Mediated examples of Masculinity as Specifically Sexualized

Hipster Article:http://www.adbusters.org/magazine/79/hipster.html

Analysis:

The first image has to do with the idea of masculinity as sexual in today's Mens magazines. Attwood explains, "Contemporary monthly lifestyle magazines clearly display the legacy of 1980s' portrayals of male narcissism, particularly in advertising and fashion spreads. Features which stress health, grooming and exercise regimes also work to support the notion of the male body as an object to be worked on" (88). The cover, which featured George Clooney, a renowned sexual icon in American society, acts as an example of the way that men should present themselves as powerful, sexual beings. It was interesting to read some of the headlines such as The GQ Look for Fall: Game-day Clothes, Supple Tweeds, Elegant Yves. Not to mention the main article, George Clooney and the Meaning of Guyness . The depiction of George Clooney as a put together, sex icon promotes the idea of the 'new lad' as described by Attwood, which creates the ideal for men in our society as active consumers in the American consumerist culture.

The second image I chose came from an advertisement for a new cell phone in FHM magazine. In this advertisement, particularly targeted for a male audience in a mens magazine, the woman's body is displayed with the product. The body of the woman is almost as much of the product as the product is itself. As Brooks discusses in the article about what he calls The Centerfold Syndrome, the author describes how the objectification of female bodies in media not only affects women in society, but men in society as well. The five principles of the syndrome consist of, "(a) voyeurism, (b) objectification, (c) the need for validation, (d) trophyism, and (e) the fear of true intimacy" (439). As the author suggests the way that males are taught, and even forced to look and desire the female body, causes psychological and societal problems for males to the same extent or even more than it does for women. The advertisement further perpetuates this theory by displaying a product along with a female body that is clearly objectified (only a portion of the face is visible, and the body takes up most of the frame). In this way, the product and the female are synonymous figures available for looking.

In this article, by a writer for the Culturejamming website and magazine Adbusters the new phenomenon of the Hipster is critiqued and identified. Although hipsters can be either male or female, the 'metrosexuality' of the male hipster is hard to ignore. The 'new lad' as described by Attwood, represents the idea of masculinity that plays into the idea of consumerism, or 'trendiness' as sexual, powerful, and desirable for males in the society. The implications of the hipster deals with issues of class and power. Although the hipster may seem to be of lower class, they are in all essence the opposite. As the author describes, "The American Apparel V-neck shirt, Pabst Blue Ribbon beer and Parliament cigarettes are symbols and icons of working or revolutionary classes that have been appropriated by hipsterdom and drained of meaning" (Hipster: The Dead End of Western Civilization). The brand of beer and cigarettes that are chosen allude to the fact that the hipsters are of lower class, when in fact the clothes they wear from places such as American Apparel which seem basic are in fact the trendiest, and more expense clothing brands for today's youth. Along with this notion of fashion, the male hipsters wear tight fitted jeans, sometimes even actual woman's jeans to demonstrate their identity with their male sexuality, which I would describe as metrosexual with a trendy twist.

Both the movie Road Trip and this clip from the UFC fighting demonstrate what it means to be masculine. In the coming-of-age movie Road Trip, the main character's identification of masculinity has to do with his sexual encounters. It promotes the idea that men should seek out women to use for sexual purposes even when he has a significant other. This is encouraged in the end of the movie where you find that he in fact made the correct decisions by going with his masculine instincts. Another topic touched in within the Centerfold Syndrome article, where we find that men are in fact encouraged even at a young age. "In adolescence, young men find themselves besieged by two powerful yet contradictory forces--waves of sexual urgency and the extreme prohibitions against emotional intimacy" (444). The UFC fighting also demonstrates the male body as a source of power, not sexual power as in the case of Road Trip, but power and force that comes with the action of fighting. The body's in Men's health magazines, as described in Attwood demonstrate the male body as "an 'unfinished project' which can be disciplined, thus warding of stress, uncertainty and decline" (87, Jackson et al.,). The competitors in the fight are at their top shape, ready to demonstrate their masculinity in the ring. No insecurity of the body or performance is perpetuated in any way creating an ideal for men in society that always exudes confidence and power as parallel with masculinity and sexuality.

Sexualized minorities "sexual otherness" and heterosexism in media

Analysis
A prime example of the popularity of lesbianism, most likely pseudo but perhaps real, in mainstream popular culture involves the campaign for Coors Light starring the Coors Light twins. As Jenkins describes, "one way that mainstream producers dilute their lesbian portrayals is by heterosexualizing these scenes in order to promote the conventional straight Male's lesbian fantasy" (492). As in 'scenes' the author refers to the presence of lesbianism in teen movies. The same idea applies to the Coors Light commercial where the twins are objectified purely for the purposes of the male gaze. By creating an affiliation between twins, beer, and football the company addresses heterosexual masculine desire. In this case, lesbianism is a spectacle created solely for males and their male gaze. The repercussions of this is an inaccurate idea of lesbianism that gives less value to homosexuality for women and ultimately gives men the upper hand when it comes to ideas about female sexuality.

In regards to sexual otherness, the character on Nip tuck Sophia Lopez presents a stereotypical presentation of a transsexual person as a victim rather than just a person. Indeed transsexuals and other non 'normative' sexualities are being presented in media, the presentation is usually the same and alludes to the idea of 'fixing' the problem or 'dealing' with the problem. Insinuating that they're not happy with themselves or their sexualities which may or may not be the case with real people within these groups.

