There has been much debate and controversy over the discourse of magazines overtly using women to appeal to male audiences. However, there has been little deliberation on the ever-changing politics of fluidity and instability of masculine ideologies presented within ‘lad’ magazines today and how their ambiguous meanings appear and reflect differently through time and space. Throughout this essay I will reflect and examine magazines and how they perceive masculinity in its different forms and how these texts are interpreted or performed throughout its audience.
The expression of masculinity in magazines is interpolated through cultural and historical texts, creating numerous forms of masculinities that easily become confusing for its male audiences. One main argument highlighted is that of a response to feminism movements, that have changed the way masculinity is viewed and judged. In turn, this results in magazines no longer holding a fixed image of men. We still hold a wide rational assumption that men are fixated into a standardized form of performing masculinity through biological terms, and is measured through physical characteristics. Hegemonic masculinity is a conceptual framework that explores structures of masculinity and hierarchal gender power status within different cultures, an ‘ideal’ form of masculinity (Waling, A. 2016). However, recent movements have reinvented masculine forms, and has become a fragmented, diverse and mobile construction that is free to modify and fluctuate (Beynon, J. 2002).
The common assumption is that men appear on magazines as the ‘manly man’, consisting of muscles, topless and adopt a ‘laddish’ culture. Possibilities have now opened up for men, and their performance in magazines is now much more varied and in flux. One argument is that there is still a commonsensical assumption that men are stuck in this fixated culture of being traditionally masculine. However, I would argue men now have unlimited freedom to implement any form of masculinity they wish. A hybridized masculinity that allows men to shift and adjust versions their masculine identity. Butler, J. (1990), comments on Goffman’s dramaturgical surge, the idea that men will perform their identity through signs and signifiers.
Modern day male magazines such as Gentleman’s Quarterly (GQ), are still inclined to incorporate texts of traditional masculinity of physical dominance or a paradigm of universal masculinity of which is fixed. This image becomes more and more unrealistic and unachievable for the everyday male, so these magazines soon become undermined (Beynon, J.2002). The shifting discourses of men represented in magazines could be said to have relocated because of feminist movements, causing a recycling of patriarchal ideas. As flexible and niche marketing was introduced, more women were employed than ever before, so men were forced to transform.
The main argument I wish to raise is the shifting identities from the ‘new man’ towards the ‘new lad’ culture. The notion of the ‘new man’ generated in the 1980’s. It is said that the success in the playboy culture in the fifties and sixties saw an interesting movement as it created and allowed a space for the heterosexual men to explore their interests in women (Jackson, P., Stevenson, N. & Brooks, K. 1999). It saw the man as a nurturer or narcissist. This emerged in reaction to social change, including the first wave of feminism during this period. The hegemonic masculinity destabilised, and men, predominantly upper class, adopted a macho or emotional image, now supporting women in all areas of life. The new man as a narcissist, is where we see the emergence of nudity and men as sex objects, exploited by consumerism. This is where a shift in politics of ‘male-on-male’ gaze developed, becoming eroticised and objectified (Nixon, S. 1996). Although, men still remained active viewers, as women became passive objects. The new man was commonly seen in sharp suits and exhibiting a higher-class label culture. Imagery was centred on designer labels, keeping up appearance and had a strong push towards a commodified consumerism, that ignored the sexual denotation of visualising men in boxers (Edwards, T. 2003).
In the 90’s a shift towards the ‘new lad’ magazines emerged. Anxieties arose over how to correctly perform hegemonic masculinity. The adoption of the new ‘lad’ culture allowed every day man to relate and see these men as ‘mates’. Here, the juxtaposition of new diverse masculinities and their cultures becomes evident, with heterosexual men with emphasis on women’s bodies next to homoerotic images of advertising. This version of masculinity rejected the feminized new man and thus, reinvents a polarized conception of gender ideals. The new lad in magazines performed men interested in beer, football and women, an idea that many working-class men could relate to, increasing this culture in society. This shift in masculinity saw the emergence of soft porn and objectification of men, often with their tops off and muscles showing, denoting no sexual uncertainty. The irony of the new lad is noted here, between the ambiguity and knowingness or self-reflectiveness of stable positions of masculinity. This is used as a shield against the markings and understandings of one’s masculinity, causing more instability of performing masculinity (Benwell. B. 2004). The new lad is becoming a popularised concept performed in the real world as it covertly represents a retreat from the reality where women actually exist and may be in competition with men. Therefore, the new lad represents a world in which inverts feminism into presenting modes of masculinity that ignore females and their presence in society. This culture focuses only around drinking, male bonding and one-night stands (Edwards, T. 2003). The new lad’s main aim is counteracting associations of femininity and should exhibit a laddish culture; a once contested behaviour of danger that is now culturally approved. They are interested in the newest styles but equally should be disinterested in their appearance, magnifying masculinity (Edwards, T. 2003). The new lad should portray an image that a ‘real’ man actually doesn’t care about their appearance but still ‘looks good’, whilst women agonize over how they are presented, this is just a small representation of a far wider issue of an active-passive relationship through gender divisions (Lury, C. 1996). To contrast this, it is argued that the new man encouraged and accepted the practice of men using moisturiser and go shopping without appearing middle class or homosexual (Edwards, T. 2003). However, this idea is just a repressed notion that now is visible in terms of sexual politics. Although, Baudrillard, 1983, criticizes this idea of the relatable nature of the ‘new lad’ being a reality for most men in society, and argues this image is just simply media driven and a hyper real concept to portray a hegemonic masculinity.
