Journalism Theory and News Ethics—Bournemouth University
‘NEWS’ ANALYSIS RESEARCH PRESENTATION PROPOSAL
(Best completed electronically, expanding text boxes if necessary)
Student Name
Jael MooreResearch Project Title [should not be too long, suggest max 15 words]:
How is gender represented in male consumer magazines?
Research Question [Definitive focus: Identifies object of study to realise objectives]:
How is gender represented in male consumer magazines?
Research Aims and Objectives [specific realistic goals/ends or intended outcomes & how to achieve them]:
To find out how gender is represented and/or stereotyped in male consumer magazines such as Maxim, Zoo, Men’s Health, Esquire etc… and what wider impact this may have on its audience.
Objectives-
· To identify whether similar representations of gender are promoted across various issues of male consumer magazines, for example reference to physical or sexual dominance, violence and social capital.
· To identify how the male consumer is constructed through the depictions of masculinity in male consumer magazines.
· To discover how femininity is represented in male consumer magazines and whether it is portrayed in a negative or positive light.
Context/Background & Rationale [link with society & similar work, past & current; why project is important now]:
Various research agrees that gender stereotypes are reinforced by societal institutions such as schooling and family. And with the rising influential stance the media are taking in everyday life it is becoming more important to assess the affect media can have on gender stereotyping.
Usually, gender focused research into the media exclusively explores women’s magazines. For this reason, it would be both interesting and relevant to investigate the other side of gender targeted media outlets (male consumer magazines) to get a more representative perspective of the entire platform.
Literature Review [theories to be employed in making sense of, or analysing, the chosen topic, citing theorists, most common theories in literature]:
· Connell (1995) formalises the term hegemonic masculinity, suggesting Hegemonic masculinity is constituted and formed in relation to subordinated and marginalized masculinities as well as in relation to women
· Bosson and Michniewicz (2013) suggest that men and women form their gender identities in different ways. They claim the antifemininity mandate theory suggesting that men distance themselves and avoid behaviours typically associated with the feminine.
· Smith et al (2013) found that men’s adherence to antifemininity theory can be so strong that men who adhere to hegemonic masculine norms may feel compelled to be sexually violent to maintain dominance.
· Trujillo (1991) argues that the way male athletes are represented in the media encourages an idolised image of the male body to be incorporated into hegemonic ideas about masculinity.
· Giaccardi et al (2016) site cultivation theory of gender, and suggest that media tends to endorse a hegemonic masculinity that is centred on power, financial status, aggression, virility, and the objectification of women.
· Wagner (2016) found that within body improvement culture the male body was represented by the media in terms of hegemonic masculinity such as dominance, violence, social capital, sexual dominance and intimidation.
· Susan M. Alexander (2003) found that masculinity in Men’s Health was presented as a branded masculinity that could be bought, altered and improved.
· Deana A. Rohlinger (2002) explains that the representation of gender in male consumer magazines should also be discussed in terms of cultural phenomena such as influence from the gay liberation movement.
· Federico Boni (2002) suggested magazines represent gender in a way that reflects the changing male gender relations and identities but still stabilizes “the traditional relationship between hegemonic and subordinated masculinities”.
· Vigorito and Curry (1998) found that in magazines with a high male audience, men were portrayed primarily in occupational roles (e.g. as the provider), yet in magazines with a high female readership, men were generally portrayed in more nurturing roles, reflecting hegemonic gender norms.
· Kenon Breazeale (1994) examined Esquire, finding that the majority of the content was refined to stereotypical desires of the heterosexual man, to do this, women are fantasized sexually and trashed socially.
· Cieply (2010) found that Esquire magazine legitimised the male consumer through images of hegemonic masculinity as to distance the male reader from the traditionally female role as ‘consumer’.
· Feona Attwood (2005) examined the representation of male heterosexuality in a sample of British soft-core pornographic and men’s lifestyle magazines. She found that men were represented as a work in progress and women were represented in rigid and stereotypical categories such as ‘the girl next door’.
· Coulter (2014) argues that Playboy magazine had huge success by aligning consumer desires with sexual desires as innate components of modern masculinity (enforcing hegemonic norms of masculinity).
Methodology and Sources [Tools/techniques to be employed in the gathering and analysis of data; methods of accessing/acquiring data or evidence or information; sources of the data]:
Methodology-
To find out the specific ways gender may be represented/stereotyped in male consumer magazines, in terms of qualitative data a discourse analysis would be the perfect way to do this as it would allow me to look at the themes by which gender is defined and presented in these magazines.
· Strauss and Fiez (2013) suggest that “micro level instances of language and discourse combine to create, reflect and shape the broader macro levels of meaning”, implying that to understand the complexities of our social world we must also try to understand how these complexities are referred to in language. Phillips and Hardy (2002) explain that “Discourse analysis explores how texts aremademeaningful” through the processes of production, dissemination, and consumption”. They propose a three-dimensional approach should be used in discourse analysis to connect texts to discourse, relating them to social and historical context and referring to the relationships and audiences that underlie the specific topics that are being researched. Jørgensen (2002) describes discourse analysis as a complete package, “not just a method for data analysis, but a theoretical and methodological whole”, meaning that any method of discourse analysis will allow a complete analysis of anything that shapes the language or text as well. In relation to gender representation in magazines, discourse analysis would be particularly useful in understanding how the media can affect the norms and values we internalize as well as the representations they encourage and reproduce through stereotypical language or themes in magazines.
