Article

An Analysis of Hyper-Masculinity in Magazine Advertisements

Springer Nature
Sex Roles
Authors:
To read the full-text of this research, you can request a copy directly from the authors.

Abstract

Hyper-masculinity is a gender-based ideology of exaggerated beliefs about what it is to be a man. HM consists of four inter-related beliefs, namely toughness as emotional self-control, violence as manly, danger as exciting, and calloused attitudes toward women and sex (Zaitchik & Mosher 1993). Adherence to HM is linked to a host of social and health problems in North America, such as dangerous driving and violence toward women (Parrot & Zeichner 2003). Advertising is believed to play a role in constructing hyper-masculinity (Kilbourne 1999). In this study, eight U.S. men’s magazines published in 2007–2008, differentiated by readership age, education, and household income, were analyzed for hyper-masculine depictions in their advertisements. Using a behavioural checklist with good inter-rater reliability, it was found that 56 % (n = 295) of 527 advertisements depicted one or more hyper-masculine beliefs. Some magazines depicted at least one hyper-masculine belief in 90 % or more of advertisements. In addition, reader age, education, and income were all inversely related to the prevalence of hyper-masculine beliefs, with HM depictions presented more often in advertisements targeting young, less educated, and less affluent men. Implications of these findings for the well-being of men and society are discussed.

No full-text available

Request Full-text Paper PDF

To read the full-text of this research,
you can request a copy directly from the authors.

... Characters reflecting attributes of hegemonic masculinity tend to be visible in advertising targeting the male market. Vokey, Tefft, and Tysiaczny (2013) analyzed eight U.S. magazines targeting different ages of male readers and revealed that two "hypermasculine" characteristics were particularly present: danger as exciting and toughness as emotional self-control. In a similar vein, Smith (2005) found that the campaign of a top-selling brand of bourbon targeting the male market reinforced "traditional" masculinity. ...
... Although it does not explicitly reveal that it targets a gender-specific audience, much of the commercial reflects the attributes of hegemonic masculinity as identified in prior research (Alexander, 2003;Smith, 2005;Vokey et al., 2013). The commercial contrasts two expressions of masculinity by depicting two groups of men, one that conforms to hegemonic masculinity and one that does not. ...
... Programming (Götz, 2008;Kirsch & Murnen, 2015;Leaper et al., 2002;Sink & Mastro, 2017) and commercials (Fowler & Thomas, 2015;Lewin-Jones & Mitra, 2009;Merskin, 2008;Nassif & Gunter, 2008;Scharrer et al., 2006) that young people may encounter through media use can contain stereotypes and/or narrow representations associated with masculinity. Indeed, commercials, especially, may advance a form of "branded masculinity" (Alexander, 2003) that reflects dominant or hegemonic expressions (Smith, 2005;Vokey et al., 2013), and even nonhegemonic masculinity depicted in media texts can reinforce rather than challenge dominant norms (Hatfield, 2010;Myers, 2012). Given that older children and adolescents still encounter commercials in their use of contemporary media forms (Coates et al., 2019;Harris & Kalnova, 2018), encouraging young people's critical analysis of representations of various depictions of masculinity via their responses to the truck commercial at the center of the current analysis is an important pursuit. ...
Article
Full-text available
Media literacy education (MLE) can advance the capacity to critique gender stereotypes in the media. Yet there is little, if any, existing MLE research pertaining to media and masculinities, in particular. In this study, 54 sixth-grade students (11-and 12-year-olds) participated in an in-school MLE program on gender and media and responded in writing twice to an open-ended prompt that invited their observations of and opinions about a truck commercial. Emerging themes illuminate students' interpretations of depictions of masculinities, lack of women, and formal features used in the commercial. Comparisons suggest that students generally expressed a deeper analysis and stronger critique of the commercial after MLE participation compared with before. Given heightened attention to social cues about gender among adolescents as well as the presence of narrow representations of masculinity in some media texts, the ability of MLE to foster critical analysis on this topic is socially significant.
... In contemporary society, men grapple with a formidable societal pressure that demands adherence to a prescribed standard of masculinity for acceptance. This pressure, as noted by Vokey et al. (2013) [12] , suggests that men must conform to specific ideals to be perceived as manly, creating a restrictive environment that stifles individual expression and authenticity. The Burden of Conforming to Masculinity Ideals: ...
... In contemporary society, men grapple with a formidable societal pressure that demands adherence to a prescribed standard of masculinity for acceptance. This pressure, as noted by Vokey et al. (2013) [12] , suggests that men must conform to specific ideals to be perceived as manly, creating a restrictive environment that stifles individual expression and authenticity. The Burden of Conforming to Masculinity Ideals: ...
... Advertisements as Agents of Socialization: Advertisements play a pivotal role as socializing agents, significantly influencing the development and perpetuation of masculine ideals and norms. Vokey et al., 2013 [12] , argue that these influential messages further engrain the prescribed standard of masculinity, creating a rigid framework that restricts men from embracing a broader spectrum of selfexpression. The portrayal of hyper-masculine stereotypes in media contributes to the cultivation of toxic masculinity, limiting men's freedom to dress and act authentically. ...
... Much of their research has examined female portrayals (Grau and Zotos, 2016;Furnham and Lay, 2018). Of the limited research on male portrayals in advertising, most focuses on advertisements targeting general audiences viewing major television network programs (e.g., Fowler and Thomas, 2015;Gentry and Harrison, 2010) or reading popular magazines (e.g., Kolbe and Albanese, 1996;Vokey et al., 2013). Male portrayals targeting privileged (wealthy and upper-middle class) audiences, such as those in luxury fashion advertising, remains uninvestigated, especially in Asia. ...
... Sociological theories suggest privileged men possess economic and social power that affords them greater freedom to integrate aspects of female and other marginalized groups into hybrid masculinities (Arxer, 2011;Bridges and Pascoe, 2014;Pfaffendorf, 2017). In contrast, men lower in economic and social power respond to their beliefs about failing to meet personal expectations by exaggerating their masculinity (Barber and Bridges, 2017;Connell and Messerschmidt, 2005;Hall, 2015;Holt and Thompson, 2004;Messerschmidt and Messner, 2018;Vokey et al., 2013). However, the scope of this contrast is poorly understood because hybrid masculinity research has focused almost exclusively on young, privileged U.S. Caucasian males (Bridges and Pascoe, 2014;Hrynyk, 2015;Pfaffendorf, 2017). ...
... Due to their symbolic, innovative, and expressive aspects, luxury fashion clothing and beauty products are vital to constructing consumers' selfimage (Seo and Buchanan-Oliver, 2015;Tuu et al., 2017;Ko et al., 2019). Their importance to self-image construction encourages luxury fashion marketers to depict human models with meanings consumable through product purchase or use (Sharif et al., 2018;Trampe et al., 2011;Vokey et al., 2013). Symbolic meaning, such as that associated with a specific masculinity, is central to a luxury brand's appeal (Ko et al., 2019;Seo and Buchanan-Oliver, 2015), especially among young East Asian consumers (Tangsupwattana and Liu, 2017). ...
Article
Full-text available
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate masculinity in Chinese social media marketing for global luxury fashion brands through two studies. Design/methodology/approach Study 1 compares physical characteristics of males in visually oriented US (Instagram) and Chinese (Weibo) social media posts promoting global luxury fashion magazine brands (e.g. Vogue, Cosmopolitan, GQ and Esquire ). Study 2 examines the prevalence of and Chinese consumers’ responses (reposts, comments and likes) to different masculinities depicted in luxury fashion brand-sponsored Weibo posts. Findings Male portrayals for Chinese audiences feature more characteristics associated with emerging East Asian hybrid masculinities – “Little Fresh Meat” (LFM) and “Old Grilled Meat” (OGM) – than associated with global or regional hegemonic masculinity (i.e. the scholarly Wén and action-oriented Wu). Wén remains common in social media posts for luxury fashion goods, but LFM and OGM engender more consumer responses. Practical implications Chinese luxury fashion marketing depicts masculinity more similarly to other East Asian marketing than to Western marketing. Some luxury fashion brands are struggling for acceptance among Chinese youth. Luxury fashion marketers should incorporate hybrid rather than hegemonic masculinities to prompt more favorable responses among Chinese consumers, especially younger female target markets. Originality/value Growing female occupational and consumer power and shifting male employment from blue-collar to white-collar jobs have influenced media portrayals of masculinity. Social media marketing for luxury fashion brands demonstrates the prevalence and appeal of hybrid masculinities in China.
... such beliefs include an emphasis on the male sexual experience at the expense of the woman's sexual experience and sexual intercourse is equated with women's sexual dominance. Within this paradigm, sexual intercourse is an aggressive and depersonalized act for men that serves to exert male power and female submission (Vokey, Tefft, & Tysiaczny, 2013). 2. Violent aggression is an acceptable expression of male dominance: this belief reflects the attitude that violence is manly and aggression, verbal and/or physical, is an acceptable method for exerting dominance over other men and women. ...
... The four domains of hypermasculinity combine to legitimize the use of violence against women and are believed to reflect gender role socialization across the lifespan, particularly during childhood. The cultural ideology of hypermasculinity is perpetuated by mass media and reinforces earlier parental socialization by normalizing and promoting hypermasculine behaviors (Vokey et al., 2013). Gender role socialization via multiple pathways engenders conformity to stereotypical masculine behaviors, particularly during adolescence and young adulthood. ...
... Nonconformity to hypermasculine ideals is severely punished via social exclusion, rejection, and/or bullying. Males who demonstrate willingness to engage in aggressive behaviors avoid becoming the recipients of harassment (Vokey et al., 2013). Previous research with young adult males has found that hypermasculinity is associate with increased risk-taking behaviors such as large number of sexual partners and substance use (Burk, Burkhart, & Sikorski, 2004), aggression towards men who violate gender norms (Parrott & Zeichner, 2008), and aggression toward women (Seaton, 2007). ...
