FREE ESSAY ON STEREOTYPES OF MEN IN ADVERTISEMENTS

STEREOTYPES OF MEN IN ADVERTISEMENTS

Visual representation of reality, as seen through mass media, is acknowledged by
sociologists to be influential in shaping people's views of the world. Our everyday
realities are articulated mostly by what we see in the media. The role of advertising in
this interpretation of reality is crucial. The target audience's self-identification with
the images being a basic prerequisite for an advertisement's effectiveness, makes
advertising one of the most important factors in the building of behavior models and
values systems. The way a certain notion is managed at a visual level determines how
people will perceive this notion and whether they will identify with it or not. Meaning
is encoded in the structure of the images, which thus become potent cultural symbols for
human behavior. The framing and composition of the image, the setting, the symbolic
attributes and every other element in its structure, all are engaged in the effective
presentation of the underlying notion.
What do images of the male body in advertising reveal about the notion of masculinity
today? What is today's model man? Is there consistency in the visual representation of
masculinity or are there competing images of it?
In this study I will do a content analysis of the portrayal of men in 20 magazine
advertisements. 5 ads were taken from "Maxim," a men's magazine targeted at 20 to 30
something males. 4 were taken from "Men's Journal, a men's magazine targeted at men from
30 to retirement age. 5 were looked at from Harper's "Bazaar," a women's magazine
targeted at adult women. 4 were taken from "Allure," a women's magazine targeted at women
in their 20's and 30's, and two were taken from "Entertainment Weekly," an entertainment
magazine with a non gender specific target audience. I selected these ads by tearing out
all of the ads in each magazine with a man or men in them, scattering them face down on
the floor and picking up a few. I intend to look at these ads as a group of 20, looking
at collective similarities among them and any common stereotypes and themes in the way
these ads portray men. I also intend to examine any general differences between the ads
fro the men's magazines, and those from the women's magazines, as well as differences
along product lines. 
I expect to see reinforcement of the stereotypes discussed in Denise Kervin's study as
well as the stereotypes delineated by other authors cited in this paper. I expect that
these reinforcements will occur as much as, but in a different way than is seen earlier
in time as discussed in the various literature cited in this paper. I also expect that
these stereotypes will be equally present, yet will manifest themselves differently
depending on the target audience and product being pitched.
Dominant discourses surrounding gender encourage us to accept that the human race is
'naturally' divided in to male and female, each gender realistically identifiable by a
set of immutable characteristics. In Foucault's terms, relations of difference are social
constructs belonging to social orders that contain hierarchies of power, defined, named
and delimited by institutional discourses, to produce social practices. "Gender
differences are symbolic categories" (Saco, 1992:25). These categories are used to
ascribe certain characteristics to men and women. The representation of those
characteristics determines how men and women are presented in cultural forms, and really
whether an individual is identified as 'masculine' or 'feminine'. It is important to
understand the big role that media, in general, and specifically advertisement plays in
maintaining an ingrained gender hierarchy. The closer study of men's and women's images
as presented in advertising should result in uncovering the messages about their identity
and role in society.
Until recently, masculinity in the media was not considered problematic since there was
the notion that masculinity is not constructed. "Masculinity remains the untouched and
untouchable against which femininity figures as the repressed and/or unspoken" (Holmlund,
1993:214). During the 1990's this notion started to change since a significant decline in
portrayal of men's traditional roles became obvious. Until then though, qualities such as
being aggressive, autonomous and active were always naturally attributed to men. Until
mid 80's men also seemed to be the only ones that occupied powerful roles in society, so
advertisements showed powerful images of men to sell products. Qualities culturally
associated with women in ad's included being caring, warm and sexually passive in
contrast with the muscular and powerful male. Common themes were these of the promiscuous
gladiator with the female victim, the protector and the rescued. In even older ads men
were invariably portrayed as husbands and fathers. It is interesting to see that now,
when things have admittedly changed for women, we still see much of the same themes in
modern men's advertisements. 