An example of sexual "otherness" as portrayed in the media has to do with the new phenomenon of a heterosexual woman and a homosexual man as the leading characters in film or television shows. As Shugart identifies in the popular television show Will and Grace, or characters in film such as Julia Robert's other best friend in My best Friend's Wedding, this new idea of the gay man brings in all sorts of assertions about what it means to be gay and accepted as male in our society. To touch on just one of the points that Shugart makes in the article, this idea of the sexual access of the gay male. In the trailer for Love and other Disasters, the two leading characters, the straight woman and the gay man are seen cuddling while watching a movie, as well as in the film where they are shown going about their business in the bathroom while each other are present. The female is often shown nude, or partially nude. This idea of the gay male's sexual access shows how the gay male's masculinity is defined through their access to women, even though they are in fact gay and don't have any sexual desire toward the woman. This further enforces the patriarchy within our society that tells us that men have the upper hand, and that when this may appear to be compromised, (if a male is not seen as 'fully masculine' as in the case of homosexuality) that they still have the power and access to a woman's body.

In this romantic scene from the teenage drama 90210 , the heteronormative assumption of the media comes into view. When the character Ethan states he just wants to have a 'normal high school date' this assumes that the norm is heterosexual between a male and female. Also, the way the show portrays an ideal way of looking at high school romance, the beautiful new girl and the star athlete assumes the heterosexual idea of what romance is and should be for people in our society. The Kim et al., article, did a study which deals with these messages in the media about heteronormative behavior, "there is one integrated script comprised of (a) one "part" for how girls/women think, feel, and behave in romantic and sexual encounters and (b) another "part" for how men think, feel, and behave in romantic and sexual encounters" (146). As demonstrated in the show 90210, the media embeds these messages that we're so used to seeing, about how men and women should act in romantic and sexual relationships as well as the nature of the relationship, heterosexual rather than homosexual or other.

I chose a clip of Teletubbies to discuss the Dennis article about same-sex relationships in cartoons. As Dennis explains, "When more details are provided, space, time, and relationships all become heterosexualized" (180). In relationship with this clip, we can see how the lack of details of gender, or even age of the teletubbies who participate in holding hands create an acceptable environment for them to show affection towards one another.

Mediated examples of Femininity as Specifically Sexualized

Analysis:

The first image is a two page layout for a Victoria’s Secret catalogue for underwear and clothing for women. It can be observed that even in mediums aimed to and for women, sexuality is still present if not pervasive. Although this example doesn’t present women in a ‘tough’ context as described by Coon, it does demonstrate the way that femininity is defined as synonymous with sexuality. When Coon describes the promotional content in relationship to the ‘tough’ women of shows and movies such as Alias and Charlie’s Angels the author says, “some offer a representative picture of the main texts, demonstrating the complexity of the characters and stories. On the other hand, many of the promotions isolate one aspect of the characters--their sexuality--and use that as the basis for selling the main text” (11). Even though Victoria’s Secret is a company designed for the comfort of women through bras, underwear and clothing designed for women the catalog insinuates the ever present male gaze. The sexual positioning of the models doesn’t seem to be designed to promote the product for women as much as the idea of attracting men.

To further explore the idea of sexual imagery of women in video games, I chose an image of Lara Croft, a female character discussed in Huntemann’s article. The way that she is objectified in the video game reiterates the idea of females as purely sexual and passive objects. When discussing Lara Croft, Huntemann explains, “furthermore, given the way she is designed and promoted, Lara Croft reinforces the notion that a woman’s ultimate value is her appearance” (255). Even the simple fact that the video game is in 3rd person, providing a full view of the player’s body presents Lara as an object to control. Her unrealistic dimensions large breasts, small waist, and long legs, enforces her femininity while she performs very masculine and ‘tough’ girl acts within the video game.

Another way that femininity is presented as sexual is in the way that woman are to perform physical fitness. The new craze of ‘strip aerobics’ and ‘pole dancing exercise’ further informs this idea of woman as sexual even when engaging in activities that are supposedly for ourselves. The Carmen Electra Striptease ‘Workout’ not only shows physical fitness for women as a sexual act, but presents an image of overt sexuality as acceptable for any woman creating the idea also emphasized by Sex and the City, “the woman are able to initiate sexual encounters and decline them with no negative repercussions” (Markle 55). Thus giving real woman an artificial environment of sexuality which may lead to objectification and other consequences in the real world.

The last two You Tube clips show some of the ideas discussed in class about the ‘new’ sexuality of femininity in popular culture. In one clip of the Real Desperate Housewives of Orange County the older, wealthy, beautiful divorcees, or ‘cougars’ are shown lounging in a VIP pool area in Las Vegas. Their wealth and power are clearly shown, as well as their want/need to prey on men. They clearly state their desire not to be ‘boring’ and exciting enough for each other and the men they plan to pursue. The idea of the ‘cougar,’ as sexually promiscuous woman who desire men, usually younger, parallel the ideas demonstrated in Sex and the City as the desire to ‘have sex like a man’ is encouraged, and even celebrated. Much like Markle‘s findings, the underlying idea of a happily after for these wealthy divorcees are presented within the show. In the comedic promo for MILF Island on the show 30 Rock, the ‘Mothers I’d like to F***’ are presented as sexually promiscuous further enforcing this idea of ‘having sex like a man.’