comedy issue as his famous alter ego Bruno from the movie Bruno. Similar aspects of the Aniston magazine cover are also found in the Cohen magazine cover. For example, on the Cohen cover one of the headlines reads, "Knocked Up Sarah Palin, The Baby Daddy, and the Story She Doesn't Want You to Hear." This is relevant to the Aniston magazine cover because Sarah Palin had been running as the GOP nominee for Vice President with John McCain against President Barack Obama. 

It seems that the overall argument that the Jennifer Aniston magazine cover is revolving around the theme of one being comfortable in their own skin. Times have changed and many things that people do now would have been seen as shameful in previous times. This image is able to vary the use of fonts and colors to match the theme of the context in the magazine. In doing so, the theme of the magazine is used to emphasize their target market along with catching the attention of viewers. This magazine cover is also a great example of the freedom of expression that residents of the United States are entitled to. 

