| Product: |
Esquire |
| Date: |
20/05/06 (484 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Some men might feel important and more secure in themselves after reading it
Disadvantages: Too materialistic and reinforces the male hegemonic ideal
Esquire magazine is a monthly glossy publication aimed at the under 45 men’s market. The magazine focuses in on men’s fashion, health, shopping, gadgets and entertainment. Featured articles might include interviews with famous actors, politicians of the moment or successful entrepreneurs.
Two social representations of masculinity are predominant the magazine. The first is the ‘cool cosmopolitan man’. He is the emotionally distant but rather controlled figure. He represents the prevailing hegemonic ideal of masculinity promoted by the magazine. The ‘cool man’ is invulnerable and fearless in the face of adversity but relies more on brains than brawn. He is adept at using the tools of modernity – all the latest technology and gadgets, but is by no means a ‘geek’. He is a ‘smooth operator’ firmly positioned within consumer culture – a consumer of up-market accessories and designer labels. He might be seen also as a controlled and calculating risk taker appearing in the films and fiction of twentieth century popular culture such as James Bond.
The second most common representation of masculinity is the ‘The Action man’, often portrayed as the outdoor type, an adventurer or a sportsman. He relies primarily on his physical strength, agility and skill in order to overcome his environment or obtain success. The obsession with self-image, physical and sexual appearance, clothing and perfume is a dominant theme of the magazine. Self-image is firmly located in a context of materialist consumption in which men and women function primarily as consumers. Virtually all the social representations of gender are situated within or connected to aspects of consumer culture, whether it be the selling of perfume in advertisements or the promotion of films and books in interviews.
Female representations
By far the most dominant social representation of femininity in the magazine is the ‘sexual woman’. Here there might be two versions: the ‘sexually seductive woman’, and the ‘social dominatrix’. Neither of these representations see women as wholly powerless. Women are not presented as passive sexual objects. The ‘sexual woman’ is imbued with the power to seduce, trap and manipulate men through her sexuality. The ‘social dominatrix’ is presented as an invader of previous masculine domains of social power and is therefore might be seen as a threat to hegemonic forms of masculinity. But the ‘sexually seductive woman’ remains subordinate because remains dependent on men and is defined by their needs. She is carefully positioned and contained in a ‘man’s world’.
The Excluded
There are noticeable absences: there are no images of disabled people, of gay or lesbian people or ‘fat’ people. There are no images of marginalized masculinities such as the homeless or unemployed. Traditional representations of men such as working class manual workers are also absent. Also rare are representations of both men and women with families or participating in family roles.
The man who buys Esquire is probably a working well paid professional or has ambitions to be one. He is likely to be heterosexual, single, and under forty five but unlikely to be a lower working class/manual labourer.
Summary: James Bond would buy it
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