There are several contradicting views on how the ‘new lad’ reflected real men in real life. A study by Jackson et al, (1999), saw participants actually arguing that the ‘new man’ was less representative of men today compared to the new lad that receives much scrutiny for being too narrow in their presentation of men. Some argue the new lad is a more natural form of masculinity, that is authentic and less contested, a more realistic version of reality. Representations have allowed a shifting in the geography of discourses about masculinity into the real world, and has enabled men to interpret behaviours themselves. This has allowed men to develop competencies into a diversity of choice of masculinity, choosing how they perform their gender themselves (Jackson, P., Stevenson, N., & Brooks, K. 1999). Therefore, there are many conflicting views on these fragmented versions of masculinity and how well they are interpreted to the real world.
Magazines manipulate their texts to assume that all men will adopt this ‘lad’ culture regardless of their age and social class, all men are expected to enter this market in the same way. However, much of the research around masculinities performed in magazines are too metro centric. Much of the research conducted around magazines is carried out in large cities like London. Therefore, men are commonly generalised into this assumption of falling under these categories, resulting in an exclusion of other international markets that may reject these ideas (Galilee, J. 2002). Many male magazines we see today are often thought of to present topless men, most definitely performing the typical hegemonic masculinity.
From the images above, we quite clearly see the representation of the new man on the left, contrary to a typical performance of the new lad on the right. The use of language on magazine covers uses common sense mixed with irony as a deterrent of taking these indicators too seriously (Stevenson, N., Jackson, P., & Brooks, K. 2000). In the example, GQ present the behaviour of a typical ‘new man’, through his performance, along with the text used, that denotes this is a ‘real’ man. This is also evident from the emphasis on fashion and sophistications within the image. Contrary to this, Men’s Health have constructed the more recent trend of a ‘lad’ culture, commonly focusing on appearance, the gym, sex and muscles through imagery and text. Men’s health often portrays a laddish lifestyle but puts emphasis on this being a ‘man’s’ culture. Some believe their reputation is being damaged as their portrayal of men in the media becomes unachievable and unrealistic for the everyday man, and emphasises this is how men should appear to succeed. Thus, they are maintaining and sustaining expectations by encouraging a specific construct of lifestyle and appearance (Waling, A. 2016). These two magazine covers overtly convey different meanings about what it means to be a man and how we should correctly perform the gender. So, although this could be seen as a diverse and fragmented choice men can tailor to suit them, it can also be argued that it conveys that men should keep within these specific brackets to be seen as performing the typical hegemonic masculinity. Men’s health’s target market is the affluent male; however, they form a class in which reproduces male power and domination, producing instabilities in gender relations within reality (Stibbe, A. 2004). Thus, magazines end up being stuck in an attempt to construct and propose a masculinity but simultaneously are performing to a society in which gender relations are rapidly changing (Stevenson, N., Jackson, P., & Brooks, K. 2000). Here, we could argue that there is not actually more freedom to produce one’s own masculinity, as magazines are forcing their version of traditional hegemonic masculinity onto society. So, masculinity appears stable to society as the media are only producing few images of how a man should appear and act. However, they are in fact in a constant flux due to social change and other forms of media that interpolate different discourses around masculinity. Different channels end up relying on one another to produce a normalized universal view of masculinity (Reeser, T, W. 2010). It could be argued that these types of masculinities have provided a safe universal hegemonic masculinity for so long, because new forms of masculinities scare men through being too feminine. So, these magazines perform a counteracting deterrent that allows men to feel comfortable to perform their masculinity as long as it works within the hegemonic brackets, creating societal pressure to perform in a certain way in certain social situations (Waling, A, 2016).
After reviewing male magazines and how they reflect or supress the diversity of masculinities, it is evident that there are different viewpoints and arguments to whether magazines promote or deter against diversity. In today’s society, men should be able to move freely between identities and create their own if they wish, but there is a problem that magazines don’t assist with this freedom. From my discussions, it seems there are fixed guidelines of masculinities a man can possess, and if they cannot subscribe to traditional forms, they are rejecting the common held ideals that may lead them to produce their own. On the other hand, it could be said that magazines allow this freedom, and signify the possibility of change in identity and gender relations, although, through doing this they simultaneously reinscribe the traditional hegemonic term of masculinity. Overall, now however there is much more cultural approval and the new lad now represented does relate to more masculinities today than the new man previously did.
This is a complicated mundane matter that creates more fragmentation and scrutiny within gender identities as people create their own or stay within the guidelines that magazines perform. With all of these conflicting opinions, men ultimately become confused with what is expected and what is not, as there is no consistency. However, it can be argued that these problems may never arise in negotiating identity because men do not spend a great deal of thought in negotiating their gender identity.