Chapter
Sexual assault victimization continues to pose a significant public health concern in the United States. National prevalence rates estimate that 19.3% of women and 1.7% of men have been sexually assaulted at some point in their lifetime (Breiding et al., 2014). The high prevalence of sexual assault victimization on college campuses and the extensive psychological consequences associated with sexual assault have garnered increased attention from researchers, policymakers, and the media. Part of the increased media attention in recent years is due to international movements against sexual assault such as #MeToo and the mishandling of well-known cases involving college football teams or fraternities that serve to increase public awareness of the widespread prevalence and far-reaching consequences of sexual violence. The identification of risk factors for sexual violence is fundamental for the development of prevention and intervention efforts. Yet, investigations of preventative methods for sexual assault perpetration have largely focused on victim characteristics and contextual factors. These investigations have yet to lead to a consensus on the optimal approach for sexual assault prevention. Prevention programs borne out of this literature have not undergone rigorous empirical evaluation and are largely ineffective (see Newlands & O’Donohue, 2016 for a review). It may be more prudent to examine perpetrator characteristics that increase the likelihood of sexual violence perpetration. Although such data exist, most focus on perpetrator personality traits, alcohol consumption, and beliefs and attitudes about sexuality. A significantly smaller number of studies have examined the role of hypermasculinity in sexual assault perpetration. Hypermasculinity refers to the exaggeration of male stereotypical behavior such that hypermasculine men engage in callous sexual behavior towards women, endorse beliefs that violence is manly and experience danger as exciting (Mosher & Sirkin, 1984). Hypermasculinity has been found to be associated with endorsement of rape myths and sexual assault perpetration (Locke & Mahalik, 2005; Zinzow & Thompson, 2015). This chapter provides an overview of the theoretical framework of hypermasculinity, identifies the sociocultural correlates of hypermasculinity that are associated with the perpetration of sexual assault, and reviews limitations in the literature as well as promising prevention programs and intervention strategies.
... Class is also relevant, given findings that gay identity privileges middle-class gay people and understandings of sexuality-and that this class bias is reinforced as gayness becomes a lifestyle category (Valocchi, 1999). Given findings that consumption and fulfilling the bread-winner role is integral to the establishment of contemporary masculinity (e.g., Holt and Thompson, 2004) and that working class men are associated with hypermasculinity (Vokey et al., 2013), it is also worth considering how wealth and class may connect to gender management. ...
... Many of the markers of both excessive and inadequate masculinity articulated by respondents do not solely concern gender but instead touch upon other systems of power and inequality as well. For instance, reflecting previous studies finding associations between working class men and hypermasculinity (e.g., Vokey et al., 2013), being a mechanic might, as Will put it, mark him as "too butch," but it also carries working class implications. Building on previous findings that non-heterosexual identities have become defined through middle-class sensibilities (Valocchi, 1999), Will's experience highlights the intermingling of gender and class boundaries. ...
Article
Full-text available
A growing body of scholarship finds that hegemonic masculinity is evolving to produce hybrid masculinities that contain elements of both dominant and marginalized masculinities. Hybrid masculinity theory argues that incorporating marginalized masculinities into the mainstream conceals inequality while continuing to reproduce it. Regarding sexuality, however, the bulk of this research has centered heterosexual men’s perspectives on non-heterosexual masculinities. Instead, I ask: How do non-heterosexual men experience masculinity? Based on interviews with 29 non-heterosexual men, I find pressures to fit within a “goldilocks zone” of masculinity, emphasizing a floor and a ceiling to idealized masculinity. The goldilocks masculinity produced by these bi-directional pressures mirrors and elaborates upon hegemonic masculinity and hybrid masculinity, including emphases on the dominant themes of race, class, and body. I situate goldilocks masculinity as a subtype of hybrid masculinity, while also focusing on how men from the margins simultaneously incorporate and distance themselves from hegemonic masculinity.
... Hypermasculinity is based on the promotion of traits such as aggression and dominance, often physical. In addition to these we have emotional coercion and the devaluation of any elements or characteristics associated with femininity (Vokey et al., 2013). ...
Article
Full-text available
Numerous studies on the popular icon Barbie have focused on the representation of the character Ken. This study aims to investigate the extent of masculinity employed in Greta Gerwig’s blockbuster picture Barbie (2023). I follow the film’s use of post-feminist language to critique hegemonic masculinity’s symbols and discuss theoretical issues such as gender identity crises and gender performativity.
... To understand hyper-masculinity better, it's important to look at what it means. A study by Vokey, Tefft, and Tysiaczny (2013) describes hyper-masculinity as an extreme form of masculinity, made up of beliefs that focus on being tough, violent, and having risky attitudes toward women and sex. Another definition points out how appearance strongly affects the first impressions and expectations people form about someone (Lips, 2005, p. 42). ...
Thesis
Full-text available
This study explores the role of Women Police Stations (WPS) in addressing gender dynamics within law enforcement in India and Pakistan. The underrepresentation of women in policing is a pervasive global issue, linked to gender stereotypes and societal perceptions that position police work as inherently masculine. By examining the implementation of WPS, this paper investigates how these stations function to provide safe spaces for reporting gender-related crimes, while also empowering women within the police force. Drawing from secondary data and relevant literature, the research focuses on the impact of WPS in mitigating gender disparity, with particular attention to how they challenge the entrenched patriarchal structures within law enforcement institutions. In India, WPS has led to increased reporting of crimes against women, though challenges remain, including low prosecution rates and limited representation of women in leadership roles. Conversely, in Pakistan, WPS has been less effective, largely due to patriarchal norms and systemic barriers that prevent female police officers from advancing in their careers. This paper concludes that while WPS presents a promising model for addressing gender dynamics in law enforcement, its success is contingent on broader societal changes and efforts to dismantle patriarchal norms within the police force.
... Appearance-based self-compassion, specifically, has been found to be an important protective factor when an individual experiences a potential threat to body image such as via upward appearance comparisons leading to SPA (Thøgersen-Ntoumani et al., 2017). These types of evaluations and upward comparisons have been shown to occur more frequently for men who lift weights and are frequently exposed to muscular and lean body image ideals such as via peers and social media (Piatkowski et al., 2020Rohlinger, 2002;Vokey et al., 2013), as well as through contemporary fitness microcelebrities and gurus (Gibbs & Piatkowski, 2023). Recent research has revealed that women who engage in body enhancement strategies such as AAS use for muscularity also experience mental health concerns linked to their bodies (Piatkowski, Lamon, et al., 2023;. ...
Article
Full-text available
This study explores the growing trend of pursuing an ideal muscular physique, which escalates the risk of body image issues and engagement in enhancement behaviours. Employing a mixed-methods approach, we examined the psychosocial dynamics surrounding these ideals and experiences, particularly the use of performance and image-enhancing drugs (PIEDs). The quantitative arm of the study, involving 131 participants of mixed gender, investigated associations between social physique anxiety (SPA), drive for muscularity, male body attitudes, appearance comparisons, and self-compassion. Concurrently, qualitative interviews with 16 individuals engaged in PIEDs interrogated the reasons for body image concerns and adaptive coping strategies around increasing body appreciation. The study emphasises the convergence of muscular ideals across genders and advocates for continued research in this domain.
... /fsoc. . suppression, and the devaluation of characteristics and behaviors perceived as feminine (Vokey et al., 2013). It often suggests a firm belief in male superiority and performances of stereotypical male gender roles associated with power, dominance and control which contribute to issues such as sexism, misogyny, and violence against women (Alonzo and Guerrero, 2009). ...
Article
Full-text available
Scholars have consistently explored Barbie in various contexts, often subjecting it to critical analysis. However, the release of the Barbie 2023 Movie has shifted our focus from Barbie to Ken, marking the first occasion when Barbie has provided a platform for exploring representations of masculinity both in the patriarchal society and in popular culture. This article aims to investigate how the 2023 Barbie movie deconstructs symbols of hegemonic and toxic masculinity and its performative aspects within the framework of (post)feminist discourse. It examines how the movie satirically employs symbols of traditional, hegemonic masculinity to challenge normative masculine ideals prevalent in our patriarchal society. The movie -through its popularity- significantly contributes to mainstream postfeminist media culture, creating a platform where discussions on masculinity, its associated crises, and the broader gender wars, along with their existential ramifications, become unavoidable. Exploring the ways masculinities are problematized and contested within postfeminist media culture, I argue that Ken, within this narrative, is positioned as the latest icon of postfeminist masculinity, symbolizing a critical juncture in the ongoing discourse on gender roles and identities.
... Analysis of the online materials was iterative and thematically focussed; influenced by the six-stage thematic-content-analysis method popularized by Braun and Clarke (2019) and Smith et al. (1992). This methodology has previously shown validly in analyzing textual conversations relating to men's masculinities and physicality, and specifically perceived 'hypermasculine' bodily goals (Ricciardelli, Clow, and White 2010;Vokey, Tefft, and Tysiaczny 2013). Firstly, several passes of the raw text data were manually completed to develop familiarization. ...
Article
Full-text available
The last twenty years has seen increases in nonprofessional sportspersons using anabolic-androgenic steroids (AAS). Although some women use AAS, most users are men. Few studies examine men, masculinities and AAS. Of the limited studies available, many link a ‘hegemonic masculinity’ with men’s AAS use; adopting a singular identity perspective and generalizing ‘steroid use.’ However, bodybuilding is diverse, often encompassing different goals surrounding muscularity, size, weight and appearance – thus, bodybuilding identities are unlikely to be singular. This research questions narrow perspectives, developing an in-depth investigation that recognizes AAS use can be complex and depict multiple performance-enhancing drugs and usage routines. This study conducted a detailed thematic-content analysis of 351 user- postings from eight pro-AAS online discussion boards to examine linkages between men’s understandings of masculinity, male physicality, and how conceptualizations influence different trends for using AAS. Research applied R.W Connell’s hegemonic masculinity as a theoretical lens to interpret findings. Findings uncovered multiple and diverse notions of bodybuilding masculinity linked to three distinct notions of identity connecting different AAS practices (The Nattys, The Cyclers, and The Blasters-and-cruisers). An analysis of interactions between different bodybuilding identities is presented and discussed, alongside implications for masculinities theory and further study in this emerging but important field.
... Before I look closely at how the film, and in particular Chris, comes to represent something so important to the dialogue around progressive gender representation in film, it is important to contextualise and explicate the concept of hyper-masculinity. If 'hyper-masculinity is a gender-based ideology of exaggerated beliefs about what it is to be a man' (Vokey, Tefft & Tysiaczny, 2013) then what are these beliefs and how can they be so problematic? Mosher and Sirkin's 'hyper-masculinity inventory" (Mosher & Sirkin, 1984) outlines toughness, violence, and 'calloused attitudes towards women and sex' as definitive and identifiable aspects of hypermasculinity. ...
