Could the Gay Men’s Magazine You Subscribe to be Perpetuating Idealized Standards of the Male Image?
Could the Gay Men’s Magazine You Subscribe to be Perpetuating Idealized Standards of the Male Image?
Camille Malone
It
is often the representation of women in media that is criticized by the general
public for producing and reinforcing narrow beauty image standards. It is not
until reading a male magazine archive that the question of this predominantly
women-centred media criticism existing as an equally pervasive and problematic
theme in gay men’s media is considered. This blog will analyze the men’s
magazine archive Malebox which caters
to the gay men population in Canada. The influence of beauty standards
developed by media will be explained by Butler’s theory on the body and how it
is framed by external forces which leads to individuals performing their
gender.[i]
Expanding from Butler’s theory, Malebox
will be placed in a generalizable category by situating it with similar
magazines to develop an understanding of its impact on perpetuating homosexual
male beauty standards and the negative impacts associated with this. This blog
post will attempt to showcase how the trend throughout the men’s magazine Malebox exposes a narrow variety of
homosexual male bodies which constructs ideal images to both desire in partners
and oneself.
What
is Malebox?
While
the Malebox magazine issue chosen for
the purpose of this blog originates in Ottawa, it includes classifieds and
advertisement postings from across Canada.[ii]
The selected edition is the May-June copy published in 1993 and is the 12th
issue that the magazine released. [iii]
This issue happened to be the second year anniversary edition whereby the the
editor’s note is characterized by the attempt to explore and define the true
genre of magazine Malebox. The
editor’s note also discussed what the community attitudes towards the magazine
were and how they felt about these opinions towards it.[iv]
Here, on this page, the editors state that the magazine is not an underground
sex magazine nor do they concern themselves with being labelled as violating
community standards.[v]
This illustrates the little discretion the magazine has towards advertising
societal normative content and the influence of the magazine is flaunted by the
editor’s statement of their previous issues selling out.[vi]
The magazine is around thirty pages long, with at least one image of a male
body on each page. The photos each resemble a similar trend in terms of the
characteristics of the male body that they represent. Throughout the magazine,
it is strictly caucasian male images that are advertised that are mostly
youthful and fit.[vii]
In addition to the relatively consistent features of the male images, the
positioning of the photos is mainly on the lower body of the man, excluding the
head. The magazine is filled with articles that range from sexual fantasy
stories, top gay location lists, advertisements and classified ads for seeking
relationships. The magazine does not fall directly under the category of
pornography, however, the high frequency of nudity and erotic stories allow it
to somewhat be characterized in this genre. For the purpose of this paper, the
focus of the magazine will be the male images throughout it. These photos will
further help explain how magazines such as Malebox
assisted in establishing standards of what a homosexual male should not
only look like but also desire in a partner.
Theoretical
Explanation
The
shared assumptions of society on topics such as sex form social constructs
around what the normative behaviour and appearance of an individual's sex
should be. Butler emphasizes the significance of these pre-existing constructs
around the body that are dependent on an individual’s category of sex that is
given at birth.[viii]
This framework views the body as an indifferent object awaiting “an inscription
from a cultural source figured as “external” to that body”.[ix]
The inscription of a gender on a body leads to what Butler explains as a
performance of the gendered norms that surround the sex and gender you were
labelled with.[x]
This fundamental theme of Butler can be altered to aid in the explanation of
the influence gay male media has on the creation of an idealized gay man
construct. The gay male community across Canada can be largely linked through
mediums such as magazines. The representation of gay male’s within a magazine
such as Malebox creates a social
construct around the perfected images that appear and behave in a glamorized
fashion. In accordance with Butler’s theory, the readers who identify with
these magazines will be led to assume that their identity is found by mimicking
this external cultural source of inscription. This causes Malebox to assist in the continuation of narrow ideal
representations of homosexual males, which can lead to damaging outcomes for
members of this community.
Empirical
Evidence
A
relevant study on the magnitude of the impression women’s magazine content has
on the construction of women’s identity has shown a positive correlation in
female readers.[xi]
Transferring this investigation to gay men’s magazine’s, similar trends can and
do arise. Starting in the 1990s,
the proportion of money directed at gay men’s publications began to
rise, doubling the amount spent by 1998.[xii]
This falls directly in the time period of the distribution of Malebox, specifically issue 12 being
analyzed. In 2008, a study conducted by Saucier and Caron unveiled similarities
in the content of the top four gay men’s magazines. Saucier and Caron found an
extremely high proportion of the magazine’s advertisement photos to be
represented by men of a youthful, muscularly toned and Caucasian appearance.[xiii]
These results coincide with the images of Malebox
issue 12, allowing the images in this magazine to be analyzed in a more
generalizable context.
The
limited variety of characteristics for the photos chosen within gay
male-centred magazines contribute to an unachievable superficial image of a
man's body. “The men depicted in these popular gay magazines fit a particular
mold” and from this, “these magazines portray a look and a lifestyle look that
seems commonplace and easy to attain”.[xiv]
The exposure to images that display these characteristics has been linked to
self-esteem issues and body dilemmas for gay male readers.[xv]
This is particularly prominent in the gay male community due to the higher
consumption of pornography and fitness magazines that formulate a drive of
sexual gratification towards this image of a man.[xvi]
This creates not only a set version of what traits to seek in a partner but
also puts pressure on an individual to fit in this shape in order to be
desired, leaving those who cannot to be negatively impacted. Malebox issue 12 represents a prime
example of a magazine showcasing glorified and often unachievable
representations of male bodies.
