%22The Male Terrain%22- A Study of Male Objectification in Men's Health Australia Magazine Advertising
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Abstract
This thesis examines the nature of male objectification in six consecutive monthly
editions of Men’s Health Australia magazine advertisements. The primary research
questions were: are male bodies being objectified Men’s Health Australia magazine
advertising? What is the nature of male objectification? These questions were answered
through a mixed methods approach that utilised both qualitative and quantitative tools in
order to define objectification, justify image selection, and analyse those images. The
qualitative themes used for this study, which focused on the hand use, facial features,
gaze, head position, body position, activity and effectiveness of the male model, were
derived from Mager and Helgeson’s “Fifty Years of Advertising Images: Some Changing
Perspectives on Role Portrayals Along with Enduring Consistencies” (2010) and Goffman’s
Gender Advertisements (1979). The results showed that male bodies were being
objectified. The results also showed that there was a high representation of functional,
capable and active bodies, which displayed a sense of embodied power. However, there
also appeared to be a space in sexualised male imagery for the appreciation of the body in
terms of its aesthetic prowess, with the presentation of some immobile, vulnerable,
passive and less domineering subjects. This thesis provided an extension to the limited
number of qualitative studies on male objectification in magazine advertisements. This
thesis also contributes to the dearth of studies using Australian data.
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Acknowledgments
This thesis would not have been possible without the kindness, guidance and support of
my supervisor, Dr Lauren Rosewarne. Thank you for the countless hours of recorrecting
drafts, your continual encouragement, and always pushing me to produce my best work.
To my family, especially my mother Eileen Luscombe and grandmother Grace Luscombe –
thank you for your enduring support, reassurance, love and understanding.
Thank you to my friend, Caroline Meston, for keeping me sane and offering sound advice.
Last, but not least, thank you to my partner Vincent Chapman, whose belief in me and
support was vital this year.
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Introduction
This thesis examines the representation and sexual objectification of men in 2016
Men’s Health Australia magazine advertisements. In our increasingly consumerist
economy, advertisers are using sexual objectification in order to draw the attention of
consumers and stand out amongst the “tremendous clutter” of advertisements (Dahl et al
2009, 215). The competitive nature of advertising requires advertisers to create images
that are increasingly “graphic and intense to evoke the same degree of attention and
arousal as it did initially” (Reichert & Carpenter 2004, 825). This thesis seeks to uncover
the current climate of sexual objectification in this state of continual evolution and
intensification.
The influential nature of advertising as a medium necessitates this research.
Advertising is a highly persuasive and discursive form of communication that disseminates
information about our social, gendered world (Goffman 1979; Soley & Reid 1988; Reichert
& Lambiase 2003; McKee 2003). The messages communicated through advertising
simultaneously represent and affect social ideas about gender and sexuality. As sexualised
male imagery affects social perceptions about male sexuality, advertisements featuring
objectified male bodies are worthy of examination.
Traditionally, the sexualisation of women in advertising has dominated attention in
objectification research. However, contemporary scholars have begun to recognise that it
is not just female bodies that are commodified and sexualised in popular media and
advertising (Soley & Reid 1988; Kervin 1990; Simpson, Horton & Brown 1996; Kolbe &
Albanese 1996; Bordo 1999; Reichert et al 1999; Pope, Phillips & Olivardia 2000; Rohlinger
2002; Law & Labre 2002; Alexander 2003; Reichert & Lambiase 2003; Reichert & Carpenter
2004; Saucier & Caron 2008; Mager & Helgeson 2010; Hatton & Trautner 2011).
Sociologist Deana Rohlinger claims in “Eroticizing Men: Cultural Influences on Advertising
and Male Objectification” (2002) that, even if sexualised images of men and women
produce different social meanings, the social effects are similar: “[t]he body becomes an
object that is disciplined, manipulated, and viewed by others” (70). Compared to the
plethora of studies on objectified women, few similar studies have been conducted about
men.
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In this thesis, I aim to contribute to the burgeoning area of male objectification
studies by exploring their sexualised representation in advertising. I collected six
consecutive monthly editions of Men’s Health Australia magazine, from May to October
2016, and then conducted a content analysis of all full-page, sole-male advertisements
featuring objectification from this period.
As I shed light on how advertisements in Men’s Health Australia present sexualised
males, I aim to provide detailed answers to the following research questions: are male
bodies being objectified in Men’s Health Australia magazine advertising? If so, how? What
is the nature of male objectification? In order to answer these research questions, I took a
mixed methods approach that utilised both quantitative and qualitative tools. By
conducting a mixed methods analysis, this thesis aims to contribute to the dearth of
qualitative research on male objectification, as quantitative research is hegemonic in the
communications field. I also contribute by analysing recent, Australian data, which is a
highly under-researched area.
Previous studies on the representation of men in advertising have cited that male
bodies are frequently portrayed as dominant, active and powerful in comparison to female
bodies (Goffman 1979; Kolbe & Albanese 1996; Kang 1997; Reichert et al 1999; Reichert &
Lambiase 2003; Law & Labre 2002). In that, advertising theorists have claimed that men
traditionally present as resistant to objectification (Kolbe & Albanese 1996). However,
recent research suggests that objectified male bodies are becoming more subject to
sexualisation in advertising (Reichert et al 1999; Pope, Phillips & Olivardia 2000; Rohlinger
2002; Reichert & Lambiase 2003; Reichert & Carpenter 2004; Mager & Helgeson 2010).
This study uses a particular framework from the research of Mager and Helgeson to
explore the presentation of objectified men in this sexually political landscape (2010).
Structurally, this thesis has three central chapters. The first, Chapter One:
Literature Review, traces the dominant trends in objectification studies and highlights the
gaps in the research. In this chapter, I demonstrate the hegemony of quantitative studies,
the paucity of qualitative studies and the lack of Australian data in objectification studies
on male bodies. I attest to the need for research to move beyond the confines of previous
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literature in order to provide more meaningful insight into the gendered nature of male
objectification.
Chapter Two: Methodology delineates the methodological choices that govern my
approach to research in this thesis. I explain the rationale for data collection, as well as my
chosen mixed methods approach, research questions, hypotheses and themes for analysis.
This chapter also provides a discussion of the history, merits and limitations of each
chosen methodological tool. Throughout, I raise important theoretical questions about
epistemology, ontology and the place of the researcher.
Chapter Three: Findings presents the results of my analysis, in terms of the
hypotheses, themes and research questions. The results of my study indicated that men
are being sexualised in Men’s Health Australia magazine advertising. The results of my
study also suggest that the representation of sexualised men as dominant, active,
powerful and capable subjects persists. Some aspects of my results, however, suggest that
sexualised men are also being presented as passive, vulnerable and less domineering. To
end this chapter, I offer a discussion of the limitations of this study, as well as consider the
relationship between my research and similar studies.
Finally, I conclude this thesis by reflecting on the success of my study and
suggesting prospects for future research. Overall, I demonstrate that the subject matter in
this thesis is an area that needs and deserves further examination.