Article
Full-text available
Ben Wheatley's Sightseers is a brutally violent and darkly comic addition to British cult cinema, satirising British values, habits, and relationships with the humble caravan at the centre of its world. However, Wheatley's third feature warns against the harmful effects of not conforming to masculinity. Performance, recognition, and hegemonic masculinity enter this conversation. This paper critically analyses how Sightseers uses frame, sound, character, and narrative to condemn white, working-class toxic masculinity in a regional context. The true cautionary tale is in the numerous and savage manifestations of violence and hyper-masculinity. Sightseers is a cult film that shows the harmful effects of masculinity and societal demands, but it neglects alternative masculinities, which may help us comprehend gender construction and portrayal. This research relies on scholars like Jack Halberstam who discuss alternative and subordinate masculinities. How do these affect viewers? This dissertation concludes by considering how current cult cinema may offer alternatives to "heroic" masculinity or "real thing" as Halberstam calls it. Whether it's Everything Everywhere All at Once's "gentle masculinity" or other constructions, different spaces will hopefully continue to reshape our understanding of masculinity and the positive role these on-screen representations can play in this ideology evolution.
... Additionally, the men who are internalising these hypermasculine traits are prone to mental disorders due to internalising mechanisms like emotional suppression, inability to express vulnerability, inability to lead meaningful relationships and decreased willingness to seek help (Courtenay,2000). Advertisements accentuate the hypermasculine values in the society and use them to sell products aimed at men and, in essence, have huge, harmful consequences (Kervin, 1990;Kilbourne;2000;Vokey et al., 2013). ...
Article
Full-text available
Skewed media representations can perpetuate unjust social norms and promote public hostility due to the power media wield in shaping collective identities and intergroup attitudes. This article is based on a larger educational intervention component that tries to create awareness about intersectional inequalities in the Indian context. This educational intervention was carried out in four graduate-level educational institutions in the state of Kerala, India. The component that is focused in this article explores and critically describes the content and main narratives in popular magazines to understand the various gender-discriminatory elements embedded within them. Discourses that happened as part of the pedagogy constitute the qualitative data. While there are several instances of scholars conducting media literacy interventions in multiple ways, assessments that use qualitative data are limited. This article hopes to bridge that gap. The findings show that the learners will be better equipped to examine personal and social beliefs about gender and sexuality by dissecting the implicit and explicit content of the magazines.
... Hypermasculinity is understood to represent a pattern of exaggerated male stereotypical behavior, including an emphasis on physical strength, aggression, and sexuality, while expressing toughness and self-control (Zaitchik & Mosher, 1993). Hypermasculine depictions of men are widely displayed in popular television and film media (Vokey, Tefft, & Tysiaczny, 2013). Hypermasculinity also demonstrates a significant association with rape myth endorsement (Locke & Mahalik, 2005;Zinzow & Thompson, 2015), suggesting that it is likely to have an intersecting role which serves to increase proclivity to rape. ...
Chapter
Full-text available
The Integrated Model of Sexual Assault and Acquaintance Rape is a multifactor theory of prevention which integrates mutually reinforcing mechanisms that work together to both reduce an offender’s risk of perpetrating and to empower individuals in the perpetrator’s environment to take action to prevent violence. This chapter reviews the development of the model and augments the model to include new developments in research. Given the accumulation of research describing the role of hypermasculinity in sexual aggression, it is now prudent to ensure that programs attend to male socialization into masculine norms and how men perceive these norms. Furthermore, as it is now recognized that successful programs can engage men as allies in sexual assault prevention through bystander intervention training, prevention approaches can benefit from addressing ways in which perceptions of social norms influence helping behavior. Lastly, situational characteristics such as alcohol use as well as an individual’s use of risk reduction and resistance tactics also warrant greater attention in prevention approaches. The chapter concludes with a review of the implementation of the Integrated Model of Sexual Assault and Acquaintance Rape in prevention programs for men, as well as best-practice recommendations for program facilitation.
... The mass media does not merely reflect masculine norms and stereotypes, it also shapes social reality by projecting what is desirable and normative for men (Moss, 2012). A content analysis of advertisements in U.S. men's magazines found that 56% depicted at least one hypermasculine ideology (i.e., exaggerated messages about what it means to be a man; Vokey et al., 2013). Nevertheless, it would be an oversimplification to assume that the producers of mass media are This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers. ...
Article
Full-text available
Despite advances in the psychological study of masculinities, the term “masculinity” or “masculinities” has been conceptualized differently across diverse theoretical approaches. To address these challenges, this article seeks to integrate the myriad ways that masculinities have been studied by scholars. Drawing on scholarship from various fields, the authors delineate fived domains of masculinities—self-ascribed, other-ascribed, situational, performative, and macro masculinities. Reflecting an integration of these five domains, masculinities are conceived as the constellation of cultural and individual meanings attached to men and boys that are (a) attributed to the self as well as to (b) people, concepts, and objects; (c) embedded in situational cues; (d) performed as social practices; and (e) distributed through ecological influences. The authors propose a framework that pieces together these domains of masculinities, describes how they differ in their stability and proximity of influence on people’s lives, and explicates their linkages with each other. Finally, the authors explain how the framework and the five domains can guide future psychological research and practice.
... Related to the New Lad is the concept of hypermasculinity, which captures some of the exaggerated ideas of what it means to be a man such as the belief that certain forms of violence are manly and the conception that danger is exciting (cf. Vokey, Teff t & Tysiaczny 2013 ). In their study of hypermasculine portrayals in magazine adverts in the US, Vokey et al. ( 2013 : 564) found hypermasculinity markers to be particularly prevalent in magazines targeting adolescents and young adults from a low socioeconomic background, as they are more likely to employ these markers in order to gain power and resources. ...
... To answer this question, I subject the 1 There is little guidance in the qualitative literature for quantitative benchmarks that should be applied to content analysis from one source or messenger (Mayring, 2014;Stemler, 2000). This is because frequency data in content analysis are more commonly used for comparisons (e.g., Manganello & Blake, 2010;Nimegeer, Patterson, & Hilton, 2019;Vokey, Tefft, & Tysiaczny, 2013)-a method employed in addressing Hypothesis 2. The combination of quantitative techniques with qualitative content analysis is undertaken in addressing Hypothesis 1 as recommended by Neuendorf (2002) to strengthen the claims of validity when the analyses are aligned. Psychology speeches of the preceding two Republican presidential nominees, Mitt Romney and John McCain, to the same analysis. ...
... The heroes in Tamil films are often portrayed as symbols of hyper-masculinity. Hypermasculinity is an exaggeration of stereotypic masculine attitudes which includes strength of the male body, rejection of subjective feminine experiences, a strong belief that violence is an important part of being a man, involvement in high risk activities and emotional toughness (Corprew, Matthews, and Mitchell 2014;Vokey et al., 2013). Most of these elements were present in the songs or in the films related to this song. ...
... (2006) analyzed male images in men's magazine advertising and concluded that men often appear to be "aloof and stoic." Vokey, Tefft, and Tysiaczny (2013) studied four interrelated hypermasculine beliefs, namely toughness as emotional self-control, violence as manly, danger as exciting, and calloused attitudes toward women and sex, and found substantial prevalence of at least one of the hypermasculine beliefs in the men's magazines. ...
Chapter
This chapter introduces representations of masculinities in men’s lifestyle magazines. Men’s lifestyle magazines even though heterogeneous in its form, and fragmented across space and time, have been associated with the construction of modern masculinity with a distinct focus on consumption, men’s bodies and physical appearance, fashion, sex, and other behaviors. In the last two decades, American and British men’s lifestyle magazines have expanded to other non-Western countries where similar representations of dominant masculinities in the West have been noted raising concerns of globalization of male body and attractiveness.
... All this focus on gender ultimately creates the idea in most of the public that there are two parallel worlds with roles that seem to be clearly defined within society and families. Advertising that constantly associates men with business and success while associating women with maternity or sex will inevitably permeate our perceptions (Gentry and Harrison 2010;Vokey et al. 2013;Zayer and Otnes 2012). The advertising industry has begun to consider this, as evidenced by the fact that increasingly more brands are venturing into different types of ads (Patterson et al. 2009). ...
Article
Full-text available
Advertising is a booming activity both in the physical realm and on the Internet. Online advertising is growing and is subject to legal standards, although some self-imposed ethical standards for the industry are needed. This has been called self-regulation. This article examines the important role that self-regulation (in the form of ethical standards) can play in addressing advertising that uses degrading and discriminatory images of women that compromise their dignity. Sexist advertising is a reification of women—stereotypes and sexist social models—that do not convey a realistic image of a woman’s abilities and potential. This article analyzes specific decisions on the subject issued by the Jury of the Spanish Association for the Self-Regulation of Commercial Communication. The Jury’s decisions are based on a code of ethics. The technical expertise and impartiality manifested in its decisions have produced a high degree of credibility and confidence in the organization.
... The extent to which men are resistant or vulnerable to gendered messages is of utmost importance to not only men's lives but also to gender relations within societies. For example, Vokey et al. (2013) find over half of all magazine ads contain one of four "hypermasculine" depictions such as toughness, danger, callousness toward women and/or violence. Thus, examining the ways in which men accept or reject advertising ideals holds profound consumer welfare implications and thereby serves as a focal point for public policy. ...
Article
Purpose Conversations surrounding gender are sweeping the globe as the voices and lived experiences of people are being heard and shared at unprecedented rates. Discourses about gender in advertising are embedded in cultural narratives and legitimatized by a broad system of institutional structures and actors, at both macro and micro/consumer levels. This study aims to explore how consumers (one type of institutional actor) engage in legitimizing/delegitimizing messages of gender in the marketplace. Design/methodology/approach This research draws on a qualitative approach, specifically the use of in-depth interviews with men across three global contexts. Findings This research identifies the ways in which men engage in (de)legitimizing messages of masculinity in advertising such as reiteration, reframing, ascribing to alternate logics and prioritizing personal norms. Research limitations/implications Across three contexts, this research theorizes the (de)legitimization of gender ideals in advertising and situates consumer narratives within broader institutional forces, providing a holistic understanding of the phenomenon. Practical implications Understanding the ways in which individuals either accept or reject gendered ideals in media aids advertising and marketing professionals in tailoring messages that resonate with audiences. Social implications Understanding how individuals negotiate their gender and the messages they deem as legitimate are crucial to understanding gender issues related to consumer welfare and public policy. Originality/value While research has examined advertising practitioners’ views regarding gender from an institutional perspective, research on how consumers construct and maintain the legitimacy of gendered messages in the marketplace is scarce. This research theorizes and illustrates the (de)legitimization of gender ideals across three contexts.