The
archive Malebox issue 12, is a piece in a larger structure of
media increasing awareness of social constructions of how a homosexual male in
Canada should appear and act. This blog post attempted to examine and consider
the ways that gay men have been bound to narrow social constructs of appearance
and behaviour. Through generalizing Malebox
with other popular gay men’s magazines, the discourse can be viewed as a
major cause of negative self-image for readers who can not obtain the idealized
version of the men displayed. Malebox issue
12 represents an integral example of the creation and popularizing of gay male
social standards in the 1990s.
[i]
[i] Butler, Judith, “Bodily Inscriptions, Performative Subversions,” in Gender trouble: feminism and the subversion of identity ( New York: Routledge, 1990) 1.
[i] Butler, Judith, “Bodily Inscriptions, Performative Subversions,” in Gender trouble: feminism and the subversion of identity ( New York: Routledge, 1990) 1.
[iii]
[iii] Matheson and Shane, “Happy fucking birthday to us again,” Mailbox, May-June 1993, Cover.
[iii] Matheson and Shane, “Happy fucking birthday to us again,” Mailbox, May-June 1993, Cover.
[viii]
[viii] Butler, Judith, “Bodily Inscriptions, Performative Subversions,” in Gender trouble: feminism and the subversion of identity ( New York: Routledge, 1990) 175.
[viii] Butler, Judith, “Bodily Inscriptions, Performative Subversions,” in Gender trouble: feminism and the subversion of identity ( New York: Routledge, 1990) 175.
[ix]
[ix] Butler, Judith, “Bodily Inscriptions, Performative Subversions,” in Gender trouble: feminism and the subversion of identity ( New York: Routledge, 1990) 175.
[ix] Butler, Judith, “Bodily Inscriptions, Performative Subversions,” in Gender trouble: feminism and the subversion of identity ( New York: Routledge, 1990) 175.
[x]
[x] Butler, Judith, “Bodily Inscriptions, Performative Subversions,” in Gender trouble: feminism and the subversion of identity ( New York: Routledge, 1990) 185.
[x] Butler, Judith, “Bodily Inscriptions, Performative Subversions,” in Gender trouble: feminism and the subversion of identity ( New York: Routledge, 1990) 185.
[xi]
[xi] Peirce. Kate, “ A Feminist Theoretical Perspective on the Socialization of Teenage Girls Through Seventeen Magazine,: Sex Roles: A journal of Research 23, (1990): 495-96, Accessed May 12th, 2018.
[xi] Peirce. Kate, “ A Feminist Theoretical Perspective on the Socialization of Teenage Girls Through Seventeen Magazine,: Sex Roles: A journal of Research 23, (1990): 495-96, Accessed May 12th, 2018.
[xii]
[xii] Saucier, Jason and Sandra Caron, “An Investigation of Content and Media Images in Gay Men’s Magazines,” Journal of Homosexuality 55, (2008): 505, Accessed May 12th, 2018.
[xii] Saucier, Jason and Sandra Caron, “An Investigation of Content and Media Images in Gay Men’s Magazines,” Journal of Homosexuality 55, (2008): 505, Accessed May 12th, 2018.
[xiii]
[xiii] Saucier, Jason and Sandra Caron, “An Investigation of Content and Media Images in Gay Men’s Magazines,” Journal of Homosexuality 55, (2008): 513, Accessed May 12th, 2018.
[xiii] Saucier, Jason and Sandra Caron, “An Investigation of Content and Media Images in Gay Men’s Magazines,” Journal of Homosexuality 55, (2008): 513, Accessed May 12th, 2018.
[xiv]
[xiv] Saucier, Jason and Sandra Caron, “An Investigation of Content and Media Images in Gay Men’s Magazines,” Journal of Homosexuality 55, (2008): 521-22, Accessed May 12th, 2018.
[xiv] Saucier, Jason and Sandra Caron, “An Investigation of Content and Media Images in Gay Men’s Magazines,” Journal of Homosexuality 55, (2008): 521-22, Accessed May 12th, 2018.
[xv]
[xv] Duggan, Scott and Donal McCreary, “Body Image, Eating Disorders, and the Drive for Muscularity in Gay and Heterosexual Men,” Journal of Homosexuality 47, (2004): 47-8, Accessed May 13, 2018.
[xv] Duggan, Scott and Donal McCreary, “Body Image, Eating Disorders, and the Drive for Muscularity in Gay and Heterosexual Men,” Journal of Homosexuality 47, (2004): 47-8, Accessed May 13, 2018.
[xvi]
[xvi] Duggan, Scott, and Donal McCreary, “Body Image, Eating Disorders, and the Drive for Muscularity in Gay and Heterosexual Men,” Journal of Homosexuality 47, (2004): 48, Accessed May 13, 2018.
[xvi] Duggan, Scott, and Donal McCreary, “Body Image, Eating Disorders, and the Drive for Muscularity in Gay and Heterosexual Men,” Journal of Homosexuality 47, (2004): 48, Accessed May 13, 2018.
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