The Evolution of Men's Magazines

As I read Cosmopolitan, Miss Magazine, and Better Homes and Gardens, I could not help the tingle in my toes that something was missing...where are the magazines for guys? Do guys wonder how to have great sex like the bold headlines for women in Cosmo? Are guys concerned about health and food ( I mean I know the way to a man's heart is through his stomach, but is he interested at all about what he is eating?) Who tells men what to wear to a business meeting or interview if not a magazine?

These very questions were addressed in David Gauntlett's book, an article by John Beynon regarding "The Commercialization of Masculinities" as well as "Advertising and the Construction of Violent White Masculinity" by Jasckson Katz. To reflect on the last question regarding who informs men of modern questions and concepts, Gauntlett mentions that it is a common facade that men just know what to do. I thought that very thing before reading this article. I know that my father and brother would read hobby magazines about cars, boats, rockets, wood working, and whatever was this week's interest. However, their articles, photographs and advertisements were vastly different from my magazines of choice. I never saw male peers in junior or senior high school discussing the latest fades or dating tips from glossy magazines like my fellow female cohorts. So what are men reading behind the glossy covers of their monthly periodicals?

Gauntlett goes into great depth regarding the material covered in a man's parallel to Cosmo. Men have similar fears with sexuality, relationships, appearance, and style like their female partners. Gauntlett describes how in one issue of Maxim, topics from food addictions, sex, drugs, recovering from hangovers, becoming more intelligent, job interviews, fatherhood, massages for women, and romance were covered. So much for the completely put together look of masculinity. This comment is by no means a negative thought towards men, but a reassuring fact that men do struggle with every day problems like women. Though not identical, it equalizes the playing field. Men are influenced by advertisements and articles just like women. In this way, Gauntlett says that "Men are therefore addressed as consumers - traditionally the role of women - although here it seems that ultimately it is a sense of masculine pride which is to be bought." Men see the sexiest new sports car and view it not as a feminine ideal of consumerism, but a new level of defining their masculinity and status among other men. After all that is all an expensive sports car is...a status symbol to flaunt at the country club. Notice how car advertisements tend to include a scantily clothed lady in the ad. So which body are they really selling? Just a thought to muse about. Another advertisement that struck my interest was one describes in Katz's article. He portrays a scene were a man clad in football athletic apparel is running towards the camera while a lady is in the background holding a cake with candles. Who would have guessed this was advertising Clinique perfume for men? Here is a similar ad.
This ad is stressing that Clinique is now for men and if women believe their man is masculine, they need to buy this product for him. So now both men and women can be "Happy" with Clinique.



One idea that I have been mulling over the past few months is the media's effect on the male identity. It was not so much a matter of if but really how it has changed. I have discussed the alteration of feminine roles and identity through the decades so it is naive to think that men would not have had an equally altered identity. Men have had to blend into female roles because women are overlapping into male's traditional roles. There have been new visual representation of men. Now instead of just the female body being the lure of the male gaze, men have become sexually objectified in advertisements, television and movies. Why else would chick flicks involve gorgeous men with ripped bodies if not to be on display for the female public?

Since the old roles of a patriarchal society where only men worked outside of the home have been slowly diminishing, men must find a new image in this 21st century. The media is helping to sculpt that perception and create a whole new masculine identity.