Masculinity

Men in movies

Men in movies usually have physical and intellectual strength, power, sexual attractiveness, physique and independence which leads to some men playing roles of ‘the lone hero’ such as Batman as he enjoys working alone and supplies himself with everything he needs. The lone hero is independent and does not rely on others for things.

Three roles that a man usually plays in a movie is

·         The hero- saves the world, tough, strong, and athletic, always gets the girl and has the perfect physique.

·         The Breadwinner- The head of the family, brings money into the home.

·         The Business Man-smart suit, responsible, intelligent etc.

·         The father- kind, strong, a moral compass, keeps the family together and sets the rules.

·         The Authority Figure- president, politician, owner of a business-powerful.

·         The ‘Outdoors’ Man-can handle himself in strange and rough terrain e.g. Bear Grylls

Masculinity Intro-Magazines

Masculine activities include things such as shaving the face, driving fast cars, having a hearty appetite, smoking cigars and drinking liquor.

Traditional male roles: Hunter, defender, achiever, warrior, bread winner, hero.

Masculine figures in media are usually characters that men would want to be in real life, aspirational males tend to be dominant, sexually dominant, aggressive, powerful and charismatic.

Media products tend to portray men and women in very different ways, this would be ways that make men look more masculine and dominant whereas women are imaged to look like sex objects.

The reason for the overly positive and dominant representations of men in the media is down to power, many people still believe we are living within patriarchy; this is a male run/dominated society. If men are in control of the media product they create a positive representation to support their dominance.

GQ Magazine
A magazine that does this would be GQ magazine. GQ is an American monthly men's magazine focusing on fashion, style, and culture for men, through articles on food, movies, fitness, sex, music, travel, sports, technology, and books. This explains why the majority of covers have aspirational males on them.

These images have been perfected to create these actors to look even more aspirational to the male audiences this has been done by the camera angle and mis en scene. James Franco’s pose consists of a forming smile which could come across to audiences as sly but charming His direct gaze also tells us that he is a very confident assertive man this is also done by the calm, relaxed look in his eye. James is  wearing a suit also gives us the message that he is a confident, educated, upper class and successful male as he also looks well kept. The same goes for Michael Fassbender as he has a strong posture which and a fitted shirt which brings out his body shape, Which is also very masculine we know this because of how fitted his shirt is. It is bringing out his body shape letting audiences know that this is a strong man that takes care of his body by getting it into shape. The majority of men care about going to the gym to create the dream body. When the magazine turns to having women on the cover it takes a turn with representation. It goes for the more typical representation of women which is portraying them as nothing but sex objects. Almost every cover that features a woman on it has the women in either a sexual position or very sexual and little clothing.

This can also be seen from the two covers I have shown here. Whenever there is a woman on the cover the topics surrounding the cover tend to be sexual as well. This is obviously done for male audiences because the magazine is made for male audiences. Having women on the cover in this way would attract more male audiences. Women in these poses would suggest that they have very little power and are not dominant .There is also no masculinity in any of the covers with women. This says that women are not masculine. The women also have seductive looks on their faces which are also used to draw in more male audiences. Most covers with aspirational males have a close up shot of the face only whereas covers with women have mid shots or long shots, this is to show their body and revealing clothes (if their wearing any!).