Men's Health magazine representations

Men's Health Representations


1) Men's health magazine can be defined as a lifestyle magazine due to them using things like topic concerning men which catches the attention of the male audience of consumers.


2) Advertising is significant in helping to shape masculine identity by showing products that make it seem as though that if you were to buy it, it would make you seem more masculine. This causes something called "high spending".

 3) These ideas can be linked to David Gauntlett and how ideas are always changing, this can also include with the idea of masculinity meaning that after a certain amount of time, the idea of masculinity becomes susceptible to change.


 4) Men;s Health encourages its readers to be active consumers and are considered to be a profitable target. This can be proved by men being interested in fashion and personal products which was proved by the Euromonitor conducting research which stated that “the global market for male grooming products grew by an impressive average annual rate of 5.7% between 1997-2005”5."


6) One of the representations shown of a male body in Men's Health magazine is that by having a fit body its shows traits of self-discipline, effort and commitment thus urging and motivating their readers in achieving that idealised type of body. Another representation that can be found is narcissism which can be said because of the focus of a person's possessions, behaviour and appearance and because of that complete focus on those traits, it can possibly lead to narcissism.


 6) According to the article not only is the male's body used but it is also objectified and exposed to the reader's gaze this is due to the advertisements having such a focus on them. Women have been treated as sexual objects for the pleasure and satisfaction of a male audience and now men are starting to receive the same treatment by the media. The sexual objectification of men has increased in terms of film, drama and soap-operas. Due to this new concepts of masculinity have started to form such as metrosexuality


 7) Metro-sexuality "refers to a man who is extremely aware of his physical appearance and is devoted
to it by buying cosmetic and fashion products." This term can be applied to Men's Health magazine as the audience and consumers of the magazine are majority men but are men who are focused on their physical appearance and are willing to buy things such as fashion and cosmetic products in order for them to maintain a good physical appearance.

8) Representations of men in the magazine can be categorised into three aspects, Physical appearance, external look and lifestyle values. This then creates the representation of for example "a young white middle-class man, physically well-built, and sexually attractive. Concerning his external look, he wears fashionable clothing, presents a modern hairstyle, and carries trendy complements, which make him look elegant and tasteful. Finally, these features are the external expression of a healthy, sporty, and successful lifestyle."


9) The representations drawn by the article when focusing on masculinity in Men's Health magazine is presenting different versions masculinity which allow men who live in modern times to relate to a representation shown by the magazine. Also, Men's Health magazine has a strong focus on health and fitness and create the idea that the body is a place that can be considered under male control which creates the idea that the body is a machine that can be made to be faster, stronger and durable. 


 10) I personally think that Men's health have a positive representation that can allow men focus on being the best version of themselves however this can be less focused on by the complete focus on materialistic things. I wouldn't say they have a hyper masculine representation as they allow and represent different representations of masculinity in order to keep up with the ever-changing views on things.

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