... Although this phenomenon is subject to change through development, masculinity remains strongly policed during the lives of boys and men (Pomerleau, Bolduc, Malcuit, & Cossette, 1990;Sandfort, Melendez, & Diaz, 2007)-through childhood (Blakemore, 2003;Lamb, Easterbrooks, & Holden, 1980), adolescence (Young & Sweeting, 2004), and into adulthood (Davies, 2004;Martin, 1990). This policing occurs through many avenues, including peers (Anderson, 2005;McCann, Plummer, & Minichiello, 2010), parents and caretakers (Ben-Zeev & Dennehy, 2014;Pomerleau et al., 1990), and the media (Ricciardelli, Clow, & White, 2010;Vokey, Tefft, & Tysiaczny, 2013). Men who feel they are failing to meet the standard of traditional masculine norms face stress, impaired cognitive functioning, and other negative psychological outcomes (Funk & Werhun, 2011;Simonsen, Blazina, & Watkins, 2000;Taylor, 2014). ...
Article
Full-text available
Given that the sharing of genital images – colloquially known as “dick pics” – has become a widespread phenomenon, the purpose of the present study was to explore men’s motivations for sending unsolicited images of their genitalia. A secondary purpose was to investigate the personality and sexuality characteristics of men who send dick pics relative to those who do not. 1,087 men completed an online survey, which included a demographic questionnaire and measures of narcissism, exhibitionism, erotophilia-erotophobia, and sexism. Also included was a measure developed specifically for the current study exploring the motivations behind sending unsolicited genital pictures as well as reactions senders hoped to elicit from their recipients. We determined that the most frequently reported motivational category for sending genital images was a transactional mindset (i.e., motivated by hopes of receiving images in return), while the most commonly desired reaction from recipients was that of sexual excitement. Further, we determined that men who reported having sent unsolicited dick pics demonstrated higher levels of narcissism and endorsed greater ambivalent and hostile sexism than their non-sending counterparts. This study is among the first to provide empirical evidence into the motivations and personality characteristics of men who send unsolicited dick pics.
... Although this phenomenon is subject to change through development, masculinity remains strongly policed during the lives of boys and men (Pomerleau, Bolduc, Malcuit, & Cossette, 1990;Sandfort, Melendez, & Diaz, 2007)-through childhood (Blakemore, 2003;Lamb, Easterbrooks, & Holden, 1980), adolescence (Young & Sweeting, 2004), and into adulthood (Davies, 2004;Martin, 1990). This policing occurs through many avenues, including peers (Anderson, 2005;McCann, Plummer, & Minichiello, 2010), parents and caretakers (Ben-Zeev & Dennehy, 2014;Pomerleau et al., 1990), and the media (Ricciardelli, Clow, & White, 2010;Vokey, Tefft, & Tysiaczny, 2013). Men who feel they are failing to meet the standard of traditional masculine norms face stress, impaired cognitive functioning, and other negative psychological outcomes (Funk & Werhun, 2011;Simonsen, Blazina, & Watkins, 2000;Taylor, 2014). ...
Article
Full-text available
Masculine overcompensation—a phenomenon where men react to masculinity threats by endorsing hypermasculine ideals—has been demonstrated among straight men but has yet to be examined among gay men. The current study therefore proposed to examine whether gay men overcompensate similarly to their straight counterparts by providing participants with randomized feedback that threatened their masculinity. Overcompensation was measured in 867 online respondents by administering a series of questionnaires regarding views of pornography, rape, sex roles, and political orientation. Although our hypothesis was not confirmed, results revealed the intersectionality of both sexual orientation and self-reported gender expression regarding the formation of different views and beliefs. Specifically, masculinity was differentially related to homophobic attitudes, more callous views toward victims of sexual assault, and various components of attitudes toward pornography in gay and straight men. Masculine gay males held stereotypically masculine views less strongly than their masculine straight counterparts, providing evidence that gay males adopt a different type of masculinity than straight males—something of a “masculinity lite.” Such findings point to the converging influence of sexual orientation and gender expression as contributors relevant to the attitudes of gay and straight men. This information adds to a growing body of literature on differences between gay and straight men and can be used to inform theory, education, and clinical practice, particularly in settings where men grapple with the implications of their masculinity.
Article
Counter-stereotype advertising is a new phenomenon to portray gender roles in contemporary advertising. Advertisers no longer stick with the traditional portrayals of women but instead promote gender equality in household and office chores. The necessity of teaching household chores to a man is a trend in recent advertisements. The study aims to identify factors affecting young men’s perception towards counter-stereotype gender role portrayals in contemporary Indian advertisements. The sample included 200 young men from central universities located in Delhi. Five factors were identified that affect men’s perception of gender role portrayals. The study will help advertisers understand what men are liking in cross-gender advertisements. On this ground, advertisers can introduce new strategies to attract maximum male audiences.
Article
Full-text available
Ataerkil bakış açısı ve geleneksel cinsiyet rollerinin devamı olarak çocukluktan başlayarak erkekler ve kadınlar farklı şekilde sosyalleşmekte, farklı mesleklere yönlendirilmekte ve farklı roller sergilemeleri beklenmektedir. Kitle iletişim kanallarında yayınlanan reklamlar, toplumsal kültürün kodlarını benimsemekte, mevcut anlayışı pekiştirmekte ve hâkim kültürü tekrarlayarak yeniden üretmektedir. Reklam içeriklerdeki cinsiyetçi kalıp yargılar, toplumsal cinsiyet eşitsizliğinin yansımaları, reklamlardaki tasvirleri, kadınların nesneleştirilmesi ve görünmezliğe maruz bırakılmaları gizli mesajlar ve şifrelerle gösterilmektedir. Reklamlarda hegemonik erkekliğin güçlendirildiğine ve erkeklerin kadınlar üzerindeki gücünün temsillerine sık rastlanırken, kadınların önemsizleştirildiğine, yetersiz temsil edildiğine, seks objesi olarak cinselleştirildiğine ve sürekli olarak göz ardı edildiğine dair bulgulara da sık rastlanmaktadır. Reklamlar, karakterize edilen ve cinsiyet hiyerarşisine uyan kadın ve erkek rolleriyle, toplumsal cinsiyet fikrinin inşası için güçlü bir mecra haline gelmektedir. Bu sorunları ele almak için bu çalışma, televizyonlarda toplumsal cinsiyet rollerinin belirlediği değerleri yansıtan ve cinsiyetçi stereotiplerle eşitsiz söyleme gönderme yapan reklamları göstergebilimsel yöntemle analiz etmektedir. Çalışmada, “Sahibinden.com Demek Aracı Anında Almak, Satmak Kiralamak, Keşfetmek Demek” ve “Civic Type R’ın 2.0L VTEC Turbo motoru ile #GüçSendeArtık” adlı televizyon reklamları Göstergebilimsel analiz metodolojisi kullanılarak çözümlenmektedir. Çalışmanın sonuçları, erkeklere baskın rollerin verildiği, gücün erkeklikle eşitlendiği ve erkeksi üstünlüğün hiyerarşik temsillerle güçlendirildiği, kadınların pasif ve dekoratif nesneler olarak gösterildiği, beceri ve yeteneklerinden çok fiziksel görünümlerine odaklanıldığı, daha kırılgan, daha narin ve daha yumuşak kadın tasvirleri cinsiyet eşitsizliklerinin yaygın olduğu fikrini desteklemektedir.
Article
Full-text available
This study intends to explore and locate the influence of hypermasculinity
Article
Full-text available
Gender, especially female, representation in advertising has been extensively studied in recent decades; however, few studies have looked into male representation in the current media landscape. This article presents a multimodal critical discourse analysis (CDA) study on the contemporary depiction of men in Super Bowl commercials. Focusing on 57 advertisements aired during Super Bowl 2019, the research finds that male representation in TV advertisements is still largely confined by traditional male norms, despite the recent transformation in societal male roles. Besides, the findings also suggest that in negotiation with the rise in female power, male power does not decline, but varies in manifestation. Other findings include the dualistic view in male portrayal, and the normalization of men as the target of jokes. The study serves as an appeal for the reinvention of masculinity in today’s world, and for more visible, creative efforts to challenge traditional male stereotypes in advertising and media.
Article
Societies have relied on different cultural mechanisms to cultivate appropriate and timely models of heroic masculinity, which have included oral tradition, art, epic poetry, and theatre. In contemporary times, cinema has become one of the primary venues to disseminate masculine archetypes throughout a society’s collective conscious. In certain cases, heroic masculinity can be manifested when characters embrace their valor, courage, and physical prowess for the greater good while eschewing the potentially toxic elements of their personalities and powers. In Ryan Coogler’s 2018 film Black Panther, the dichotomy of toxic masculinity and heroic masculinity plays out through a series of ritual combats. Black Panther applies traditional and historically relevant motifs to show how its superhero addresses the question of toxic versus heroic masculinity; and, in the end the film condemns toxic masculinity by portraying a hero who embodies strength, wisdom, and inclusiveness.
Article
Contemporary Tamil films are largely dependent on viewers having prior knowledge of film canon, celebrities, industry happenings and social issues in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Taking the form of complicated chains of intertextuality, self-reflexive moments are fundamental to the ways in which Tamil film narratives, particularly the narratives of mass hero films, are constructed. The 2019 blockbuster film Bigil ( Whistle), a sports film about a male coach leading an all-women soccer team, highlights the extent to which Tamil mass hero films rely on self-reflexive techniques to uphold the portrayal of specific gendered identities. This article examines the ways in which Bigil constructs contemporary Tamil masculinity through both the narrative representation of the central character Michael and the use of cinematic techniques, which privilege and celebrate the star’s (Vijay) relationship with his fans. This article conducts a close textual analysis of key sequences in the film, including song sequences, and interactions between Michael and the women soccer players. In doing so, it unpacks the ways in which the hypermasculinity of the male protagonist fundamentally diminishes the film’s supposedly empowering storyline and the ways in which contemporary Tamil films seek to capitalise on the marketability of such narratives.
