How media influences the culture of the ideal male body
This essay will utilise two articles from Men's Health Magazine to compare with the Greek aesthetics of the ideal male body. It will discuss how media influences the culture of the ideal male body, contemporary ideals, masculine traits including violence, the phallus and power and will discuss how the articles comply with:"The classical Greek aesthetic constructs an ideal male body which is meant to be admired even feared for its physical strength and power. This idealised body signifies an ability to control both the individual, others and ultimately nature." (Willis 2003)Article 1 - Men's Health Magazine page 3 - the first page you open to when you open the cover.This advertisement reads Are you hardcore? It advertises mega creatine - a sports supplement coined to be able to dramatically increase your strength, recovery and 'whack' on extra muscle size. The picture is of a headless man, showing his muscular chest, shoulders, biceps and torso and holding a dumbbell. The picture is implying use of this supplement will aid in achieving this physique. Article 2 - Men's Health Magazine page 54This advertisement reads Get the edge! It is advertising the sale of a book "The boo
Homosexuality, he sees it as dominating, unemotional and workplace oriented and that it has been tied to family only in terms of how well a man provides for his family. I agree with her analysis that the male body ideal has persisted in western culture and that the articles discussed further back up her theory. Connell in Moon was quoted as suggesting that the most defining aspect of hegemonic masculinity is its rejection of all things, ideas, behaviours, characteristics etc, defined as feminine in our culture. The third image in this article is a man leaning arm over head to one side showing a well sculpted physique. The Phallus, the penis's symbolic "double" signifies generic male superiority (Bordo)The phallus seems most usually to entail power, particularly political-cultural power plus a deep association with masculinity. Thomas claims that men's magazines prey on the insecurities of many men using modern day Adonises with wash board abs, broad shoulders, slim waists and white teeth. The penis is a male sexual organ the phallus is a cultural construct that in a variety of complex representations, stands as a symbolic double for the penis. Typically through media and western culture, the Ideal male body is muscular, tall, good looking, powerful in appearance and in control of his body, others and indeed the environment through his body, attitude his 'status' in society. The articles did not show the men's faces thereby portraying unemotional images, rather they display dominance and control through their bodies. The Western cultural ideal of the phallus represents attributes of the traditionally defined masculinity: hardness, invulnerability, physical mastery and dominance. In the arena of sports is where the most common ideal male body can be found Drummond 2003 states that men construct their masculine identity through sport and traditional masculinized sport are those that champion power, aggression and violence and sport plays and important role in the construction of masculine identity.
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