THIS IS ALL ABOUT: Men in Media

Have you noticed the amendments America has made in its portrayal and acceptance of men and the idea of masculinity? Do you think television and advertisements have any part in this as they become more and more accepting of previously shunned and masked “socially/publicly unacceptable” behaviors?

This blog will explore that journey made by examining how television ads geared towards a male audience from 2008 to 2012 construct hegemonic masculinity. Hegemonic Masculinity is the portrayal  of dominate heterosexual characteristics in males compared to other men and over their female counterparts. Exploring these ads will show how and why different portrayals are becoming much more publicly accepted as time progresses as selected ads are dissected pointing out the things that are accepted, portrayed and encouraged as hegemonic masculine traits. Such as in the picture below:


http://www.insiderinternetdating.com/blog/internet-dating-tips/internet-dating-tips-where-do-rich-men-meet-women/

The image above is from an internet dating site, also in the link above, displaying a man with two women at what loks like a casino. This image depicts happiness as something a man can attain if he has that which is in the scene. It shows that a man can be happy if he has dominance over money and will get women right along with it.

If you go to the site, you will notice that the article is actually about how men with money can meet women. This is something that society believes is automatic for men with money, but the author of the article expresses how some me don't have a natural charm that attracts women because most of their energy goes into other aspects of their life such as making money. It suggests that having power over certain skills will teach a man to be a man and get what they desire; in this scenario it would be women since they already possess money. It suggests fulfilling a man's ego with just money is simply not enough. A real man must also have possession of a woman, whether it be one that wants him for him, or a few that want him for his money.

 This idea of power and control as masculine characteristics are inevitable in our society but recently hegemony seems to be more accepting of the idea of  homosexual masculinity than its original portrayals. 

Supporting Studies

 Eroticizing Men: Cultural Influences on Advertising and Male Objectification concerns the changing American values have related to advertiser practices in promoting sexualized images of men in mainstream media. This paper includes important new cultural factors such as the gay liberation movement on representations of masculinity and also includes a quantitative analysis of sexualized depictions of masculinity suggesting that more displays of objectification are being displayed.

It was interesting to see how the authors implemented economics into the evaluation of this stating that the masculine gender role is defined and emphasized through power and choice in any area of a man’s life whether it be “in the boardroom, bedroom, or on the playing field.” It is They state that power, performance and precision with products ultimately reflect the level of physical and financial power as well as the technical expertise of the male owner which implies that a man can in-fact be defined by how well he can use what he has and most importantly what he purchases.

Communicating with the Sexes: Male and Female Responses to Print Advertisements reports a comparative study of male to female responses of print advertising resulting in the evaluation that women use a relational processing style whereas men use an item-specific processing style.

The most surprising thing resulting from this study was that men and women go through relatively the same number of thoughts before making a decision on an item or purchase. This definitely shows that men and women have some things in common, it’s just that we process information differently. This study makes it easier to decide which print advertisements are more appealing to men rather than women and identifies psychology and sociology studied differences between women and men giving clarity on why male-audience focused advertisements try to be more simple, comparative and attribute focused

Man to Man: A Content Analysis of Sole-Male Images in Male-Audience Magazines evaluates images in 1993 magazine advertisements from  "Business Week", "Esquire", "GQ", "Playboy", "Rolling Stone", and "Sports Illustrated". This analysis reports that only 3 studies emphasizing male images (1 examining occupational roles and non-working roles and 2 examining the frequency of stereotypic depictions) were conducted prior to this analysis. It also presents the defining male attribute from Alexis de Tocqueville from his travels back in the 19^th century, which he reports remained individualistic, insensible, cold and implacable. The authors are sure to report the American value of individualism as a basis of male identity and include a description of obvious difference between male and female depictions such as facial hair, body hair, hairlines and some clothing styles unique to men.

It wasn’t surprising to find that the article pointed out the emphasis on individualism and for men to work hard at getting things on their own, but what was surprising was that Tocqueville reported this sense of individualism and extreme partitioning as a direct consequence of the Industrial Revolution that stripped away such things as fatherhood and interpersonal supportiveness aspects of American men. To think that there can be something directly attributed to such a change in the value of American men that has stayed so very consistent is mind-bottling.  This article definitely helps identify clear depictions of male images directed towards a male audience and how sole-male ads are contained in much of the magazines and even evaluates suggestive objectification with ads such as those that only include the male body without showing their face implying that men should focus on things such as working out and that being ripped should be found attractive and desirable. 

---The Right Writers