Transcript Men’s - The Reynolds School

Before Maxim
• Before Maxim, the men’s
lifestyle magazine category
was dominated by GQ and
Esquire. Men didn’t have
much choice when it came
to magazines. Mostly porn
magazines — Playboy,
sports or niche magazines
like Popular Mechanics.
Maxim
• Since it’s debut in
1998 has grown from
750,000 circulation to
2.5 million.
• Target audience 20-30
something white
heterosexual men.
• Content: Sex, sports,
beer, gadgets, clothes
and fitness.
The Laddish Fun
• Maxim promotes
“laddish” forms of
Masculinity as
opposed to the
“new man” image
found in Esquire
of the welldressed, sensitive,
professional white
man.
• Some researchers have attributed the success of
Maxim to the uneasiness men feel about their
gender identity. The traditional roles men held in
the past are no longer necessary.
• With more women in the workplace, men no
longer are the primary breadwinners. The need to
be married or stay married is not as important in
today’s society. Single dads and moms and blended
families are the norm.
• Women are better educated and more assertive in
than in the past and therefore, less reliant
financially and emotionally on men.
– What made these new men’s magazines so
popular? In a 1999 Communication and Mass
Media article, Patricia J. Thompson, professor
of education and women's studies at City
University of New York's Lehman College,
attributed the success of magazines such as
Maxim as an “ego gap” between growing up
male in the ‘90s and the machismo of their
dads and granddads. ``I think a lot of men feel
emasculated because their dads and
grandfathers were so macho. Now that women
are becoming self-reliant, men are very unsure
of themselves,'' she writes. (Brody).
• This paper will explore the function of men’s
lifestyle magazines in the life of the modern male
as well as the forms of masculinity as presented
in Maxim and Men’s Health. Researchers argue
the new generation of men’s lifestyle magazines
“defines the (social and cultural) construction of
heterosexual masculinity” (Boni, p. 472).
Heterosexual masculinity, as presented in the
magazines, is characterized by “success, status,
toughness and dominance. The magazines
provide an oasis of masculinity in an increasingly
feminized world.
• According to Media Week, the new generation of
men’s magazines are “a sometimes lowbrow but
often genius mix of hot women, cold brew, sports,
fashion, health and fitness, advice columns, film
and music reviews, and celebrity interviews”
presented in short, easy to read snippets often
illustrated by cartoons (Case). Maxim makes the
assumption if you are a heterosexual male you will
be interested in sports, beer and sex. The magazine
leaves little room for doubt about what it views as
masculine interests.
Men’s Health
• Mens’ Health is aimed at an
older more affluent audience
but also white and
heterosexual. It features a
wide variety of self-help
advice about health, nutrition,
relationship but the main
focus of the magazine is
building muscle. Researchers
have interpreted this focus on
the body as a control strategy
(Jackson, et. al., 2001, Boni
2002, Stibbe, 2004).
• In a world of changing gender
relations and identities, your
body is the one thing you can
control. The male body
becomes a project to be
transformed into a symbol of
dominance through exercise,
nutrition and grooming. “The
male body is desirable and
desiring one, concerned with
health, fitness and beauty,
issues which define an
embodied masculine lifestyle
(Boni, p. 466).
Magazine a Buddy
• Jackson, et al. argues men in the twenty-first century face
increasing anxieties about their identities and lives.
Culturally and socially, men aren’t encourage to express
their feelings or form intimate relationships with other
men, so it is difficult for men to discuss health and
relationships problems. The magazine becomes the big
brother, friend or father the reader can turn to for advice
and reassurance about social behavior, relationship, sex
and health without the “uncomfortable emotional issues”
(Boni, p. 473).
• The ambivalence men feel about the advice is
signaled “by the ironic tone in which the
magazines present such information to their
readers (p. 2). By using humor and irony, the
Maxim reader doesn’t feel obligated to take the
advice seriously because if the advice written
seriously it would mean there was something
wrong with the reader. “Irony in the magazine is
usually reserved for some of the articles about
relationships or male competitors in the
workplace” irony is not used in features
discussing body transformation (p. 106)
Men’s Health becomes the
trusted buddy expert giving
advice to a friend
• Traditionally, health is a female not male concern.
