Using sexuality to advertise products has become increasingly more prevalent in society today. Companies will do anything they can to sell their product even if it is at the expense of the consumers lack of knowledge about the particular item. Having a half naked male or female to promote a particular product will increase the rate of purchase because "sex sells". This term has been used for many years and has been an effective yet controversial tool in selling products with mostly the objectification of women. However, as seen throughout the collage, it is clear to see the that males are equally subjected as well as giving an unattainable image that is portrayed on Men's Health Magazine. Objectifying men in a way that is deemed acceptable and gone unnoticed in today's culture inspires consumers to thrive for an unrealistic image while using sexuality to attract both males and females to buy their products.
Men's Health Magazine is one of the more popular magazines among male teenagers and young male adults. The material that is written in the magazine is often unreliable and subjective. However, the consumer is unaware of such false statements as well as the unattainable image that is depicted on most of the covers. As seen in the collage, all the covers have advertisements that are geared toward achieving the ideal body for a young male. By displaying the males without their shirts, and photo shopped bodies, it gives the reader an image that is strived for but never attained by most individuals. Most of the time, women sexuality is used to advertise both men and women products, however males are used just as much to reel in the consumer. As Kilbourne states, “They [girls] are even more powerfully attuned to images of women, because they learn from these images what is expected of them, what they are to become.”(Kilbourne 263). This is also true for men. Men aspire to look good and impress girls. Learning from these images, just as females learn from theirs, males assume that this is what is expected of them. Terms such as; Improve your sex, The Abs you've always wanted, Strong, Lean Better Body, are all terms used by the magazine the throughout the world. It is advertised such that by simply just using their workouts inside the issue, listening to their advice on diet or sex, and reading the material, you will look like a celebrity and have the body you have always wanted or have the sex your girlfriend dreams of. Author Anastasia Higginbotham states that “You should love yourself for who you are,” (Higginbotham 96). In the article, she is refering to women as she writes how teens should love themselves. This is true for men because by giving consumers a false image and depiction of an ideal body, it lower's self esteem and truly doesnt stick to the 'Be who you are" phrase used by so many peers today. This also gives females a false impression about men. The ideal image is not one that is viewed the same by all females but with advertising like such, their perception is morphed into the norms of society. This magazine, along with other health and fitness magazines use men in a sexual manner to attract the reader and give one the impression that this is the body that all females want their male partners to have. Just like female magazines such as Cosmopolitan, objectify women and sell their products through sex, Men's Health Magazine uses men to sell the ideal image that is strived for by most young males.
Does sex really sell? Yes, it does. Sex sells ideas, products, misconceptions and most importantly it sells the "normative ideals" of our society. By using celebrities and other "barbie doll" individuals (both male and female), companies can persuade a consumer to by a product simply by implying the message that using their products will get you to look like the image that is depicted. This is seen in both Male and Female products and both genders are affected by their counterpart. Males are to look like the images seen in the collage and through advertisement, most males are susceptible to trust the products or workouts that are to get you there. Throughout society, both males and females are vulnerable to such ideals because the ability to give into the norm. Kilbourne discusses that adolescents “are in the process of learning their values and roles and developing their self-concepts. Most teenagers are sensitive to peer pressure and find it difficult to resist or even to question the dominant cultural messages perpetuated and reinforced by the media. Mass communication has made possible a kind of national peer pressure that erodes private and individual values and standards, as well as community values and standards (Kilbourne 258).” Targeting both late teenagers and young adult males, it makes men easy targets because males are typically not viewed as objects in our culture because it is more offensive when women are the victims. It does not cross the mind of many people that such companies are portraying men in such a manner that is actually distorted. Males are just as vulnerable to these ideal images that are portrayed to us as females.
Works Cited
Higginbotham, Anastasia. “Teen Mags: How to Get a Guy, Drop 20 Pounds, and You’re your Self-Esteem.” Becoming A Woman In Our Society: 93-96Kilbourne, Jean. "The More You Subtract, the More You Add." Gender, Race, and Class in the Media. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 2003.
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Bobby-
ReplyDeleteOverall, nice job using the Men's health magazine and trying to tailor the sources (which are mainly addressing the issues of girls & women) in ads & periodicals.
One key issue to remember here is the reinforcement of Killbourne's message from her written piece, which was also in the film we watched on Thursday: the objectification of men in media may be on the rise; however, the key difference is that men won't be objectified as a result of these depictions (nor will these images help the objectification of women). Additionally, men don't suffer the same ramifications when they're still grossly outnumbered by the ones depicting women as objects. Therefore, you used the sources well; however, an important issue to underscore is that a boy or man's sense of self isn't nearly as reliant on physical appearance (as opposed to physical strength, financial power, and/or intellectual ability, etc) as is the case with women and young girls.
-Jessie
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