The Construction of Masculine Identities in British Magazines-Thesis

UNIVERSITÀ DEGLI STUDI DI SASSARI
DIPARTIMENTO DI SCIENZE UMANISTICHE E SOCIALI
CORSO DI LAUREA IN LINGUE, CULTURE E COMUNICAZIONE INTERNAZIONALE
(LM38)
The Construction of Masculine Identities in
British Magazines
RELATORE:
PROF. ANTONIO PINNA
CORRELATORE:
PROF. DAVID BRETT
TESI DI LAUREA DI:
VALERIA ELEONORA FLORIS
ANNO ACCADEMICO 2013/2014

Table of Contents
I. Introduction....................................................................................................................................3
II. Critical Discourse Analysis...........................................................................................................5
II.I. What is Critical Discourse Analysis?.......................................................................................5
II.II. The relation between Social Sciences and Textual Analysis...................................................8
II.III. Text: how are voices intertwined?.......................................................................................12
II.IV. CDA set of analytical tools..................................................................................................14
II.V. MCDA set of tools.................................................................................................................21
III. Masculinity: gender construction............................................................................................25
III.I. Doing gender.........................................................................................................................25
III.II. The categorization of gender...............................................................................................29
III.III. Representation of masculinity in mass media....................................................................32
IV. Masculinity in Men's Magazines: An Analysis........................................................................35
IV.I. Methodology.........................................................................................................................35
IV.II. Text analysis.........................................................................................................................36
IV.II.I From Zero to Hero: The Italian Stallion.......................................................................36
IV.II.II The man who made science cool: The Nerd Type.......................................................40
IV.II.III Iron Guy: From Bodybuilder to Existentialist Type...................................................45
V. Conclusion....................................................................................................................................52
VI. Appendix.....................................................................................................................................54
VII. Bibliography.............................................................................................................................72
2

I. Introduction
People experience gender construction since their birth. It is indeed an inherent norm to
distinguish babies between males or females. And it is according to this distinction that they are
taught how to behave, how to dress, how to talk, and even how to perceive the world. As a result,
gender is embedded so thoroughly in society that people think of it as to be completely natural. In
this sense, it is evident that institutions and mass media play a fundamental role. They teach people
what their place in society is since they are very young. On the one hand, a little boy experiences
masculinity by playing with his friends outdoor, watching football matches on TV, and dreaming of
being a warrior through video games. On the other hand, a little girl learns how to be feminine by
combing her Barbie doll's hair, watching movies about beautiful princesses, and trying the make-up
with her girlfriends. Obviously, society surrounds them by thousands of models that teach them
what being masculine or feminine mean. Nevertheless, dominant ideologies and false beliefs have
not prevented important social and cultural changes. In the 1900s, society started to see traces of a
change. Simone De Beauvoir's striking revelation has had a great impact on scientific and
humanistic studies. Researchers and intellectuals started to think of gender not as given, but as an
accomplishment. In line with this point of view, Anthony Giddens has given an important
contribution by focusing his work on the great changes this new perspective has had in late-
modernity. Despite what old beliefs taught us, people start to be aware of the fact that outdated
ideologies can be unravelled. Butler's Queer Theory is an evident result of how society has been
changing, too. People indeed begin to be thought of as individuals whose role in society is not
imposed by their sex or their gender, but rather by their being themselves.
The great changes society is seeing nowadays are undeniable. Nevertheless, it does not seem to be
enough. Despite the great efforts scientific and humanistic studies have made so far, institutions and
mass media are still teaching how to and requiring that individuals be gendered. This belief is
indeed so naturalised in society that it is clearly hard to eradicate. Still, as Eckert and McConnell-
Ginet assert, 'It is precisely because gender seems natural, and beliefs about gender seem to be
obvious truths, that we need to step back and examine gender from a new perspective' 1. It is
therefore essential to adopt a new approach to the issue. In line with this purpose, my study deals
with a particular aspect of gender construction: masculinity. My aim is indeed to show how the
representation of man has changed in modern society. I will therefore carry out a sociolinguistic
analysis on how the masculine figure is depicted in men’s British magazines. Specifically, I will
1 Penelope Eckert and Sally McConnell-Ginet, Language and Gender, Cambridge University Press, 2013, p. 1
3