In terms of quantitative data then, a content analysis would work well alongside a discourse analysis.
· Krippendorff (2013) suggests that content analysis “provides new insights, increases a researcher’s understanding of a particular phenomena or informs practical actions”, it is a scientific tool for understanding language and text. One aim of of a content analysis is to “describe trends in communication content” (Weber, 2002) and due to its replicable and systematic nature, content analysis can not only identify current trends but also “provides an empirical basis for monitoring shifts in public opinion” (Stemler 2001), for this reason it proves a great research method for uncovering current and changing trends in gender representation in male consumer magazines.
Ethical Implications (if any) [briefly indicate whether/how there is an ethical implication for the researcher in this work. What do you need to consider as a researcher?]:
There are no relevant ethical implications for my research as discourse and content analysis do not involve using outside participants.
Strengths/Weaknesses of the Project [briefly indicate any strengths or weaknesses of the project across all areas]:
A strength of this research topic is that much research into representation of gender is targeted at magazines with a female readership, this research however targets men, so will open a more representative discussion about gender stereotyping in magazines. Another strength is that by using a discourse analysis, qualitative and meaningful data will be generated, allowing an analysis of wider societal themes as a result. Using a content analysis will be easy and practical, there is a clear and systematic way of doing this that produces reliable and hard numerical data, as if to act as strengthening evidence from the qualitative data produced by the discourse analysis.
A weakness however of this project is that due to the interpretation of meaning through a discourse analysis, the results found will be entirely subjective meaning that they may not prove reliable. Male consumer magazines are generally targeted at a Western society audience, meaning that the results may not be relevant to Eastern cultures for example. There has also been a decline in readership of male consumer magazines in the recent years (Steigrad, 2016), so the implications of the research might not be as relevant as they might have once been at the height of popularity of these magazines.
References:
Alexander, S. (2003). Stylish hard bodies: branded masculinity in men's health magazine. Sociological Perspectives, 46(4), pp.535-554.
Attwood, F. (2005). 'Tits and ass and porn and fighting': Male heterosexuality in magazines for men. International Journal of Cultural Studies, 8(1), pp.83-100.
Boni, F. (2002). Framing Media Masculinities: Men's Lifestyle Magazines and the Biopolitics of the Male Body. European Journal of Communication, 17(4), pp.465-478.
Bosson, J. and Michniewicz, K. (2013). Gender dichotomization at the level of ingroup identity: What it is, and why men use it more than women. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 105(3), pp.425-442.
Breazeale, K. (1994). In Spite of Women: "Esquire" Magazine and the Construction of the Male Consumer. Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, 20(1), pp.1-22.
Cieply, S. (2010). The Uncommon Man: Esquire and the Problem of the North American Male Consumer, 1957-63. Gender & History, 22(1), pp.151-168.
Connell, R. (1995). Masculinities. 1st ed. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Coulter, N. (2014). Selling the Male Consumer thePlayboyWay. Popular Communication, 12(3), pp.139-152.
Giaccardi, S., Ward, L., Seabrook, R., Manago, A. and Lippman, J. (2016). Media and Modern Manhood: Testing Associations Between Media Consumption and Young Men’s Acceptance of Traditional Gender Ideologies. Sex Roles, 75(3-4), pp.151-163.
Jørgensen, M. and Phillips, L. (2002). Discourse analysis as theory and method. 1st ed. London: Sage Publications.
Krippendorff, K. (2013). Content analysis. 2nd ed. Beverly Hills: Sage Publications.
Phillips, and Hardy, (2002). What Is Discourse Analysis?.Discourse Analysis, pp.2-17.
Rohlinger, D. (2002). Eroticizing Men: Cultural Influences on Advertising and Male Objectification. Sex Roles, 46(3/4), pp.61-74.
Steigrad, A. (2016).Men’s Magazine Market in Upheaval as Readers Decline. [online] WWD. Available at: http://wwd.com/business-news/media/mens-magazine-market-upheaval-readers-decline-10336957/ [Accessed 17 Dec. 2016].
Smith, R., Parrott, D., Swartout, K. and Tharp, A. (2015). Deconstructing hegemonic masculinity: The roles of antifemininity, subordination to women, and sexual dominance in men’s perpetration of sexual aggression. Psychology of Men & Masculinity, 16(2), pp.160-169.
Stemler, S. (2017). An Overview of Content Analysis. Practical Assessment, Research & Evaluation, 17(7).
Strauss, S. and Feiz, P. (n.d.). Discourse analysis. 1st ed.
Trujillo, N. (1991). Hegemonic masculinity on the mound: Media representations of Nolan Ryan and American sports culture. Critical Studies in Mass Communication, 8(3), pp.290-308.
Vigorito, A. and Curry, T. (1998). Marketing Masculinity: Gender Identity and Popular Magazines. Sex Roles, 39(1/2), pp.135-152.
Wagner, P. (2016). Visualizing Hegemonic Masculinities Produced for/by Male Fitness Spaces. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MEN’S HEALTH, 15(3), pp.235-258.
Weber, R. (1990). Basic Content Analysis. 1st ed.
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