The Joy of Pecs: Representations of masculinities in fashion brand advertising

Abstract

Abstract The commercial representation of men’s bodies is part of a longer history that has been particularly intensive in the post-war years and especially in the last two decades. Popular brands Jockey, Bonds, Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren, Abercrombie & Fitch, BVD (Bradley, Voorhees and Day) Munsingwear and Aussie Bum have internationally dominated fashion media over the last century with campaigns that have incorporated cultural ideals of men’s lifestyles using unclothed images and infusing them with branding messages, in effect communicating to male consumers expectations of how they should look. Through the context of market position, fashion promotion and using various visual techniques, the male body has become a product that has been marketed and objectified, and a hyperrealized image of global cultural proportions. This article reflects the cultural approach of the market position and brand management by tracing the representation of the male body in fashion brand promotions, fashion spreads and advertisements. By analysing the male body as a discursive effect created at the intersection of consumption, advertising and visual communication, the major goal of this article is to demonstrate how advertisers construct and represent the male torso to communicate culturally sanctioned meanings about desirable bodies and idealized masculine features to consumers.