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.
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