Beauty and Body Image in the Media Essays

Beauty and Body Image in the Media Essays Beauty and Body Image in the Media Essay Beauty and Body Image in the Media Essay Review Of Literature Beauty and Body Image in the Media ( Men ) Review – 1 From the , Journal of Marketing Communication Vol. 11. No. 1. 3-19. March 2005 Idealized images of the male body in advertising: a reader-response exploration BY- RICHARD ELLIOTT CHRISTINE ELLIOTT Warwick Business School. University of Warwick, Coventry. UK. Harris Manchester College University of Oxford. Oxford. UK Introduction : This is a study which particularly focuses on how men are being portrayed in advertisements This study has used an interpretative methodology for exploring mens reactions to the representation of male bodies in advertising, particularly when men are portrayed in a sexual or naked pose and complimented past studies by investigating whether or not men felt that they were being objectified or exploited in advertising in the same manner as critical and feminist literature has suggested in relation to women. The extent to which men felt that the representation of idealized male images in advertising had an adverse effect on their self-image and self-esteem is discussed. Emergent interpretive themes include homophobia, gender stereotyping and the legitimization of the exploitation and use of sexuality in marketing. This study set out to explore the extent to which men may be similarly negatively affected by idealized representation of male bodies and the ways in which they negotiate the meaning of representations and their coping strategies for any emotional disturbance. Representations of the Male Body in Advertising : The researchers have focused on how men are portrayed in advertisements , and they have collected responses from many other researchers . All these researchers have commonly said that , men have become more preoccupied with muscularity because it is still perceived as a cultural symbol of masculinity. Men are developing an Adonis complex and eating disorders after being overexposed to idealized and unattainable male bodies in advertising. Since the I980’s mens bodies have appeared more frequently in advertising, offering a similarly idealized body to that presented to women. An increasing number of advertisements are showing men as sex objects . These researchers have conducted many studies which showed how are men are portrayed in the advertisements . Kolbe and Albanese a researcher has conducted a content analysis of sole male images in mens magazines and found that the majority of the bodies in advertising were not ordinary, but those of strong and hard male icons . His study says that men were usually represented in an objectified and depersonalized manner in advertising. Pope et al another undertook a study of male body obsession and found that advertisements for everything from cars to underwear were using body-builder images with washboard abdominal muscles, massive chests. nd inflated shoulder’s. a combination of muscularity and leanness probably achievable only by drugs. A study by Patterson another researcher also identified a relatively uniform depiction of male bodies within lifestyle magazines, where the audience was routinely presented with mesomorphic (strong, muscular and hard) male bodies that were hyper-masculine in their iconography. The depiction of ectomorphs (thin and lightly muscled) was limited mainly to the advertising of clothing where products may look more attractive on the slimmer, taller man. Endomorphs (soft and round) were rarely used and, where they were, tended to be the object of humour. Moreover, Patterson and England (2000) indicated that representations of male bodies were often used irrespective of whether they were relevant to the product category being advertised. Mens Responses to Representations of the Male Body : Researchers Kimmel and Tissier-Desbordes had conducted a study with 30 French men in order to determine whether brands and consumption played an important part in their lives. The study has suggested that men were uncomfortable with products that presented men as feminine. Their study explored mens relations to products and masculinity in general, but was not related to body image and provided only limited insight into mens reactions to advertisements. To date then, very little is known about how men react emotionally to the portrayal of male bodies in advertising. There is a suggestion that some of the men in the study by Researchers Kimmel and Tissier-Desbordes demonstrated a fear of admitting a feminine side to their self-image . Methodology of the research : In order to do a study of portrayal of men in advertising these researches have done this research with Two main research questions 1. How do young men respond to the representation of male bodies in advertising, particularly when men are portrayed in a sexual or naked pose? 2. How do young men negotiate the sexual meaning of advertising images in a social setting? setting? One-one interview They researchers had conducted this one to one interview because, they have said that the one-to-one in terviews would allow trust to be established and allow the exploration of underlying motivations, beliefs, attitudes and feelings . The researches had conducted twelve in-depth interviews, which ranged from 40 minutes to 2 hours in length. The ages of the respondents varied from 18 to 31 years, with the majority of respondents being in their early twenties. The interviews were audio-laped and transcribed for analysis. The researches had also collected 25 advertisements from major mens lifestyle magazines five advertisements were chosen as stimulus material so as to allow the examination of responses to different advertisements and different body types. Focus groups The focus groups were used for studying whether the male respondents would alter their responses to the advertisements when in a peer group environment. The number of participants in the focus groups varied from five to eight men with the same age spread as in the individual interviews. Conclusion: This study was based on men’s portrayal in advertisement . Many researchers have given their views in this regard which gives a much detailed informa tion of how men are portrayed in the advertisements.