Article
Full-text available
The paper examines hyper-masculinity in West African war literature. Masculinity, hegemonic masculinity, and hyper-masculinity are all recurrent themes in Social Sciences and other fields of study but not so much in Literature. The disparity between the war history of West Africa, the few literary works on conflicts in West Africa, and the dearth of literary studies on Africa’s war literature underscore this study. Elma Shaw’s Redemption Road is one of the very few war novels on Liberia’s civil war that spanned from 1989 to 2003 and cost the lives of over 250,000 people. Through the frameworks of postcolonialism and hypermasculinity, this paper analyses hypermasculinity and gender relations in Shaw’s post-colonial war novel. The geopolitical struggles of the post-colony, the emblematic dichotomies of feminine and masculine, and their implications on gender relations in war discourse are centralized. The study demonstrates that faulty childhood context, faulty governance, poor coping strategies, and the fear-loaded cultural oppression of males to show manliness culminate in the trials of men in this fictional post-colonial Liberia. These tensions exacerbate the chaos of war as they render the conflict setting a ripe fodder for violent gender relations. They also engender the inexplicability of femininity in masculinity discourses for the only reason that females are the litmus for the test and measurement of masculinity in many patriarchal cultures as demonstrated in the novel. Thus, the paper reveals insights into why male characters become hyper-masculine in the novel. This revelation facilitates a better understanding of gender issues in war contexts. The conclusion to the discourse is that in fictional war-torn Liberia, excessive masculinity is not a masculine nomenclature but a colonially influenced gender coping parading that has lasting negative implications on gender relations.
Article
Full-text available
The current paper examines how men are socialized to the ideal of fighter masculinity in the context of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), a combat sport mixing ground fighting and striking. Such work is timely because the fighter masculinity ideal underlies consumer cultural fascination with MMA, evident in advertising and branding of numerous fight promotions, lifestyle clothing and accessory brands, news and media channels, and fitness gyms. The theoretical focus on fighter masculinity addresses the paucity of research on how consumer identities are socialized. Utilizing long interviews with male amateur practitioners of MMA, the current research elucidates identity socialization as a multi-influence process that unfolds over an extended period in men's lives. The findings uncover four novel consumer identity socialization processes: awakening, sanctioning, glamorizing, and incorporating, each associated with distinct socialization contexts and influences that enhance the resonance of fighter masculinity. This research also highlights the need to broaden consumer socialization frameworks in line with the post-cognitive notion of cultural enculturation.
Article
Full-text available
This study aims to determine the forms of Online Abuse and Hypermasculinity narratives that occur in Aprilio Perkasa Manganang’s gender identity change case. Online abuse comments are found on @kumparan and @ manganang92 Instagram account. The Hypermasculinity narrative is also found in the text of the video uploaded by @kumparan and some comments on the two accounts. The Online Abuse Wheel concept of Women's Media Center Speech Project is used to see forms of online abuse. The Hypermasculinity narrative is seen based on traditional masculinity stereotypes through gender roles and sex roles. This research uses Teun A. van Dijk's model of Critical Discourse Analysis methods. The result found that online abuse behavior as a whole, belongs to gender-based bullying category, while the Hypermasculinity narrative in the comments and video text uploaded by @kumparan can polarize the discourse of ‘real men’ and ‘feminine men’.
Thesis
Full-text available
Conformity to western socialized norms of masculinity has been associated with negative mental health outcomes and is considered to be a factor in negative social, political, and environmental impacts. Encouraging men to engage in help-seeking behaviors is a frequently noted solution, however, there has been limited prior research identifying methods to achieve this. To fill this research gap, this study consists of two phases; 1). The development and initial validation of the Anchored Interdependent Masculinity Scale (AIMS), 2). Exploring whether a nature-based intervention may prove effective in engaging masculine-identified individuals in help-seeking behaviors. Phase 1 of this project involved testing the AIMS with two studies distributed via Facebook advertising to recruit a geographically representative sample (n1= 186; n2=155) across the United States. Initial analysis found that the AIMS was an effective metric to gauge individual association with masculinity norms compared to current psychometric scales. The second phase involved an initial feasibility study that engaged five participants in a week-long nature-based mindfulness retreat. The second phase used a mixed methods case study assessing a nature-based retreat for teen boys. Findings suggested that a nature-based intervention may; 1.) Shift participant anchoring of masculinity to one of interdependence, 2.) Reduce symptoms of depression anxiety and stress, and 3.) Enhance connectedness to nature. Though initial results are promising, future research is required to further understand the relationship between interdependent masculinity, nature-connectedness, and positive mental health outcomes.
Research
Full-text available
Engaging in sexual activity whilst intoxicated is, by definition, illegal; laws in England and Wales state that alcohol causes individuals to lose the capacity to make such choices. This study investigates whether the belief that consenting to sexual activity whilst intoxicated is acceptable can be predicted through examining demographic, psychological and attitudinal factors. For this study, a sample of 2,878 participants took part in a questionnaire that investigated demographic factors, levels of self-esteem, social dominance, hypermasculinity and their attitudes towards sexual consent whilst intoxicated. Implementing policies in bars, night clubs and other environments to advertise signs of problematic attitudes towards sexual consent that are likely indicators of sexual misconduct could be effective as a means of reducing sexual violence. Further reductions in sexual offences could be made through sex education classes that are well informed on the topic of sexual consent.
Book
Discourses of Perfection explores editorial and advertising discourses related to cosmetic procedures and beauty products and services in UK lifestyle magazines, offering a holistic perspective on the normalisation of cosmetic procedures and the societal context in which particular perceptions have flourished. The book examines the societal climate that contributed to cultural perceptions of the body as object and project, and constructions of masculinities and femininities as context for developments in lifestyle magazines’ content on beauty and cosmetic procedures. Integrating approaches from Critical Discourse Analysis, Thematic Analysis, and Content Analysis, I explore the varying ways in which cosmetic procedures and other beauty products are marketed to different audiences and examines phenomena such as the ‘problem/solution’ rhetoric, and developments in beauty advertising discourse specifically targeted at men. The book also investigates the continuum view of beauty products and cosmetic procedures, and examines the implications of these blurred boundaries for the regulation of the cosmetic surgery industry.
Article
This entry introduces representations of masculinities in men's lifestyle magazines. Men's lifestyle magazines, even though heterogeneous in its form and fragmented across space and time, have been associated with the construction of modern masculinity with a distinct focus on consumption, men's bodies and physical appearance, fashion, sex, and other behaviors. In the last two decades, American and British men's lifestyle magazines have expanded to other non‐Western countries where similar representations of dominant masculinities in the West have been noted, raising concerns of globalization of male body and attractiveness.
Article
Full-text available
The coming out process is an important component of gay identity development (Troiden 1988) because it allows for an opportunity to overcome feelings of shame and increase self-acceptance (Eliason and Schope 2007). Given the importance of being openly gay (compared to not-openly gay), two experiments were performed. Experiment 1 examined whether heterosexual people’s evaluations of gay individuals are influenced by their outness levels. Experiment 1 recruited 295 U.S. MTurk participants who read a vignette describing either an openly gay or not-openly gay individual. Results illustrate that openly gay targets were evaluated more favorably than not-openly gay targets. Experiment 2 examined whether the reasons justifying the level of outness influence such evaluations. Experiment 2 recruited 492 U.S. MTurk participants who read a vignette describing either an openly gay or not-openly gay individual who provided one of three reasons for their outness level: being true to oneself, honesty in a relationship, and societal prejudice. Results illustrate that the more strongly participants endorsed homonegativity, the less favorably they evaluated openly gay targets. Moreover, female participants perceived societal prejudice and honesty in a relationship as better reasons for outness than being true to oneself. Understanding how levels of outness and reasons for outness can influence evaluations by heterosexual people may help gay people navigate social situations and, perhaps, make informed decisions regarding when it is a safe or possibly unsafe to disclose a gay identity.
Chapter
This chapter examines ways in which Quality of Life (QOL) concepts can be integrated into existing marketing coursework (and help educators to develop new courses). The ultimate goal is to increase the likelihood that students would embrace a QOL orientation in the practice of marketing. The introduction section makes the case for the need to inject QOL concepts in marketing pedagogy. This is followed by a discussion of the history of marketing thought. We then discuss QOL-related concepts in marketing thought such as QOL marketing, consumer well-being, and well-being marketing. We then show how the concept of well-being marketing is used to guide marketing mix decisions—product, place, promotion, and price decisions. This is done by contrasting well-being marketing with transactional (or traditional) marketing. We then discuss pedagogical issues in building applications for integrating QOL concepts into coursework. The final section ends with a set of suggestions for moving the acceptance of the broader use of QOL-related concepts in marketing departments, the business academy, and both the broader public and private sectors.
Article
The precarious manhood paradigm posits that many men view their gender as a social status that must be earned and maintained, and can be lost. The present study applied the precarious manhood paradigm to a hypermasculine advertisement. A sample of 208 men was collected online. Using a false feedback paradigm, men’s masculinity was either threatened, or not threatened. The men then viewed one of two commercials. One commercial was a neutral, control advertisement, and one was a hypermasculine advertisement. We also measured participants’ endorsement of masculine norms. Results of a moderated moderation analysis indicated that men in the threat condition were more likely to view the hypermasculine advertisement as being masculinity-enhancing, if they also endorsed the masculine norms of Winning, Heterosexual Self-Presentation, and Power over Women. Results for future research applying precarious manhood to advertising, and implications for clinical work with men, are discussed.
Preprint
Full-text available
This dissertation explores the patterns in which sex appeal and hyper masculinity is used in men's magazine advertisements using semiotic analysis. The aim of the dissertation is to find out common themes in advertisements and association between sex appeal and hyper masculinity. For the purpose of the study, three of the most widely read men's magazines in India have been selected - Man's world, Maxim and GQ India. 20 advertisements are selected from the three magazines and analysed using semiotics. The analysis is broken down into different themes using C S Peirce and Roland Barthes' models on semiotics.
Article
This study examined 681 male athlete features in Details, Esquire, GQ, and Playboy across the first two decades of the 21st century. While White athletes accounted for 283 features and Black athletes 329, the former were featured in 35 of 43 sports observed, compared to just 14 for the latter. In fact, more than 80% of all features on Black athletes focused on basketball, football, and boxing. Latino athletes accounted for 52 of the 681 total features and represented 15 sports, one more than African Americans. Recognizing existing research, the study applies the term mediated sport stacking to the practice of limiting the Black athletic experience primarily to team sports, especially basketball. The article considers the implications of statistical patterns observed and also includes limitations and recommendations for future research.
Chapter
As a highly pervasive and universal channel of communication, the importance of advertising cannot be overstated. Advertising can reinforce existing values and, in certain cases, can also create new values and needs by inculcating new expectations for the consumer and reinforcing certain values and needs inherent in the role of the product. However, the notion of the power of advertisements over the consumer is far-fetched. Consumers are not simply easy to manipulate and non-rational; there are also rational, calculating and efficient consumers who are aware of their aims and wants. This chapter concludes that traditions and social practice can only be suggested to consumers and that they are chosen by consumers either on an informational level or due to an emotional connection, based on their ability to gain information or tap into emotions.
