How Does Masculinity Affect Pop Culture

In her essay “Beauty (Re)discovers the Male Body,” Susan Bordo manages to recognize an underlying fundamental change in society’s attitude towards advertisements and specifically sees that unfold in the growing shift towards male sexually oriented advertisements with a focus on feministic qualities. Furthermore, since Bordo wrote this essay in the 1990s, the advancements in technology have caused growing ideological differences between generations as their responses to things like social media and advertisements elicit contrasting reactions. The Millennials, also known as Generation Y, have been born into the various outlets of social media and have become accustomed to a greater sense of comfort with the Internet as they share all of their life stories and photos with other human beings. On the other hand, Generation X and the Baby Boomers were born into an era that didn’t depend on technology to perform everyday tasks. As a result, their mindsets make them reluctant to the changes in technology, which inadvertently makes them more uncomfortable to any massive changes in social media. By using sexually oriented advertisements, Kraft Foods and Axe, effectively display differing ideological differences between Generation X and Generation Y. In conjunction, Bordo’s elements of the gaze, objectification, and the rocks and leaners pose allow us to better understand the construction of the advertisements and the role they play on influencing each targeted generation.

Hegemonic masculinity is at the heart of exploitation of women in advertisements. It represents a complex socio-political system that perpetuates dominant ideas from the male perspective and marginalizes any opposing ones, especially the feminist perspective. (O'Toole, 2016) The concept of the “male gaze” is at the root of hegemonic masculinity and consumerism. For example, Sports Illustrated uses a swimsuit issue to attract a largely male audience. These exploited images present women in sexualized and demeaning poses since images in the media are constructed for the male viewer's gaze and represent his expectations of women as well as male to female relationships. This manipulation allows women to be conditioned to respond to an ad in a male-directed

Advertising has been engrained in our lives since birth. It is something that is everywhere, whether be on a wall, on TV, or on a billboard on a busy highway. You might not think you are aware of its effects, but it triggers something subconsciously. Advertisement has been sexualized in a way that appeals and affects people in an unconscious level, it may also influence one’s view of gender roles. In the film Killing US Softly, Jean Kilbourne discusses how advertising has changed the way not only women, but also how man view themselves. A woman must look beautiful, be sexy and thin, while a man must be attractive, muscular and powerful to achieve the “perfect look” and in doing so, both gain acceptance.

Basically, Dos Equis touts the most interesting man in the world as a beacon of unparalleled, and unattainable levels of charisma. But while the elusive template for the better modern man escapes us another day, these three ad campaigns convey various aspects that piece together the full picture. When assembled, it appears that masculinity consists of strong, virile, physical allure combined with unwavering confidence and unrivaled charisma.

In recent discussion of the drastic marketing campaigns that companies utilize a controversial issue whether the massive growth of popular culture in today’s diverse society has created a need for mass advertisement and marketing. From this perspective, advertisement and marketing companies continue to exploit the slogan “Sex Sells.” Advertisement campaigns continue to target women as a sex object for men’s sexual prejudice. The main idea behind this campaign is that men’s needs are more important and significant, and women’s are not. Advertisement and marketing campaigns have gone too far and they devalue women. As Steve Craig said in his article “Men’s Men and Women’s Women”: “Advertisers therefore portray different images of men and women in order to exploit the different deep-seated motivations and anxieties connected to gender identity” (189). What Steve Craig refers to is that

Since the emergence of advertising in American culture one thing that has remained constant is the visible truth that men and women are portrayed differently. In consideration to the evolution of man kind gender roles have evolved immensely throughout time, although advertisements have not kept up with this process of evolution. Companies to this day use their tactics and skills to reach out to specific genders such as pretty fonts with a stylish message, while advertisements towards men portray the character as strong and intimidating. The typical viewer can easily spot the difference in the portrayal of genders. Men are portrayed this way because the viewers look up to these characters, they want to be