Men are less likely to visit a doctor than women
and more likely to engage in unhealthy behaviors
such as alcohol consumption, smoking bad diet and
risking taking. “This buddy is a deliberate creation
of the magazine…The buddy acts as an
intermediary, explaining and interpreting medical
science for the reader” (p. 36, Stibbe).
• Are the magazines a backlash against feminism or
are they “new models of male identity to modern
men?” (Gauntlett, p. 152). While researchers
have found “geographic location, class, race,
sexual orientation and family background,”
influence attitudes toward male identity, this
paper will limit the discussion to hegemonic
masculinity. The definition of hegemony is power
“that makes people act as if it were natural,
normal, or simply a consensus. In the case of
masculinity, traditional characteristics of
masculinity are made to seem so correct and
natural that men find…domination…not just
expected, but actually demanded” (Stibbe, p. 33).
• “No sissy stuff” refers to the
stereotypical differences
between men and women.
Physically, men are supposed
to have deep voices, avoid of
cosmetics and be indifferent to
clothing and hygiene.
Emotionally, they are
supposed to repressed their
feelings and avoid showing
affection to other men.
Behaviorally, men scoff at
traditional female activities
such as parenting, housework
or the arts (Alexander, p. 537).
• “The Big Wheel” refers to
a man’s ability to obtain
fame, wealth, status and
success. It is most
associated with a man’s
occupation. “The Big
Wheel” role is under
threat as more women
enter the workforce and
influence consumer
spending (Alexander, p.
537).
The Sturdy Oak
• “The Sturdy Oak” is self-reliant,
confident and manly as illustrated
by John Wayne or Humphrey
Bogart (Alexander, p. 537).
According to Messages Men Hear:
Constructing Masculinities by Ian
Harris (1995), “nine messages
illustrate modern expectations for
men: be like your father; be a
faithful husband, Good Samaritan,
law, nature lover, nurturer, rebel,
scholar and technician”
(Alexander, p. 538).
• “Give ‘Em Hell” men emit an
aura of aggression and violence
and use it to obtain sex from
women” (p. 537). Political or
social movements such as
“feminism, gay rights, racial
and ethnic equality or military
impotence” are viewed as a
threat to the dominant, white
heterosexual culture.
“Homophobia is a central
organizing principle of our
cultural definition of manhood
(p. 538).
– Anthony Giddens’ theory of structuration proposes
social structure is created by the repetition of
individual random acts such as “traditions,
institutions, moral codes and established ways of
doing things.” But social forces can be changed when
people start to “ignore them, replace them or
reproduce them differently” (Gauntlett, p. 93). These
expectations of how something or someone “should
be” make up “social forces and social structures that
sociologists talk about” (Gauntlett, p. 94). When men
or women challenge the “taken-for-granted
consensus” about they should behave, it disrupts
society’s “faith” in everyday routines and
expectations.(Gauntlett, p. 95).
– The increase divorce rate, women wage earners and
single head of households, signal a breakdown of the
nuclear family. As women assert their autonomy in the
workplace, household and society, men are abandoning
the role of breadwinner. Some researchers feel, the new
generation of men’s lifestyle magazines has been
influential in changing men’s attitudes toward
masculinity, self-identity and body image by
introducing men to self-help, exercise, nutrition,
relationship and sex articles as well as a vast array of
designer clothing and cosmetic products. While format
and information available in the magazines is very
similar to women’s magazines, the content and tone is
decidedly different.
Avoiding the Trap
– The new self as championed by the magazines
focuses “the possibility of a self realizing its deepest
desire not through sacrifice and duty but through the
tragedies and triumphs of love and sex” (Jackson, et
al, p. 80). Many of the articles in the magazines
celebrate virtues of bachelorhood and warn against
the traps of “conventional heterosexual marriage”
(Jackson, et. al. p. 81).
– In the December 2004 issue of Maxim, the “Says Her”
column is advice from former madam Jody “Babydol”
Gibson. The opening line asks the reader “Unless
exerting your pea-size brain gives you a “thinkache,”
chances are you’ve wondered what it would be like to
have your own harem.” “Babydol” dispenses a variety
of relationship advice such as paying for sex as way to
“spice up relationships and kill the urge to cheat;”
pleasuring yourself before a date so you can “make
interesting conversation about Julia Roberts movies
without the distraction of wondering what color panties
your date is wearing;”
engaging in mindless sex
with anonymous girls —
“so as long as you keep
everything 100 percent safe
with no exchange of names,
phone numbers, e-mail
addresses or any other way
to get back in touch, my
advice is this: Keep up the
good work.” In addition to
the advice, the column
includes a mix and match
quiz of celebrities who have
either cheated or used a
prostitute (p. 80-84).