Chapter
Examining and analysing the gendered attitudes and opinions of advertising students cannot occur without considering both the gendered cultures that operate in advertising practice and the advertising texts that the sector produces—both of which will shape their future professional lives. It is crucial, therefore, to survey the key trends in advertising’s representations of femininity and masculinity through the critiques offered by second-wave feminism in the 1970s up to the contemporary period of the 2000s, and also to scrutinise how industry responses to feminism influenced recurring motifs in advertising imagery, particular since the onset of postfeminism in the 1990s. Further discussion must also focus on how creative and cultural workers can be conceptually and theoretical understood, on the hypermasculine working cultures and practices that proliferate in advertising agencies, and on the insight provided by academics into the creative advertising practitioner as a gendered subject. Additionally, attention is afforded to positioning the advertising student as a future practitioner ‘in training’—one who will be tasked with making ethical and moral, as well as professional, decisions with regard to depicting the sexes in particular ways. All of these are given consideration in this chapter before the study’s findings are outlined in the following three chapters.
Article
Issue addressed 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.1, 2 Methods 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. Results 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. Conclusions 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. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Article
Full-text available
O conceito de masculinidade hegemônica tem influenciado os estudos de gênero em vários campos acadêmicos, mas ao mesmo tempo tem atraído um sério criticismo. Os autores traçam a origem do conceito a uma convergência de ideias no início dos anos 1980 e mapeiam as formas através das quais o conceito foi aplicado quando os estudos sobre homens e masculinidades se expandiram. Avaliando as principais críticas, os autores defendem o conceito de masculinidade como fundamental, uma vez que, na maioria das pesquisas que o opera, seu uso não é reificador nem essencialista. Entretanto, as críticas aos modelos assentados em características de gênero e às tipologias rígidas são sólidas. O tratamento do sujeito em pesquisas sobre masculinidades hegemônicas pode ser melhorado com a ajuda dos recentes modelos psicológicos, mesmo que os limites à flexibilidade discursiva devam ser reconhecidos. O conceito de masculinidade hegemônica não equivale a um modelo de reprodução social; precisam ser reconhecidas as lutas sociais nas quais masculinidades subordinadas influenciam formas dominantes. Por fim, os autores revisam o que foi confirmado por formulações iniciais (a ideia de masculinidades múltiplas, o conceito de hegemonia e a ênfase na transformação) e o que precisa ser descartado (tratamento unidimensional da hierarquia e concepções de características de gênero). Os autores sugerem a reformulação do conceito em quatro áreas: um modelo mais complexo da hierarquia de gênero, enfatizando a agência das mulheres; o reconhecimento explícito da geografia das masculinidades, enfatizando a interseccionalidade entre os níveis local, regional e global; um tratamento mais específico da encorporação1 em contextos de privilégio e poder; e uma maior ênfase na dinâmica da masculinidade hegemônica, reconhecendo as contradições internas e as possibilidades de movimento em direção à democracia de gênero.
Article
Full-text available
This article outlines a script theory of macho personality and discusses its potential forensic application in the understanding of criminal behavior, the prediction of future dangerousness, and the treatment of male offenders. The macho personality constellation consists of the view of violence as manly, the view of danger as exciting, callous sexuality toward women, and toughness as self-control. Research using the Hypermasculinity Inventory, developed to operationalize the macho personality construct, indicates that macho men are more likely to act violently toward other men, to act violently and callously toward women, and to seek out dangerous situations. Potential areas of criminal justice application include substance abuse, rape and sexual assault, sexual harassment, gang violence, “lust” murders, and abuse of women and children in general.
Article
Full-text available
Scholars differ in their assumptions about the strength of accumulated evidence concerning social learning theory. One area of potential weakness is a possible dearth of evidence regarding differential reinforcement, the theory's central causal mechanism. We report results from a systematic review of (1) a sample of experimental studies concerning human reinforcement learning as well as (2) criminological/sociological studies cited by proponents as supportive of social learning theory. This review is designed to assess the empirical basis for reinforcement and social learning. It suggests that results of experimental research, though supportive of the reinforcement process, may be limited in applicability to social learning theory's hypotheses regarding differential reinforcement, and direct tests of differential reinforcement hypotheses are rare in the non-experimental literature. We conclude that the strength of social learning theory could be enhanced by more thorough and direct testing of reinforcement hypotheses and we offer suggestions about how to accomplish that.
Article
Full-text available
This article presents a theoretical framework that views interpersonal power as interdependent with broader structures of gender and class inequalities. In contrast to oversimplified, gender-neutral or gender-static approaches, this approach illuminates the ways that structures of inequality are expressed in ideological hegemonies, which enhance, legitimate, and mystify the interpersonal power of privileged men relative to lower-status men and women in general. The discussion centers on how the relational construction of ascendant and subordinated masculinities provide men with different modes of interpersonal power that, when exercised, (re)construct and reaffirm interclass male dominance. Examples of how the construction of femininity can undermine women's interpersonal power and implications for other forms of masculinities and femininities are discussed. Examples are drawn from an analysis of conjugal power in the accounts of remarried individuals' first and second marriages to illustrate the main points of this perspective.
Article
Full-text available
This article reviews recent theoretical and empirical developments that further our understanding of the relationship between socioeconomic disadvantage and violence. Previously hampered by lack of appropriate data and model specification, there has been significant revitalization of research testing cultural and social disorganization theories. Recent studies have examined the role of attitudes in violence, the social–structural sources of those attitudes, and community-level social control processes.
Article
Full-text available
In this article, we employ Spencer's (1995) Phenomenological variant of ecological systems theory (PVEST) as a framework to examine risk and resilience, with a spe- cific focus on understanding hypermasculine attitudes among low-resource urban, adolescent males. In the article, we highlight the need to understand normative hu- man development processes in context and to consider risk and resilience in con- junction with these processes. We describe findings from a study of risk, social supports, and hypermasculinity. In the discussion, we outline the implications of these findings for theory and practice. A comprehensive and nuanced understanding of risk and resilience is among the most salient prerequisites for the application of human development research to policy and practice. The risks that youth face, along with the successful and un- successful strategies they employ to cope with these risks, need to be understood both in relation to their maturation and identity development and as linked to the social, cultural, and historical context in which these youth develop. Throughout the broad, interdisciplinary realm of human development, it is critical to concep- tualize the development of lives in context. It is apparent from research efforts on diverse, urban youth that this is rarely the case as illustrated in the ways that re- searchers formulate questions, identify constructs, theorize about phenomena, in- terpret results, and implement social policy. A myriad of conceptual flaws have
Article
Full-text available
This study examined the influence of hypermasculinity on physical aggression toward women. Fifty-nine men were assigned to either a high- or low-hypermasculine group based on their responses on the Hypermasculinity Inventory. Aggression was measured by the response-choice aggression paradigm, in which participants who reported physical assault toward intimates had the choice to administer shocks or to completely refrain from retaliating to provocation from a fictitious female opponent. Results indicated that high-hypermasculine men displayed higher levels of aggression on the laboratory paradigm and reported to have assaulted women more often than their low-hypermasculine counterparts. These results suggest that hypermasculinity may be a risk factor for perpetrating violence against women and that these men may have a lower aggression threshold. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Article
Full-text available
Research shows that gay and bisexual men, in comparison to heterosexual men, have increased susceptibility to HIV and other negative health conditions, including mental health problems. To understand these disparities, it is important to examine all the risk factors for this population, particularly the gay hypermasculine norms that are theorized to differ from traditional masculine ideology. The present study examined the relation between masculinity and mental health problems in an analysis of the demographic variables (i.e., age, race or ethnicity, and HIV status), mental health symptoms (i.e., depression, anxiety, and hostility), and conceptions of masculinity (i.e., defined as physical appearance, as social behavior, and as sexual behavior) in a sample of 311 gay and bisexual men recruited from New York City gyms. The study found that participants had elevated levels of depression compared to nonclinical norms; men who did not know their HIV status also reported the highest levels of depression. Approximately half of participants adhered to one of the hypermasculine norms, and adherence was uniform across age groups, racial or ethnic groups, and men of different HIV statuses. Significant associations were found among the three mental health symptom clusters and conceptions of masculinity defined as a social behavior and as a sexual behavior. The policy implications of this research indicate that altering the social and sexual masculine norms within the gay male community are an integral part of decreasing the mental health burden of gay and bisexual men, which has been shown to be associated with HIV risky behaviors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Article
Full-text available
This article is intended to serve as a primer on methodological standards for gender scholars pursuing content analytic research. The scientific underpinnings of the method are explored, including the roles of theory, past research, population definition, objectivity/intersubjectivity, reliability, validity, generalizability, and replicability. Both human coding and computer coding are considered. The typical process of human-coded content analysis is reviewed, including the steps of unitizing, sampling, measurement, coder training, reliability assessment, and reportage of methods. Numerous applications to research on gender roles and related issues are reviewed. Practical checklists are offered for content analysis preparation and methodological execution. KeywordsContent analysis–Methodological standards–Gender research–Gender roles
Article
Full-text available
We posited that media images of men influence the gender role attitudes that men express soon after exposure to the images. A total of 212 men (87% European American, 7% Asian or Asian American, 3% African American, and 3% other) viewed magazine advertisements containing images of men that varied in terms of how traditionally masculine vs. androgynous they were and whether the models were the same age or much older than the viewers. Men who had initially been less traditional espoused more traditional attitudes than any other group after exposure to traditionally masculine models, although they continued to endorse relatively nontraditional views after exposure to androgynous models. These findings suggest that nontraditional men''s gender role attitudes may be rather unstable and susceptible to momentary influences such as those found in advertising.
Article
Full-text available
Recent researchers have argued both that there has been change in the way gender is portrayed in television commercials and that gender images have remained stereotypical. Comparing television commercials from the 1950s/early 1960s to commercials from the 1980s, this study explores the issue of how much, if any, change has occurred in gender images. Additionally, the study focuses on the gender display of main characters and the circumstances under which it varies. Results indicate that there has been change in the images of women but not men. The activity that women are pictured in significantly changed from the 1950s to the 1980s, and a change in activity has the strongest effect on the display of gender.