Appealing to an audience's deep personal emotions plays an important role in advertisement. Many exaggerated emotions can easily persuade the viewer to believe them and search for a way to escape or solve that present emotion. Insecurity is prominent in almost all the newest advertisements. Giving in to society’s expectations to beauty, commercials direct themselves to make the viewer feel bad about their image. Trying to instill anxiety or a lack of confidence can compel the viewer to buy their product, and using this strategy not only is geared towards women, who are given higher standards, but to men as well. Men’s insecurity almost always is directed towards their masculinity. In typical Old Spice commercials they prey on the average man’s,

Sheehan notes that “stereotypes are created by the continual, extended exposure of consumers to patterns of imagery” (Sheehan: 2004, 3) and, although sometimes taboo, there is good reason for using these stereotypes in advertising. Richard Dyer argues that stereotypes help order the world around us as to establish and maintain the hegemony of the dominant group, in this case men, and to marginalise other social groups, women. Producing oppositions between the two (Smelik: 200,133). During the 20th century, specifically the 1950s, men and women had rather specific societal

Before diving into the current state of male roles in advertising, it is necessary to review past gender stereotypes and how they have developed in the past. Looking at advertising through the media from a social determinist standpoint, the existing cultural and social values and progresses are what determine how gender roles are portrayed in media. This would go against the cultivation theory notion that the media used to portray men and women are what shape our cultural and social ideologies. Grau and Zotos (2016) establish this “the mirror versus the mold” debate and note that this debate “is a continuum” (p. 763). Existing social values may impact the strategies of advertisers, but at the same time, the advertisements we are

The majority of men are led to the believe that the ability to show weakness is regarded as the most un-male components; this means that vulnerability and openness which are absolutely important for self-exploration or personal development, are recognized as weak behaviors. After all, the modern men still deal with relatively archaic messages related to the meaning of being a male or a man. For instance, the society predicts men to be strong at all costs, to be stoic and unemotional, to be rescuers, and, of course, to consider own work as a key priority (Vermunt). Thus, it is important to provide a thorough investigation of the current ads in order to identify both positive and negative aspects in terms of modern masculinity and define

However out of these four traits the most popular ones are toughness as emotional control and danger as exciting, because advertisers know that these are the most attainable for their potential customers.In fact, demographics are a key factor when it comes to deciding on what is advertised. In an age where everyone is rushing to grow up, advertisers are starting to appeal to younger and younger women, and with magazines such as Cosmopolitan, Vogue, Sports Illustrated or others lining the shelves at the supermarket they are easily accessible to a larger population. Majority of the audiences for these magazines are young men and women who are more susceptible to influence. The majority of young women who read these magazines want to fit in to society. In an effort to do so they try to mirror what is desirable enough to be in advertisements. Women aren’t the only ones being targeted, most advertisements depicting hyper-masculinity were targeted at younger, less educated readers who are more insecure. this is because older men are surer of themselves and less likely to look towards to ads for a guideline about how to be masculine. Advertisers systematically target people who are more susceptible to being influenced because they have a stronger desire to fit in to society. Young males like females have a desire to overcome their insecurities. These men see magazine advertisements as an example of appropriate ways to express masculinity. Regardless of gender, all young adult are at a point in life where there are many transitionary elements, they are desperate to establish a constancy, and they look to magazines to achieve this. Advertisers understand the usage of gender ideals and norms in

Male response to depictions of 'ideal masculinity' in advertising is typically negative, a new research has found suggesting that advertisements should depict roles played by men in real life.

However, patterns for how to act, think and talk adequately are never fixed, but rather negotiated in the immediate situations.

Throughout society, the portrayal of men and women has always differed. Women have been illustrated as sexual, gentle creatures while men have been illustrated as the strong, authoritative figures in our culture. However, these stereotypical portrayals have changed drastically over the years. In past culture, women have always been the center of advertisements, while men have stayed in the shadows. In present day culture, men are starting to play a larger role in advertisements. However, many ads showcasing men have proved to be controversial. Susan Bordo, the author of The Male Body: A New Look at Men in Public and Private (1999) discusses the different ways men have been used in campaigns throughout our history.

Male stereotype in advertising is somehow less definable than the female one. However, the 21st century is less forgiving to the male population than the earlier decades and tends to depict men in a virile and muscular way, with focus on image of power and masculinity as well as portraying them as a “sex object” so men now experience what women have had for years.