Men's Lifestyle Magazines Research Articles

Fit for Motherhood: The Glocalization of Maternal Physical Activity in Mother and Baby Magazine

Fit for Motherhood: The Glocalization of Maternal Physical Activity in <i>Mother and Baby</i> Magazine

"Becoming the man you always wanted to be": Exploring the representation of health and masculinity in Men's Health magazine.

Men's health and lifestyle magazines are a popular medium through which hegemonic ideals of masculinity are displayed, influencing the way men behave and think about health (Crawshaw, 2007, Soc Sci Med, 65, 1606; Stibbe, 2004, Men Masc, 7, 31). This study conducted a critical discourse analysis of Australia's most popular men's health and lifestyle magazine, Men's Health, in order to understand how health is presented to men. Six issues were examined, from April 2016 to September 2016. Three themes supporting hegemonic masculine discourses were revealed: a forged physique, (hetero)sexual prowess and career dominance. A fourth theme, the new man, was also identified revealing a shift in attitudes towards nutrition and style. Despite this shift in the representation of masculinity, hegemonic ideals remain dominant in the construction of Australian masculinity in this popular men's health and lifestyle magazine. SO WHAT?: This study highlights the utility of Men's Health magazine in promoting health and brings into question whether the current representation of masculinity works towards improving or decreasing the health of Australian men.

Towards the westernized body: a popular narrative reinforced by men's lifestyle magazines in Indonesia

ABSTRACTThis paper will spotlight changing views with regard to Indonesian men's body aesthetics. It will explore how, in response to discourse contained in lifestyle magazines, the physical bodies of Indonesian men have become the primary mechanism through which to exercise agency. However, many local Indonesian customs consider men's agency to be dependent upon their ability to control bodily desire. The paper aims to give an overview of how modernization and westernization as contemporary conditions in postcolonial Indonesia serve as the background to the narratives provided by men's lifestyle magazines. In order to provide an insight into how modern white narratives are valued in Indonesia, I will begin by examining the history of Dutch colonialism as a basis for racial classification. Proceeding, I will discuss how that history relates to contemporary practices of social stratification: the belief that being married to a westerner will bring perfection to one's descendants’ genes; the trend of consuming special vitamins and formulas that will change particular parts of the body; and the assumption that having western genes will bring both success and wealth. Moreover, I will also discuss the ways in which the magazines define the “ideal” body, and how that “ideal” body thus becomes the hegemonic body – one that functions as the gateway for men to achieve a good life.

Men's Objectifying Media Consumption, Objectification of Women, and Attitudes Supportive of Violence Against Women.

A recent White House Council Report on Women and Girls called attention to sexual assault on college campuses and encouraged continued research on this important public health problem. Media that sexually objectify women have been identified by feminist scholars as encouraging of sexual assault, but some researchers question why portrayals that do not feature sexual assault should affect men's attitudes supportive of violence against women. Guided by the concepts of specific and abstract sexual scripting in Wright's (Communication Yearbook 35:343-386, 2011) sexual script acquisition, activation, application model of sexual media socialization, this study proposed that the more men are exposed to objectifying depictions, the more they will think of women as entities that exist for men's sexual gratification (specific sexual scripting), and that this dehumanized perspective on women may then be used to inform attitudes regarding sexual violence against women (abstract sexual scripting). Data were gathered from collegiate men sexually attracted to women (N=187). Consistent with expectations, associations between men's exposure to objectifying media and attitudes supportive of violence against women were mediated by their notions of women as sex objects. Specifically, frequency of exposure to men's lifestyle magazines that objectify women, reality TV programs that objectify women, and pornography predicted more objectified cognitions about women, which, in turn, predicted stronger attitudes supportive of violence against women.

1970s gay liberationist ideas: the challenge to reach readers

Influenced by the political left and feminism, gay liberationists were prominent early publishers of Australian gay magazines in the 1970s. They saw the circulation of ideas as crucial to the gay rights campaign but struggled with the financial cost of publishing, surviving on fundraising and organisational support. This article considers the different pathways taken by two key 1970s gay liberationist magazines to permanently resolve this financial tension: one stayed true to its original political charter and closed down, while the other transformed itself into a populist gay men's lifestyle magazine and reached more paying readers and advertisers.

The Portrayal of Elements Historically Associated with Masculine and Feminine Domains in Lad and Metrosexual Men’s Lifestyle Magazines

Differing presentations of masculinity exist that appear to differentially embody elements historically associated with masculine and feminine domains. Metrosexuality, for instance, has been associated with more feminine characteristics and lifestyle choices (Simpson, 1994a) while laddist masculinity was presumed to be more traditionally masculine given its focus on bachelorhood and hedonistic consumption. The present research investigated representations of stereotypical or hyper-masculine (sports, strength, cars) and stereotypical or hyper-feminine (fashion, beauty, dieting) content in a metrosexual and laddist men’s lifestyle magazine. Qualitative and quantitative analyses suggest that the magazines differed in the amount of hyper-masculine material related to sports and strength, but not cars, with laddist magazines portraying this information more than metrosexual magazines. In terms of stereotypical or hyper-feminine material, both laddist and metrosexual magazines depicted fashion frequently, but the metrosexual magazines did portray this information significantly more often. The magazines did not differ in the frequency of portrayals of beauty or dieting; however they did differ in how they portrayed these topics. Implications for masculinities are discussed.

