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The Many Levels to a Man.
There are many different sides to a man. In today’s society, advertising and magazines have started to reach out more to the male community. Recently, I read the chapter in Media, Gender and Identity by Gauntlett titled "Men’s Magazines and Modern Male Identities". This section of the book took a very thorough look at different men’s magazine and assessed their views and assumptions. For example, the slowly popularizing magazine FHM may seem from its cover to be “women in bikinis”, but it actually is a male version of Cosmo. In other words, it tries addressing men on the topics of sex, relationships and humor. I also found it interesting how Gaunlett discussed Men’s Health Magazine. This part of the chapter caught my attention by describing the magazine as “The only magazine in this selection to regularly feature semi-naked men, instead of women, on the cover”(163). There was also a few interesting facts about Men’s Health such as its focus on the entire man and not just the physical attributes. For example, it contains articles about the male psyche as well as views and advice on relationships. Lastly, the chapter continues with the magazines focusing on men and the “fear” of commitment and male independence. This is very intriguing because it also mentions how “feminism used to criticize men for being too dependent on their female partners, sapping women’s energies by selfishly expecting women to tend to their emotional, sexual and domestic needs” (172). In other words, the magazines are projecting independence from women, while women are thinking that men are too dependent.
Another article I read was Advertising and the Construction of Violent White Masculinity by Jackson Katz. Katz seems to focus on primarily white males having a violent portrayal in the media. He makes a very good argument that the definition of a rebel has changed from the past, such as James Dean and Marlon Brando, to the rage ridden individuals today. Katz also goes into great depth about how the rap artist Eminem has such an abusive and violent image. For example, the negative and vulgar things he says about his ex-wife Kim such as “Kim rot in pieces” (353). In addition, Katz briefly discusses the womanizing lyrics by artists such as Limp Bizkit and Kid Rock. There was a section in this article that reminded me of the film Fight Club and its over arching message of not letting society tell you who you are. This is demonstrated when Katz talks about “boxer and football players appear in ads regularly, promoting products from underwear to deodorant. A Black-and-white photo of a young White Man in uncovered foot ball shoulder pads adorns some Abercrombie and Fitch advertising layouts. Like female ads, this image is telling men, in order to succeed, this is how one should act and look like” (356). For example, the image promotes “Real men can wear Clinique” (356).
I also read an article titled The Commercializtion if Masculinities by John Beynon. Beynon goes into great detail about how there are different strands of man as time progresses. I found that the most interesting type of “New man” that he described was the “New man-as-Narcissist”. It is the a individual that is a consumer and out to prove something to the world. I find that a very good representation in the media of this man as well as the Yuppie type of man that Beynon mentions is (oddly enough) is the character Patrick Bateman in the novel American Psycho by Brent Easten Ellis. The character is very fashion focused where there are literally pages of detail of all the clothes that he is wearing. Beynon talks about this when he mentions “male retail outlets proliferated in the 1980s with designer clothes were amongst these outlets (203). In addition, the image of man and what a man was supposed to be in the 80s was highly discussed in the novel. According to Beynon, “the male form began to eroticized and objectified in ways that had previously been applied to the female body”(203). This is very well addressed by Ellis as his character pays a lot of attention to his body, especially his skin, feeling attractive and desirable. Lastly, Beyton mentions how there are two groups of masculine archetypes in the 1980s, The ostentatious city/Wall Street yuppie and the Old industrial man. I feel that Bateman would be the ostentatious City and Wall Street yuppie because he was selfish and determined to spend money. Even though Patrick Bateman is a fictional character, the concept of man his role embodies is real and tangible in society.
There are many different sides to a man. In today’s society, advertising and magazines have started to reach out more to the male community. Recently, I read the chapter in Media, Gender and Identity by Gauntlett titled "Men’s Magazines and Modern Male Identities". This section of the book took a very thorough look at different men’s magazine and assessed their views and assumptions. For example, the slowly popularizing magazine FHM may seem from its cover to be “women in bikinis”, but it actually is a male version of Cosmo. In other words, it tries addressing men on the topics of sex, relationships and humor. I also found it interesting how Gaunlett discussed Men’s Health Magazine. This part of the chapter caught my attention by describing the magazine as “The only magazine in this selection to regularly feature semi-naked men, instead of women, on the cover”(163). There was also a few interesting facts about Men’s Health such as its focus on the entire man and not just the physical attributes. For example, it contains articles about the male psyche as well as views and advice on relationships. Lastly, the chapter continues with the magazines focusing on men and the “fear” of commitment and male independence. This is very intriguing because it also mentions how “feminism used to criticize men for being too dependent on their female partners, sapping women’s energies by selfishly expecting women to tend to their emotional, sexual and domestic needs” (172). In other words, the magazines are projecting independence from women, while women are thinking that men are too dependent. 
Another article I read was Advertising and the Construction of Violent White Masculinity by Jackson Katz. Katz seems to focus on primarily white males having a violent portrayal in the media. He makes a very good argument that the definition of a rebel has changed from the past, such as James Dean and Marlon Brando, to the rage ridden individuals today. Katz also goes into great depth about how the rap artist Eminem has such an abusive and violent image. For example, the negative and vulgar things he says about his ex-wife Kim such as “Kim rot in pieces” (353). In addition, Katz briefly discusses the womanizing lyrics by artists such as Limp Bizkit and Kid Rock. There was a section in this article that reminded me of the film Fight Club and its over arching message of not letting society tell you who you are. This is demonstrated when Katz talks about “boxer and football players appear in ads regularly, promoting products from underwear to deodorant. A Black-and-white photo of a young White Man in uncovered foot ball shoulder pads adorns some Abercrombie and Fitch advertising layouts. Like female ads, this image is telling men, in order to succeed, this is how one should act and look like” (356). For example, the image promotes “Real men can wear Clinique” (356).
I also read an article titled The Commercializtion if Masculinities by John Beynon. Beynon goes into great detail about how there are different strands of man as time progresses. I found that the most interesting type of “New man” that he described was the “New man-as-Narcissist”. It is the a individual that is a consumer and out to prove something to the world. I find that a very good representation in the media of this man as well as the Yuppie type of man that Beynon mentions is (oddly enough) is the character Patrick Bateman in the novel American Psycho by Brent Easten Ellis. The character is very fashion focused where there are literally pages of detail of all the clothes that he is wearing. Beynon talks about this when he mentions “male retail outlets proliferated in the 1980s with designer clothes were amongst these outlets (203). In addition, the image of man and what a man was supposed to be in the 80s was highly discussed in the novel. According to Beynon, “the male form began to eroticized and objectified in ways that had previously been applied to the female body”(203). This is very well addressed by Ellis as his character pays a lot of attention to his body, especially his skin, feeling attractive and desirable. Lastly, Beyton mentions how there are two groups of masculine archetypes in the 1980s, The ostentatious city/Wall Street yuppie and the Old industrial man. I feel that Bateman would be the ostentatious City and Wall Street yuppie because he was selfish and determined to spend money. Even though Patrick Bateman is a fictional character, the concept of man his role embodies is real and tangible in society. 
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