Abstract
In 2014, journalist Mark Simpson proposed the term “Spornosexual” a concept to identify an emerging trend in the representation of the male body, applicable to advertising, magazine spreads, different types of TV programming (including reality shows) and film. For Simpson, the concept is an evolution of the 1990s “Metrosexual” and shows representations indebted to the world of sports and (gay) pornography and is characterized for the centrality of an ostentatiously manufactured body. Traditional conceptions of virility and representations of the male body tended to steer clear of passivity. Susan Bordo has described the process through which such narcissistic images of the male body become acceptable in mainstream representation. A generation of young male actors both in Spain and in Hollywood represents this new trend. The text argues the case of Mario Casas. How he is a representative of a new approach to the body and a new personal relationship to the body. It illustrates how this new approach engages with two demographics that are often ignored by mainstream critics: teenage girls and gay male audiences. It also illustrates how Casas negotiates the conflict between the model of masculinity implicit in the perspective of critics and his new adopted persona. The main section of the article focuses on Casas 2009 ransformation from teen icon to spornosexual star, particularly in the film Tres metros sobre el cielo.
Highlights
In 2014, journalist Mark Simpson proposed the term “Spornosexual” a concept to identify an emerging trend in the representation of the male body, applicable to advertising, magazine spreads, different types of TV programming and film
For Simpson, the concept is an evolution of the 1990s “Metrosexual” and shows representations indebted to the world of sports and pornography and is characterized for the centrality of an ostentatiously manufactured body
Susan Bordo has described the process through which such narcissistic images of the male body become acceptable in mainstream representation
Summary
En su libro sobre el cuerpo masculino y sus plasmaciones visuales a finales del siglo XX2, Susan Bordo describe las estrategias y coartadas que tuvieron que ponerse en marcha para hacer cierta imagen del hombre objeto tolerable a partir de los años ochenta. El proceso puede verse como un choque entre esa concepción tradicional e intereses comerciales (básicamente la industria de cosméticos y de ropa, pero se trata de algo mucho más amplio). La sesión fotográfica mencionada es uno entre una infinidad de indicios que demuestran que esa lucha ha terminado: la objetificación y el narcisismo son motivos que dominan ciertas representaciones del cuerpo masculino joven. Más allá de simplemente representar icónicamente un objeto material, el cuerpo produce sus propios significados. Alfredo Martínez Expósito (2011) habla en un capítulo centrado en los
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