“New Man” and “New Lad” with Chinese Characteristics? Cosmopolitanism, Cultural Hybridity and Men's Lifestyle Magazines in China

In China, although “general interest” magazines can be said to have existed during the Maoist and early post-Maoist eras, Western-style magazines that promote a consumerist lifestyle came into being and gained widespread popularity only in the past two decades. Among them, an entire group of titles consists of localised Chinese editions of internationally popular lifestyle magazines. This paper explores the interaction of global trends and influences with local cultures and realities in men's lifestyle magazines published in China. In particular, it discusses the Chinese “variations” of the Western “new man” and “new lad” types of male image. Despite the superficial similarities with Western images, critical readings and quantitative studies of the verbal and visual content of these magazines reveal some distinctive “Chinese” features. As a form of popular culture, the men's lifestyle magazine lends expression to the fantasies, desires and needs of “new rich” men in China. With consumerism and aspirationalism at the centre of its ideological construction, it serves as an interesting site of negotiation between what Lisa Rofel calls the two aspects of “cosmopolitanism with Chinese characteristics” – namely, a self-conscious transcendence of locality and a domestication of cosmopolitanism by way of renegotiating China's place in the world.

‘Papa don't preach’: Fatherhood in a South African Christian men's magazine

The first international men's lifestyle magazine to enter South Africa was Men's Health in 1997, followed by FHM and GQ. Not unlike their international counterparts, these magazines have been extolled in the publishing sector for their commercial success and disparaged in academia for their potentially negative influence on the sensitive gender politics of the new South Africa. In 2001, a new breed of men's lifestyle magazine emerged in South Africa: one that catered to a particular cultural or racial niche market that presumably was not satisfied by the generalising tone of the mainstream men's lifestyle magazines. The Afrikaans Christian magazine MaksiMan is the subject of this analysis, as much for what it signifies in terms of the presence of vernacular masculinities in post-apartheid South Africa as for the texture that it brings to the genre of men's lifestyle magazines. Mainstream men's magazines typically refuse to include reference to the role of father that certain of their readers might occupy. MaksiMan breaks this trend through articles and features centred on fatherhood. This article comprises an analysis of the representation of fatherhood within this niche men's lifestyle magazine.

Esquire Mans the Kitchenette

In this article, I examine representations of masculinity and domestic cooking in Esquire's “Man the Kitchenette,” a cooking column for men published in the 1940s. Using qualitative content analysis, I examine how these representations recoded an interest in food and domestic cooking (as well as other traditionally “feminine” interests) as appropriately masculine, nurturing the development of the positive image of the “male consumer” and paving the way for the emergence of future men's lifestyle and culinary magazines.

Magazine and reader constructions of ‘metrosexuality’ and masculinity: a membership categorisation analysis

Since the launch of men's lifestyle magazines in the 1980s, academic literature has predominantly focused on them as a cultural phenomenon arising from entrepreneurial and commercial initiatives and/or as cultural texts that proffer representations of masculinity such as ‘new lad’ and ‘new dad’. This paper steps aside from the focus on culture and, instead, treats magazine content as a discursive space in which gender and sexuality are oriented to, negotiated, and accomplished within and beyond the magazine itself (i.e. through readers' responses). Specifically, membership categorisation analysis is deployed to explore how the relatively new (and perhaps alternative) category for men – ‘metrosexual’ – is presented and received. Our analysis suggests that masculinity concerns are central in debates about ‘metrosexuality’, with self-identified ‘metrosexuals’ invoking heterosexual prowess and self-respect on the one hand, and critics (e.g. self-identified ‘real men’) lamenting ‘metrosexuality’ for its perceived effeminacy and lack of authenticity on the other. Implications for understanding contemporary masculinities are discussed.

Masculine sexuality: A critical discourse analysis of FHM

This article aims to investigate the linguistic construction of gender ideology in the men's lifestyle magazine For Him Magazine (FHM), by investigating its approach to masculine sexuality. A critical discourse analytic (CDA) framework, based on Fairclough (2003), as well as Kitis and Milapides (1997), was used to qualitatively analyse two articles on sex. The findings suggest that magazines like FHM approach sexuality as a test of men's masculinity without paying attention to the relationship in which sex occurs. However, when confronted by readers’ personal questions, this approach is altered in order to acknowledge the importance of such relationships. One consequence is that the importance of gaining women's consent before engaging in sexual experiments is highlighted.

