The representation of masculinity in men's magazines {[Hollie]}

In the past there was only one type of masculinity in which all men should conform to; this was the idea of traditional masculinity. It was characterised by a strong, independent and bread winning image that all young males where socialised into thinking was acceptable and the only type of man they could be. Over the years however, this has changed and changing views surrounding both feminity and masculinity as well as changing views on sexual orientation have given birth to new and more detailed types of masculinity rather than one generic type of man that everybody had to fit into.

The metrosexual is probably one of the most recent types of masculinity. This type of man has money to burn and focuses this disposable income mainly on his appearance by purchasing stylish clothes and male cosmetics. In terms of magazine readership they are usually in the bracket of ABC1 as they have the money to spend on the expensive items that usually appear in the advertisements of such publications. Lad culture is normally the younger male aged 18-25. They are stereotyped as being obsessed by lager, football, cars and women. The type of magazines that they are associated with include: Nuts, FHM and Loaded and would fit into the category of C2DE. This is because, the audience predominantly for such publications are often young working class men who do not have much disposable income to spend on luxurious items such as expensive hair care and cosmetics, most of which, lads would consider as appealing to only homosexual men. Such magazines have recently started declining in circulation as the lad culture seems to be dying out and the soft core pornography found in these magazines can be more readily accesses on the internet. The same could be said for all types of magazines but magazines that target the other types of masculinity more are doing much better in the current climate. Ubersexual masculinity has been deemed as the ‘true gentleman’. They are normally successful businessmen that are well dressed but often still have a rugged look about them. They do not care as much about appearance but are often intellectuals who care about world issues. Chivalry is also important to the ubersexual, as they respect women but still maintain some of the gentleman stereotypes such as holding doors open for women and generally protecting them but not in the aggressive way that traditional masculinity encourages. Heteropolitan masculinity is found to be between lad culture and the ubersexual, they are often referred to as ‘lads that have grown up’. They are not lager loving sexists, nor are they cosmetically obsessed but similarly they are not afraid of a long term commitment and are often married with children.

Esquire magazine provides examples of different types of masculinity. This makes the magazine appeal to a larger target audience which is critical if the magazine is to survive as so many magazines that only target one type of masculinity are failing as people switch to online material and circulation and readership continue to fall, therefore, within the magazine, there is copy that is tailored to each type of masculinity some may appeal to lads which others target the metrosexual.

In the online edition of Esquire magazine, there were many areas targeted at the lad culture. There were advertisements on the home page alone for electronic gadgets, computers and entertainment including football tickets and other gadgets. Stereotypically this is what lads are most interested in besides women. There is also an icon for an article of famous women of the world which is entitled ‘Women of the World’ the icon image is Angelina Jolie, naked and with a silk cloth draped around her. The article itself consists of half naked female celebrities with a biography under the pictures. This would appeal to lads as there is plenty of female flesh on show. While navigating around the website there is also lots of copy about sex. Some of these articles are like problem pages where men write in to get advice on any sexual queries they might have. Although the sex obsessed male is typical of lad culture. The answers were often very tasteful and informative rather than poking fun at any problems men may have with their sex lives, which another magazine such as ‘Nuts’ would do. This suggests that the magazine is not solely for lads and instead encompasses a wide range of masculinities.

The metrosexual type of masculinity was also portrayed in the online edition of the magazine. It appeared in many areas of the magazine such as the article ‘the Best Bars in America.’ Although it could be argued that bars are of interest to all types of masculinities, there are key elements which obviously target the metrosexual. For example, the language used states ‘Bars’ and not pubs as would be used if this copy was targeting the lads or the traditional males. This suggests a more classy and affluent place to go to drink whereas the word pub suggests cheap beer and lager. This also helps to target the metrosexual male as they are thought to have lots of disposable income, they would have enough money to go to such bars and also would be able to afford to go to America on holiday. This article consists of readers writing into the magazine with their views on the best bars. There is also an alcoholic map of America called a ‘Drink Database’ and although this idea would seem to appeal to a young boozey lad, the drinks are cocktails and other such drinks that would appeal to metrosexuals and most defiantly not lads as there is no mention of any lagers in the database. Another critical part of the metrosexual male is the importance of appearance, not only do advertisements for men’s cosmetics cover the side bars of the website there are also many articles involving fashion. This idea is relatively new to men as they were traditionally known to not really pay much attention to fashion, in contrast with women. But nowadays, both sexes care about their fashion. There is a whole section of the website that is devoted to men’s style. This includes articles like: ‘Meet the man who can turn your wardrobe into a Swiss Army Knife’, ’15 clothing mysteries, solved in seconds’ and ‘How to take care of your cashmere sweaters’. Most of these articles are typical of the metrosexual as appearance is of the upmost importance although metrosexuals are not the only type of men to be concerned with their appearances.

Another type of masculinity shown is that of the hetropolitan male, these men are often referred to as the lads who have grown up. They are just as home in the local pub as in the grooming parlour and are committed to family life. The article ‘How to Tie an Ascot... Fancypants.’ This shows the audience how to tie their tie to look both fashionable and professional. This would appeal to the hetropolitan male as he would have to look professional for his job which would most probably be a middle class professional job. This can be seen as most hetropolitan males fall into the ABC1 category for magazines. The language of the article also appeals to the heteropolitan as well as the ubersexual as they use the term ‘one’ to describe themselves. This is a very upper- middle class trait and would never be used in magazines such as ‘Nuts’ or ‘Zoo’ unless it was to poke fun at the ‘posh’ nature of the middle classes. There are also articles in the style section about the best style shops around the world in major cities such as Toronto, Berlin and Denver. ‘The best men's stores, tailors, wine shops, and more in Toronto’. This emphasizes the fact that the hetropolitan males of this world are in the ABC1 category of audience, as they use major cities located over the Atlantic. They could be there on business or they could just be there on holiday, but they want the audience to find the best barber, dry cleaner, liquor store, watch repair and tailor that there are in these cities. It suggests a professional background unlike the manual nature that is often associated with lad culture.

According to studies of males in the U.K, the new male is the hetropolitan male, suggesting that this is the most prominent type of masculinity in today’s society. This could be why the website has taken extra measures to appeal to such males. For example the layout and coloring of the web edition of the magazine is mainly targeted at hetropolitan males. The layout is sleek and clean cut and the colors are mainly blacks and whites but also reds and blues. These are all masculine colors but the black and white looks like a professional business website that would target hetropolitan and ubersexual men. There are other stylish attributes to the website itself that would appeal to the metrosexual but the overall feel I that of the hetropolitan.

The idea of traditional masculinity is also present in the magazine, articles such as ‘How to escape the most awkward Christmas time conversation’ article are present throughout as a humorous stereotype of the traditional male, For instance one such part of this article is about men who would tell a child that Santa isn’t real. There are also novels included within this website. These are all novels that have been written by male authors about things that males can relate to such as sport, and money. There are different novels that target each of the different types of masculinity. The sport novels are there for the lads and so on. However the traditional male seems to e a dying breed as so many new types are more widely accepted and preferred. This could be due to feminism as women will no longer accept men who think that they should be the breadwinner and in control of the family and household.