In the ads from "Men's Journal," we generally see a handsome, strong, successful and
somewhat rugged man. The camera angles are almost invariably from the bottom up, giving
us a view of the man as though we, the viewer are below him, looking up at him. All of
them are young, but none are teen-aged looking. All but one have, or show remnants of
facial hair. None of these ads show the man in the work place, but their depiction of
leisure is that of mature success, not youthful excess. Because of the camera angles, the
strong stances, the rugged good looks, and the depictions of success, these ads reinforce
the stereotypes of men as strong, powerful, aggressive providers. 1 ad for Tommy Hilfiger
shows the man with his arm around a girl who is leaning into his chest. This ad depicts a
man as protector and as a heterosexual. 
The one ad that stands out from the group in this collection of ads from Men's Journal is
the one from ESPN's Sport's Center. This ad shows a man finishing up a piece of cake at a
diner and watching Sport's center from across the bar. This is a different depiction of
leisure which seems directly related to the product it is selling. The rest of the ads
are selling some form of apparel. They are designed to show clothes as comfortable and
stylish and show that a man who wears those clothes can be the aggressive, dominant male.
The Sport's Center ad is selling a product that isn't consumed as part of public image,
but of private pleasure. The copy, "What Sport's Center Do You Watch?" implies that
whenever, wherever the man wants his sports, he can get it from ESPN. It does not matter
what he looks like, what he's doing, or where he is when he watches it. It is on several
times a day, and it is a man's right and priority to enjoy it however he wishes. The man
in this ad is a bit rounder, a bit more approachable but still not under anyone's
control.
These advertisements prove the man's power, with his success, his heterosexuality, and
his virility. These are all considered to be attractive features in males. To be more
specific, they are considered attractive features in a grown man. Stuart Hall, in his
book: Representation and Signifying Practices, focuses on three important looks for grown
men, these are the 'Street Style' version, the 'Italian-American' version and the
'Conservative-Englishness' version. He has argued that across these three looks, the
casting of the models (especially in 'Street Style' and 'Italian-American' images) codes
an ambivalent masculinity that combines both boyish softness and assertive masculinity.
This sanctions the display of masculine sensuality. The clothes worn by the models are
assertively masculine, and often emphasize a broad shouldered and solid body shape. The
models display a highly masculine independence and assurance, as well as the coding of
narcissistic self-absorption. The choice of lighting and film stock emphasizes the
surface qualities of skin, hair, eyes and the texture of clothing. Finally the cropping
of the images works to produce intensity in many of the images.
This stereotyped presentation of a gender role, certainly tells us that there is still a
part of society that believes that men should be naturally related to power, aggression
and authority. In recent years however, other aspects of masculinity have become
acceptable in ads. This can be seen in the difference between the ads in Men's Journal
and those in Maxim.
The ads from Maxim are similar to those from Men's Journal but definitely appeal to a
younger audience. It is therefore interesting to look at what advertisers feel is more
appealing to younger men. There is one ad for Ralph Lauren Cologne that shows a young
successful looking man in a shirt and tie looking over the top of the head of the women
cuddling in his chest. She is looking into the camera seductively and he looks as though
his mind is elsewhere. He is dominant, even arrogant in this position and once again
appears successful and confident. 
Another ad from Maxim is for a DVD special edition of "Rocky." The ad shows rocky beaten
and worn but continuing to fight. The copy reads "at least David had a slingshot." This
ad depicts the ultimate American sports hero. This appeals to men young and old.
The other two ads show men at play. This is where we see a new type of masculinity, in
ads that portray men as boys, childlike and irresponsible. This is actually very
important, along with the fact that we see a lot of ads that are exclusively aiming at
young boys. In the fifties and sixties there were actually none of those, since generally
teenagers were considered as non-completed versions of grown ups. In most places in the
world they were expected to wear specific clothing when they were in school and if they
did not look like 'proper young men' when they went out they would be probably
stigmatized by the rest of the society. So ads with hair-gelled heroes with jeans and
leather jackets were out of the question. It was only after movements like the hippies
and the student movements all around the world, that teenagers were seen as an inside
revolutionary power of the race, and their non-mature behavior was considered as
something acceptable or even good. 