“Gay or not?!”: Gay men, straight masculinities, and the construction of the Details audience

This article examines representations of gayness in Details since the magazine's transformation from a gay-associated style publication to a men's lifestyle magazine targeting straight men. Whereas queer communication scholars have shown gayness is often used to demarcate differences between gay and straight masculinities to make domestic consumption a “masculine” practice for straight men, I argue Details also utilized gayness to construct differences between *straight* masculinities. These differences allowed Details to distinguish itself from competitors, using gayness to construct new male audiences around masculinities previously ignored in the men's magazine market and legitimize them as “authentic” straight identities. This case is significant for the study of consumer masculinities and male-targeted media, asserting the relationship between gay men and straight consumption must be theorized as a dynamic and discursive pattern of gender relations.

CONSUMPTION, CLASS FORMATION AND SEXUALITY: READING MEN'S LIFESTYLE MAGAZINES IN CHINA

The construction of consumerist middle-class masculinities in post socialist China is examined by focusing on a new form of popular culture and consumerism, men's lifestyle magazines. It is mentioned that masculinities in contemporary Chinese society must be examined in the context of social stratification and class formation.

Visual representation, editorial power, and the dual ‘othering’ of black men in the South African gay press: The case of Gay Pages

This article considers some of the ways in which black gay men are marginalised within the queer community and have limited ‘visibility’ in mainstream queer visual culture. The formation of a minority within a minority (or the ‘other’ Other) is ultimately what the article sets out to expose. Thus, we argue that images of black gay men are far less ubiquitous than, for example, those of white, male and middle-class gay men. In order to illustrate this, a purposive sample from the South African gay men's lifestyle magazine Gay Pages is considered and critiqued. We argue that the visual mode of Gay Pages gives the impression of promoting a hegemonic gay male identity. This identity appears to be ‘natural’, but is in fact one-sided and stereotypical, as are most cultural constructions and representations. The narrow and limited representation of gay men endorses an exclusive, homogenous and inaccurate portrait of the queer constituency (in the minds of heterosexual and gay South Africans alike) and suggests the question that leads this investigation: If ‘belonging’ is articulated through the consumption of queer culture, what then of those queers who do not fit the ‘mould’ standardised by mainstream gay print media? This exploration of queer visual media deals not only with that which is frequently represented (white homomasculinity), but also, more significantly, with that which is not (black homomasculinity).

Promoting Sexy Images: Case Study Scrutinizes Maxim's Cover Formula for Building Quick Circulation and Challenging Competitors

SUMMARY Maxim features a scantily dressed woman on its cover each month, persuading readers to buy its erotically branded magazine with a repetitive cover formula. Based on descriptive and ethnographic analyses, this exploratory case study addresses Maxim's cover formula and the competitive response from other men's lifestyle magazines. The formula has influenced several new men's magazines, and Maxim's success tempted at least one existing men's magazine to switch its own identity to the lad-mag style, but without Maxim's success. The predictable formula presented complex challenges for men's titles, in terms of creating brand identity, building circulation, and maintaining advertising revenue.

Konstruování maskulinity v časopisech životního stylu pro muže

Konstruování maskulinity v časopisech životního stylu pro muže

Book Review: Masculinity and Men's Lifestyle Magazines

Book Review: Masculinity and Men's Lifestyle Magazines

The Differential Effects of Exposure to “Youth-Oriented” Magazines on Adolescent Alcohol Use

This study examines the effects of exposure to “youth-oriented” magazines on normative beliefs about teenage drinking, drinking expectancies, and drinking frequency during the past 30 days among a group of 972 seventh- and eighth-grade students from two Western U.S. states. Three magazine categories were considered: music/entertainment, sports, and men's lifestyle. Structural equation modeling was used to test the simultaneous influences (direct and indirect) of magazine exposure, religiosity, parental drinking, and the number of best friends who drink on the three outcome variables (normative beliefs, expectancies, and current drinking). Exposure to each magazine type was tested in a separate model. Men's lifestyle magazine reading frequency was positively associated (both directly and indirectly) with all three outcomes. Music and entertainment magazine reading was positively linked to normative beliefs and drinking expectancies, but was unrelated to drinking frequency in the past 30 days. Sports magazine reading was unrelated to the three outcomes.

Introduction: Masculinity and men's Lifestyle Magazines

Introduction: Masculinity and men's Lifestyle Magazines

In Search of the ‘Mysterious’ Australian Male: Editorial Practices in Men's Lifestyle Magazines

The men's lifestyle magazines FHM (For Him Magazine) and Ralph are a significant presence in the Australian market, and both target a specific readership of young, heterosexual men. My central research question concerns how desired audiences are constructed or imagined at the ‘front end’ of magazine production. One of the major tasks of the editors and publishers of these magazines is to access, and compete for, an audience. This paper aims to examine the contradictions apparent in the editorial practices of defining or envisioning an audience for Ralph and FHM. To understand the process of how they produce the magazines, I examine the editorial staffs' conceptions of the ‘audience’; the ways in which it is created and for what purposes, as well as the terms used to describe this integral part of the industry. How the audience is defined and constructed highlights how contradictions, creativity and constraint operate in defining the audience.