– “Sex on the Brain” by Daniel G. Amen, M.D. in the
December 2004 issue of Men’s Health emphasizes
biochemical differences between men and women. For
instance, Amen writes:
– “Her goals are programmed for long range; your are often
shockingly short term…The whole encounter can leave
you quivering with pleasure, hoping for more. It can also
hijack and ruin your life. And between the “walk” and
“don walk” signals of delight and disaster, your brain is
sorting information, making choices, spurring actions.
But you don’t want to passively accept all that, especially
because your whole life is riding on the choices you
make” (p. 158).
Body Politics
• Despite the title, Men’s Health—body building not
necessarily health— is the focus of the magazine.
Each issue devotes numerous pages on transforming
and strengthening the reader’s body through weight
lifting. The December 2004 issue even has a pullout
poster of a weight lifting routine. “Because
bodybuildng fetishezes muscles, it further
exaggerates gender-based characteristics…that
are…loaded with cultural meaning…The
construction of the ideal man as hugely muscular
therefore serves the ideological goal of reproducing
male power” (Stibbe, p. 38).
• Many negative behaviors are
associated with muscle building
and masculinity. Arran Stibbe
analyzing magazines from the year
2000 found Men’s Health defining
masculinity in the areas of food
consumption and sexuality.
Emphasis on convenience foods,
grilling red meat and belittling
vegetables was standard fare in the
magazine. Researchers have found
diet a major contributing factor to
cancer and heart disease in men,
particularly detrimental is the
consumption of animal fat and
cholesterol found in read meat.
• Currently, men live six years less
than women. Researchers believe
not just biological but
psychological, social and
behavioral factors contribute to
the reduction of years. Despite
the statistics, according to Stibbe,
the magazine never suggests
reducing red meat intake.
“Instead, meat, and particularly
beef, is consistently associated
with positive images of
masculinity. The primary
connection is via muscle” (p. 39)
Eat Meat
• According to Stibbe, beef is associated with power
and luxury. Beef comes from the largest and most
muscular farm animal. In addition, raising cattle
consumes more resources than growing vegetables
therefore more expensive symbolizing status and
wealth. “If men are encouraged to eat a lot of meat,
that places men collectively in a higher class than
women” (p. 41).
• Building muscle and reducing fat
with the goal of looking lean and
muscular are ways of staving off
age. Like women’s magazines,
Men’s Health encourages anxiety
in its readers by promoting an
ideal of hard body masculinity that
most of its readers will be unable
to attain without enormous effort.
“Just as men face an increasingly
uncertain future in the workplace,
so their bodies become places of
intense anxiety and scrutiny in
terms of their inevitable decline”
(Jackson, et al, p. 94).
The Consumer
– In addition to developing a hard body, men create
identity by the products they choose. Emphasis on
grooming, fashion and consumerism was once
considered feminine characteristics but in the new
economy masculinity is no longer defined by what a man
produces but what he consumes (p. 551, Alexander.).
“Branded masculinity is rooted in consumer capitalism
wherein profit can be produced by generating insecurity
about one’s body and one’s consumer choices and then
providing consumers with the correct answer or product
in articles and advertisements” (Alexander, p. 551).
Branded Masculinity
– In a consumer society, men and
women increasingly define
gender by the products they buy.
By creating different forms of
masculinity, such as the “new
man,” “the lad,” and the “fitness
buff,” corporations increase
sales and profits at the “expense
of any authentic understanding
of what masculinity really
means today” (Alexander, p.
552).
Conclusion
– Like women’s magazines,
men’s magazines give plenty of
advice on how to behave, what
to wear, what to buy, what eat,
who to date, etc., suggesting
that men are “insecurely trying
to find their place in the
modern world.” (Gauntlett, p.
380). In a society where
identities are not given but
constructed, the magazines
provide reassurance to men
“who are wondering, ‘Is this
right?’ and ‘Am I doing this
OK?’ (Gauntlett, p. 380).