Article
Full-text available
This study examined the roles of cultural (Hofstede’s Masculinity value dimension—i.e., Gender of Nations), country-level (Gender-related Development Index), and execution-level (product type or gender of the typical user) factors in understanding gender-role portrayals in television advertising. Using content analysis methodology, we compared the gender and occupation of the prominent character and the gender of the voice-over across 2,608 television commercials in Brazil, Canada, China, Germany, South Korea, Thailand, and the United States. Results of regression analyses revealed that cultural and country factors predicted the gender of the voice-over only whereas product type consistently conformed with the gender of the prominent character. Overall, males were featured in prominent visual and auditory roles, while females were still portrayed in stereotypical ways. KeywordsGender-role portrayals–Advertising–Masculinity (MAS) cultural value dimension–Gender-related Development Index (GDI)–Cross-cultural research
Article
Full-text available
This article reviews recent theoretical and empirical developments that further our understanding of the relationship between socioeconomic disadvantage and violence. Previously hampered by lack of appropriate data and model specification, there has been significant revitalization of research testing cultural and social disorganization theories. Recent studies have examined the role of attitudes in violence, the social–structural sources of those attitudes, and community-level social control processes.
Article
Full-text available
The aim of this paper is to provide context for the quantitative content analyses of gender roles that are to be included in both parts of this special issue. First, a timeline of historical uses of the content analysis methodology is presented. Second, research objectives that frequently drive content analysis of gender roles are described; these include: to support feminist claims, to compare media with real life, to predict effects on audiences, and to detect effects of media producers on content. Third, previous content analyses published in Sex Roles and other gender-focused journals are reviewed and categorized in terms of medium, genre, time span, gender, and nationality. Finally, contributions of each of the articles in this special issue are outlined.
Article
This paper provides a critical decoding of advertisements in Flex, a popular bodybuilding magazine. The analysis focuses on the visual and narrative representation of the muscular male body and bodywork practices in advertisements promoting bodybuilding technologies. The images of the muscular body found in bodybuilding advertisements encourage masculine self-transformation through bodywork. Moreover, the taken-for-granted representation of the muscular body as natural and desirable is rooted in an ideology of gender difference, championing dominant meanings of masculinity through a literal embodiment of patriarchal power. The foregrounding of the muscular body as a cultural ideal offers conservative resistance to progressive change and alternative masculinities by valorizing a dominance-based notion of masculinity.
Chapter
It has been argued that there is an acceleration of gender-differential socialization during adolescence, perhaps at the onset of puberty or shortly after, and perhaps especially for girls. New domains may become the object of gender-differential socialization pressure and demands for conformity may increase in domains previously subject to such pressure. We shall refer to this argument as the Gender-Intensification Hypothesis. The hypothesis frequently is invoked to explain observed behavioral differences between adolescent boys and girls. Here we shall review information bearing upon the hypothesis and suggest some new points of departure for research related to it and to the study of gender-differential socialization during adolescence in general. We begin by considering some forms in which the hypothesis appears and then turn to our review and to its implications.
Article
The concept of hegemonic masculinity has influenced gender studies across many academic fields but has also attracted serious criticism. The authors trace the origin of the concept in a convergence of ideas in the early 1980s and map the ways it was applied when research on men and masculinities expanded. Evaluating the principal criticisms, the authors defend the underlying concept of masculinity, which in most research use is neither reified nor essentialist. However, the criticism of trait models of gender and rigid typologies is sound. The treatment of the subject in research on hegemonic masculinity can be improved with the aid of recent psychological models, although limits to discursive flexibility must be recognized. The concept of hegemonic masculinity does not equate to a model of social reproduction; we need to recognize social struggles in which subordinated masculinities influence dominant forms. Finally, the authors review what has been confirmed from early formulations (the idea of multiple masculinities, the concept of hegemony, and the emphasis on change) and what needs to be discarded (onedimensional treatment of hierarchy and trait conceptions of gender). The authors suggest reformulation of the concept in four areas: a more complex model of gender hierarchy, emphasizing the agency of women; explicit recognition of the geography of masculinities, emphasizing the interplay among local, regional, and global levels; a more specific treatment of embodiment in contexts of privilege and power; and a stronger emphasis on the dynamics of hegemonic masculinity, recognizing internal contradictions and the possibilities of movement toward gender democracy.
Article
Complex problems such as antisocial conduct and poverty require a deep understanding of the causes, correlates, and interactions among individual, family, neighborhood, and community conditions. Historically, investigations of antisocial conduct and poverty have focused on individual and family factors and have often failed to consider fully the influence of neighborhood and community characteristics on individual and social functioning. The recent increase in assessing and understanding neighborhood and community influences on individual and social functioning is an important development in social work research. Disentangling neighborhood and community effects from individual-level influences requires specialized methodological training and skills. The good news is that new and increasingly sophisticated measurement and analytic approaches are being used in cross-sectional and longitudinal studies of high-risk neighborhoods and communities. Future scholars interested in this area of inquiry should be trained in mixed-methodology and in multi-level analytic strategies that are useful in advancing knowledge about the influence of neighborhoods and communities on people's lives.
Article
A core component of the Islamic Revolution’s ideology was reformulation of gender discourse wrapped around an Islamic hypermasculinity. Attention has been focused on women’s roles and rights in the Islamic Republic, and men are assumed to universally have benefited from the regime’s policies. This hypermasculinity of the Republic has revised prerevolutionary ideals promoting new ideals of manhood. Mullahs are the sage interpreters of the Qur’an and Shari‘at. The young men who bide the dictates of the mullahs and sacrifice themselves for the Republic are martyrs. Then there are the ordinary men. The Shari‘at favors them at the family and civil society, but such a blanket vision ignores the costs paid by all men depending on their social class. High unemployment, inflation, oppression, and rampant drug abuse assail all men. They all pay for gender discrimination against all women in general and women of their social group in particular.
Article
Since the pioneering content-analytic study byMcArthur and Resko (1975) on sex-role stereotyping oftelevision advertisements in America, many others haveused a similar methodology and coding scheme to examine similar stereotypes in their owncountries. This study compares and contrasts 14 studies,all using the McArthur and Resko (1975) scheme: 3 fromAmerica, 1 each from Australia, Denmark, and France, and 2 and one from Great Britain, Hong Kong,Indonesia, Italy, Kenya, Mexico, and Portugal. Problemsof such a comparison are considered: specifically, theequivalence of the channel, the three different time periods, and slight variations in thecontentcategories. Nevertheless, clear patterns arisewhich attestto the universality of sex-role stereotypingin television commercials.
Article
The portrayal of men and women in two differentsamples of British radio advertisements was examined. Itupdated an earlier British study (Furnham &Schofield, 1986) which was recently replicated in Australia (Hurtz & Durkin, 1997). Onehundred advertisements from each of two London basedradio stations were content analyzed into eightcategories referring to the central figure of thecommercial; credibility, role, location, arguments, reward,product, accent and narrator. On both radio stationswomen were significantly more likely to be portrayedpromoting products for self-enhancement and with bodily health and domestic products, and food.There was only one significant difference in portrayalbetween the two stations, suggesting somegeneralizability of these findings. The results arediscussed in terms of development and maintenance ofgender role stereotyping in different aspects of themedia.
Article
This analysis of male peer hierarchies in schools argues that battles for cultural capital are a significant causal factor in the spate of school shootings across the United States between 1996 and 2002. The hallmarks of normalized masculinity—hypermasculine identification, athletics, fighting, distance from homosexuality, dominant relationships with girls, socioeconomic status, and disdain for academics—do not include alternative ways to build cultural capital when young men do not fit into rigid traditional social structures. Lacking such cultural capital, the perpetrators attempted to prove their masculinity through overwhelming violence—responses that in Michel Foucault’s theoretical framework, reinforced the very power structures they seemed to want to destroy. The analysis concludes with positive directions for change including pedagogical strategies.
Article
This research study assessed the factors that affect Latino men's endorsement of hypermasculinity, an exaggerated form of traditional masculinity ideology. One hundred and one Latino men from two urban universities and surrounding neighborhoods completed measures that assessed ethnic identity, hypermasculinity, sex-role egalitarianism perceived in the home, and reference group identity dependence. It was hypothesized that hypermasculinity would be linked to traditional sex-roles taught in the home, male identity, and ethnic identity. The results indicate that hypermasculinity was associated with high ethnic identity and a male identity characterized by a lack of appreciation of differences among males.
Article
This article details the ways in which the semiology of alcohol advertising in the Mexican American community shapes attitudes and behaviors. The authors claim that the market-driven imperatives associated with the sale and purchase of liquor deny legitimacy to existing social practices in Latino communities and instead propagate a complex set of stereotypes that draw on traditional Mexican cultural armature for their influence. In this process, the sign system of Mexican American communities is encoded from the outside to reflect the needs of alcohol markets, while the authentic images of human lives are distorted.
Article
Tomkins' (1979) script theory offers a coherent, heuristic, and elegant account of the macho personality constellation (Mosher & Sirkin, 1984), consisting of: (a) callous sexual attitudes, (b) violence as manly, and (c) danger as exciting. A script is a set of rules for interpreting, directing, defending, and creating the scenes making up the life of the macho man. The macho script organizes childhood scenes in which so‐called “superior, masculine” affects—like excitement and anger—were socialized to be favored over so‐called “inferior, feminine” affects—like distress and fear. Furthermore, both adolescent rites of passage in male youth social networks and processes of enculturation in the American culture and its mass media continue that hypermasculine socialization. The ideological script of machismo descends from the ideology of the warrior and the stratifications following warfare—victor and vanquished, master and slave, the head of the house and woman as his complement, the patriarch and his children. The personality script of the macho man and his ideology of machismo mutually amplify one another —simultaneously justifying his lifestyle and celebrating his world view. In his dangerous, adversarial world of scarce resources, his violent, sexually callous, and dangerous physical acts express his “manly” essence.
Article
Psychological research evidence reveals serious, harmful implications for the intersection of macho personality and criminal behavior in individuals. This content analysis examines that intersection as it occurs in television content. Three hundred twenty-one male characters from police and detective dramas from the 1970s through the 1990s were examined for their levels of hypermasculinity and antisocial behavior. Results find strong associations for all male characters between physical aggression/antisocial behaviors and hypermasculinity, measured along three dimensions. "Bad guys" consistently rated higher than "good guys" for hypermasculinity, and "good guys" appeared to have become less hypermasculine over time.
