A Level Media Studies: With references to your own examples, explore the different representations of masculinity in the media today

With reference to your own detailed examples, explore the different representations of masculinity in the media today.

Masculinity is represented widely by today’s media. Humans and objects can be represented as either masculine of feminine which forms our typical ideas of what it takes to be a man or woman. For example, a man is typically tough, muscular and dominant.

There are very conventional films such as Skyfall and Spectre which are part of the James Bond film franchise which feature a traditional, stereotypical masculine hero. James Bond is a character who is strong both physically and intellectually, who is powerful and attractive, as well as independent. Bond objectifies women in order to assert his masculinity, as his power over his various ‘Bond girls’ makes the audience perceive him as the most important and dominant character. This is a very stereotypical and traditional representation of masculinity because it exaggerates the characteristics associated with men, sensationalising them for the female gaze.

Men’s magazines like ‘Men’s Health’ focus on masculinity and emphasise the importance of having the muscle definition of a professional athlete even though the magazine is aimed at ordinary, white collar male workers. Images in this magazine are usually digitally enhanced or airbrushed to give a false impression that the model looks a certain; it isn’t a surprise that more and more teenage boys have eating disorders as this demographic are more likely to have a preferred reading of the media text. Because of magazines such as Men’s Health, men find it difficult to live up to the expectations placed onto them by the media which can lead to unfortunate consequences. This links to the idea of a ‘metrosexual’ man who is objectified and sexualised which goes against the traditional representations of masculinity.

Another media text that represents masculinity is Mr Selfridge. This period drama is centred on the character Mr Selfridge – a powerful man who has authority and conforms to the stereotypes of a sophisticated gentlemen. This again shows a very traditional representation of masculinity. This positive representation mixed with negative acts like gambling and alcohol shows that masculinity is good and bad. Applying the theory of binary oppositions, Mr Selfridge becomes a man with two sides: a posh and professional side and a negative side who gambles and drinks. This conforms to the traditional representation of men and what the audience are used to seeing. It suggests that men cannot be trusted and may be multifaceted. 

Masculinity still has a very traditional representation within the media. However, men are slowly becoming objectified in magazines and sexualised for the female gaze. Despite this, the representation of men is overly positive. The reason that men are so often represented in a positive way in due to the fact society is dominated by powerful men who have control over what is presented to the public. Living in a patriarchy means that men are in control of the media and have therefore created strong and positive representations of masculinity that support their hegemony.