So now we have advertisements like the one from 'O P', from Maxim Magazine. He is a
clean-shaven and handsome young man who has a hairless chest, and is looking innocent and
idyllic. His clothes are for play and are particularly relevant to teen-agers and
twenty-something males and what they might wear for a day at the park or the beach. He is
a 'boy-man.' Similar messages exist in ads where boys express their masculinity by acting
crazily and in some ads where the men are seen as playful and slightly irresponsible.
Some other researchers also suggest that the 'man as boy' style can be effective due to
the way that in which they lull the audience into having a motherly love for the male
character.
The biggest decline though, from men's traditional role as masculine and powerful is
expressed in the advertisements that show men attempting to do housework chores and
struggling with tasks traditionally viewed as female. I did not encounter any of this in
the ads randomly selected for my study. Wernick identifies that as an increasing trend to
depict male and female not as opposites, but as fluid categories that occupy equivalent
places in society (Wernick: 1987, 280-293). If this is in fact occurring, I did not
encounter it. Wernick discusses the transitional kind of ads that are trying to make
traditionally feminine work seem masculine, so that men can do it too. 
Of course, these kinds of ads really address women, since in most cases, they are the
ones that are going to by the products. Wernick is reluctant to tread this as significant
progress towards human liberation, and instead suspects it as no more than the leveling
effect of market forces.
The ads I viewed from women's magazines did not seem to have any of this phenomenon.
These ads seemed to portray men in similar ways seen in the ads from the Men's magazine,
but more exaggerated and pronounced were then men's dominance over the women and their
aggressiveness. The first ad from harpers Bazaar shows a man staring off in the distance
as a lingerie-clad woman appears bent almost over his knee. She is face down to the bed
and he seems unconcerned with her. Another ad from Bazaar shows a room full of scantily
clad, muscular men surrounding a vamp-type woman. They are all staring at her almost
blankly as one of them grabs her by the waist. She is the only one looking into the
camera. Her look does not appear helpless but rather almost vacant, reinforcing the idea
of herself as an object, to be handled and gawked at. The men in this room are the
aggressors and seem to be participating in some sort of pseudo-sexual fantasy. This ad
happened to be a part of a multi-page campaign of which I picked up two. The other is the
same woman and the man grabbing her from the first picture is behind the glass door,
staring at her forcefully. The pane of the glass is positioned an almost phallic manner
and she once again is the object of his desire, and if we remember anything from the
first ad, he can probably have her.
In another ad from Bazaar, a very attractive man pulling his hair back and glaring
seductively and aggressively into the camera. This man is obviously a sex symbol and
displays the masculine stereotypes of the forceful, attractive, dominant male. 
All of the ads I picked up from Allure featured a man and a woman. The first one I looked
at was deceptive. At first glance it seemed opposing to stereotype. The woman is standing
behind the man but the camera is shooting from behind. She has a chain wrapped around the
man who stands in front of her facing away from the camera and she seems to be the one in
control. However upon closer examination I realized that it is still the man being
portrayed as the pillar of strength in this ad. The chain is not a tool she is using to
control him, but rather a symbol of his strength. She isn't pulling on or manipulating
it, but rather she is holding on to it; it is supporting her. All three other ads portray
the man as either the aggressor, the protector, or the dominant one of the two people. 
Ads that target men (car, aftershave, alcohol etc.) still portray men as powerful and
dominating creatures and point to traditional aspects of masculinity. Maybe this bizarre
landscape in the visual representation of masculinity reflects the underlying identity
crisis for men who have started to question themselves of what is to be male. Ads that
target women seem to not only present these stereotypes, but depict them in correlation
with a man's relationship to a woman. 
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