Article
Cultivation analysis investigates television's contributions to viewers' conceptions of social reality. Developed by George Gerbner in the 1960s, cultivation research continues to expand in numerous directions, with over 125 new studies published since 2000. This article reviews the history of cultivation theory and takes stock of recent trends in the field. We argue that cultivation has taken on certain paradigmatic qualities, and we consider the future prospects for cultivation research in the context of the changing media environment.
Article
The current study examined the effect of neighborhood disadvantage on proactive and reactive aggression in a sample of 126 children (66% male) identified as aggressive. Sixth-grade proactive and reactive aggression was regressed on fifth-grade proactive and reactive aggression, neighborhood disadvantage, gender, and race. Findings suggested that neighborhood disadvantage was a significant unique predictor of proactive but not reactive aggression. Implications for findings are discussed. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Article
A study is presented that explored the role of macho personality, age, and power of car as predictors of aggressive driving behavior. A total of 154 male motorists completed two subscales of the Hypermasculinity Inventory as a measure of macho personality and self-reports of aggressive driving behavior based on the Driver Behaviour Questionnaire. They also provided information about their age, annual mileage, horsepower of their car, and features that had guided their choice of a car. A multiple regression analysis showed that each of the predictors was significantly related to aggressive driving: Younger motorists, those driving powerful cars, and those showing macho personality were significantly more likely to report driving aggression. Together, the three predictors accounted for 35.8% of the variance. In addition, macho men assigned greater importance to speed and sportiness of a car and less importance to safety aspects than nonmacho men. The findings are discussed with reference to individual and situational explanations of driving aggression. Aggr. Behav. 28:21–29, 2002. © 2002 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Article
This study examined the possible mediational roles of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and acceptance of violence cognitions in the association between violence exposure and youth violent behaviors. This study also examined whether the strength of the relations between exposure and behavior varied across context of exposure and across sex. Participants were 123 early adolescents from the Midwest. Findings indicate a strong positive association between violence exposure at home and in the community. Regardless of context, violence exposure was significantly related to PTSD symptoms, acceptance of violence cognitions, and violent behaviors in youth. PTSD symptoms and acceptance of violence cognitions were both significant mediators in the exposure—behavior relationship but the associations differed for girls and boys and varied across context of exposure. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Article
As a method specifically intended for the study of messages, content analysis is fundamental to mass communication research. Intercoder reliability, more specifically termed intercoder agreement, is a measure of the extent to which independent judges make the same coding decisions in evaluating the characteristics of messages, and is at the heart of this method. Yet there are few standard and accessible guidelines available regarding the appropriate procedures to use to assess and report intercoder reliability, or software tools to calculate it. As a result, it seems likely that there is little consistency in how this critical element of content analysis is assessed and reported in published mass communication studies. Following a review of relevant concepts, indices, and tools, a content analysis of 200 studies utilizing content analysis published in the communication literature between 1994 and 1998 is used to characterize practices in the field. The results demonstrate that mass communication researchers often fail to assess (or at least report) intercoder reliability and often rely on percent agreement, an overly liberal index. Based on the review and these results, concrete guidelines are offered regarding procedures for assessment and reporting of this important aspect of content analysis.
Article
Machismo, a stereotype that emphasizes hypermasculinity and associated with the Latin American male, was a legacy of the Conquest of the Spanish conquistadores and their interpretation of and reaction to the indigenous two-spirit. It was the product of the rape of indigenous women, the response to indigenous imperial ritual, and the sublimation of indigenous male sexuality. It was a response to social and religious control of the male body. As such, it is not something that is easily eradicated. Through an understanding of the complex roots of this variant of masculinity, however, it may be possible to filter out some of the negative traits and highlight the more positive. This essay examines the interactions between the Spaniards and indigenous peoples of the Americas and the interpretations of indigenous sexualities, genders, and social roles by the Spanish authorities, and how it all participates in the construction of the Latin American machismo.
Article
Eighty-six male undergraduate university students in Canada participated in a study of the relation between sexual aggression and the variables of sex role stereotyping, fraternity affiliation, participation in athletics, hostility toward women, aggressive drive, aggressive attitude, alcohol use, and masculinity. Multiple regression analysis identified physical aggression, sex role stereotyping, and fraternity affiliation as best predictors of sexual aggression.
Article
Assessment of masculinity as an ideological belief system (MI) has become increasingly popular. Validation of MI measures and subsequent research has relied heavily on undergraduate samples. In the present study, convergent and divergent validity of the Conformity to Masculine Norms Inventory (Mahalik et al., Psychology of Men and Masculinity, 4: 3–25, 2003) were examined among a convenience sample of 688 male and female adults who were divided into four groups (undergraduates, younger adults, middle-aged adults, older adults). Across groups, convergent validity was suggested by consistent relations with sexism, and divergent validity was suggested by consistent nonsignificant relations with masculine attributes. Results suggest that generalizations among male groups can be made with caution and that generalizations to women may be appropriate when the focal constructs are unrelated to women or femininity.
Article
318 randomly selected television ads from India (from 2004) in three different languages (English, Hindi, and Tamil) were content analyzed to examine both the frequency of appearance and prevalence of gender stereotypes. Results indicate that there are more male than female central characters and voiceovers in Indian ads; stereotypical differences were also found in the type of credibility used by men and women, and the nature of the products they advertised and settings that males and females appeared in. Female central characters tended to be younger than their male counterparts and were more likely to be portrayed in relationship roles. Similarities and differences in gender role portrayals found in Indian television ads and those from other nations are also discussed. KeywordsGender stereotypes–Television ads–India–Men and women in Indian ads
Article
To relate the macho personality constellation to men's reports of sexual aggression, 175 nineteen-year old, middle-class, college sophomores anonymously completed the Hypermasculinity Inventory and a newly constructed Aggressive Sexual Behavior Inventory. A majority of the men used force or exploitation to gain sex from dates. As hypothesized, the macho personality, r(173) = .33, p < .001, and specifically the Calloused Sex Attitudes subscale, r(173) = .53, was correlated with a history of sexual aggression. To study the effects of macho personality, a history of sexual aggression, and the treatment variables of rapist-force and victim-resistance on men's subjective sexual arousal and emotional experiences during the guided imagining of a realistic, noneroticized rape, 125 men returned for a second session in which they were randomly assigned by groups to four conditions, two levels of rapist-force × two levels of victim-resistance. Macho personality was related to experiencing less affective disgust, anger, fear, distress, shame, contempt, and guilt as the men imagined committing a rape, confirming a portion of the hypothesis. Men with a history of sexual aggression experienced more interest and subjective sexual arousal, as hypothesized, but they also, contrary to expectations, experienced more affective anger, distress, fear, shame, and guilt. These results were discussed as evidence of the construct validity of the macho personality constellation and as reflecting the revivification of moodcongruent, state memories in the men with a history of sexual aggression.
Article
Scenes from current R-rated films depicting nonviolent erotica, nonerotic violence, or neutral control material were presented to 70 undergraduate males, each of whom watched the material with a female confederate. Following the tape's completion, the confederate went elsewhere, and subjects completed several dispositional measures, evaluations of the confederate, and their likelihood of sexually aggressing against the confederate and of committing rape against a hypothetical woman. Contrary to the hypotheses, no film effects were found for either sexual aggression measure. As predicted, however, hypermasculinity and past sexual aggression and coercion were highly positively correlated with both dependent measures, and victim characteristics influenced acquaintance rape likelihood only among subjects high in hypermasculinity. An explanation of the findings based on the acquaintance-rape-prone individual's fear of appearing unmanly was proposed.
Article
Until recently, physical aggression among youth was a topic primarily reserved for and researched on boys. Girls are increasingly becoming the perpetrators of physical aggression. Using the Social Learning Theory (SLT) of Aggression as a theoretical framework, we examine the increasing prevalence of aggression in women in society and popular culture. This paper reviews the etiology of aggression in girls and describes the changes in types of aggression perpetrated by girls. Additionally, we make recommendations for both prevention and treatment interventions, as well as suggestions for future research.
Article
A Hypermasculinity Inventory was developed to measure a macho personality constellation consisting of three components: (a) calloused sex attitudes toward women, (b) violence as manly, and (c) danger as exciting. The 30 forced-choice items were selected by a two-stage internal consistency item analysis. Issues of substantive and structural validity were addressed by considering item content, test format, homogeneity of items, and the factor structure of items. The Cronbach α coefficient for the Hypermasculinity Inventory was .89 in the present sample of 135 college men. External validity was assessed by correlating scores of the Hypermasculinity Inventory with self-reported drug use, r(135) = .26, p < .01, aggressive behavior r(135) = .65, p < .001, and dangerous driving, r(136) = .47, p < .001, following alcohol consumption, and delinquent behavior during the high school years, r(135) = .38, p < .01. Construct validity was supported further by a pattern of theoretically meaningful correlations with the Personality Research Form (D. N. Jackson, 1974, Goshen, NY: Research Psychologists Press). The discussion considered further research that is needed to adduce additional evidence for the construct validity of the Hypermasculinity Inventory as a measure of the macho personality pattern.
Article
To our knowledge, no research has assessed whether young male victims and perpetrators of barroom aggression differ in terms of their drinking patterns and predisposing characteristics. This study assessed the extent that frequent heavy episodic drinking (HED) and bar-going, trait aggression, and hypermasculinity were differentially associated with victimization versus perpetration for aggression occurring among young adult men in the setting of the public drinking establishment. A random sample of 2,500 male students attending a local university and a local community college was invited to participate in an online survey. Participants were asked the number of times in the past 12 months they had experienced an incident of aggression at a bar in which (a) someone was physically aggressive toward them and (b) they were physically aggressive toward another person. Responses were coded as (i) any perpetration of aggression, (ii) victim only, (iii) no aggression. A composite variable of HED (5 or more drinks per occasion) and bar-going frequency was computed: (i) both HED and bar ≥ twice a month, (ii) only HED ≥ twice a month, (iii) only bar ≥ twice a month, and (iv) both < twice a month. Standard measures of trait aggression and hypermasculinity were used. Multivariate multinomial logistic regression analyses revealed that a combination of both frequent HED and frequent bar-going was associated with both perpetration and victimization at a bar (compared to no aggression). Trait aggression and hypermasculinity were associated with perpetration but not with victimization. Logistic regression analyses directly comparing perpetrators with victims indicated that perpetrators were more likely to both drink heavily and go to bars frequently and were more likely to have high levels of trait aggression and hypermasculinity. While HED is an important target for prevention programming, additional efforts should be directed toward addressing the combination of frequent HED and frequent bar-going as well as underlying aggressive personalities and masculinity concerns among young men.