focus on three different stereotypes: the Italian Stallion type, the Nerd type, and the Existentialist
type. The first one follows the traces of the classical representation of masculinity. It indeed
functions as a parameter in order to see the evident differences the Nerd type and the Existentialist
type show. In the first case study, I therefore expect to find images where the character's physical
shape is especially highlighted. Moreover, I suppose his qualities will be related especially to his
strength and resolution. As to the second case study, on the other hand, I expect him to have a
modest body and a smart personality. I also expect to encounter many functional honorifics, as well
as adjectives referring to his cleverness. As to the third case study, I finally expect to find his
thoughtful personality reflected in both images and article.
In the following chapters, I will illustrate the main grounds on which my analysis stands. Chapter
1 introduces the salient concept of ideology and the main set of tools I have used to carry out my
analysis. I will therefore make reference to Fairclough's main concepts of critical discourse analysis
(CDA), as well as Kress's and Van Leeuwen's studies on multimodal critical discourse analysis
(MCDA). Chapter 2 deals with gender construction and its representation in modern society. I will
start by explaining Anthony Giddens's main features of late-modernity and the role of individuals in
contemporary society. Next, I will mention the great contribution of Butler's Queer Theory, as well
as the important concepts of stereotype and style. I will conclude the chapter making reference to
Easthope's concept of dominant masculinity and its gradual evolution in mass media. Chapter 3
presents at my sociolinguistic analysis on the representation of masculinity in men's magazines. I
will first make clearance on the methodology I have followed. Next, I will carry out my analysis on
three men’s stereotypical representations in more details.
4

Chapter 1
II. Critical Discourse Analysis
II.I. What is Critical Discourse Analysis?
The present study is grounded in the interdisciplinary approach known as Critical Discourse
Analysis (CDA). This approach is best characterized as a combination of linguistic and sociological
methods of analysing discourse that allow the researcher to interpret texts as social constructions
with a potential to provide its users with a convincing, reliable Weltanschauung. Or to put it
differently, CDA studies how meaning is created through the relation between non-linguistic social
practice and language practice. This approach is associated to several sociolinguists who dedicated
their lives to improve its analytic methods, as for example Kress (1985), Van Leeuwen (1996), Van
Dijk (1991), Wodak (1989), Fairclough (1989), and Caldas Coulthard (1997).2 I will only take into
consideration the work of some of them, with particular focus on Fairclough's work. In this chapter,
I am going to describe the fundamental tenets of CDA and will also make reference to some
concepts of social science which explain the correlation between language and social practice.
Second, I will talk about how social practices are applied in textual analysis on the basis of
Fairclough's studies. I will then explain what genres, orders of discourse and styles are, as well as
their dialectical relations and the evolution of genres in post-modern society. Third, I am going to
clarify how voices are intertwined in texts and the way to recognize assumptions and intertextuality.
Finally, I will show the CDA and MCDA (Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis) sets of tools I
have used in my study on men's magazines. But before starting, I find it essential to make an
introduction about what CDA basically aims at unveiling: ideologies.
Ideology is a crucial concept in Critical Discourse Analysis. In Western society, it can be
exemplified by the definition given by Fairclough in his work Analysing Discourse: 'Ideologies are
representations of aspects of the world which can be shown to contribute to establishing,
maintaining and changing social relations of power, domination and exploitation' 3. When he makes
this statement, the main aspect of society he has in mind is capitalism and its consequent
phenomenon of globalization. However, one can see a similar point of view in the critical
2 David Machin and Andrea Mayr, How to do Critical Discourse Analysis, A Multimodal Introduction, Glasgow,
Sage, 2012, p. 1.
3 Norman Fairclough, Analysing Discourse, London, Routledge, 2003, p. 156
5

reflections of several key Western philosophers. First, it can be found in one of the fundamental
assumptions of classical Marxism (1976a):
In the social production of their existence men enter into definite, necessary relations which
are independent of their will, namely, relations of production corresponding to a determinate
stage of development of their material forces of production. The totality of these relations of
production constitutes the economic structure of society, the real foundation on which there
arises a legal and political superstructure and to which there correspond definite forms of social
consciousness. The mode of production of material life conditions the social, political and
intellectual life process in general4.
According to John Storey's book Cultural Theory and Popular Culture, '[w]hat Marx is
suggesting here is that the way a society organizes the means of its economic production will have a
determining effect on the type of culture that society produces or makes possible' 5. Or to put it
differently, economic means and production have a direct influence on the culture of society and on
the different levels of social life. This fundamental view is indeed valid for contemporary society
just as it was for previous epochs. One can see how concrete this is, for instance, in the
phenomenon of what Fairclough calls New Capitalism- whose definition entails the main features
of a capitalistic society to transform itself according to economic needs (Fairclough, 2003). This
aspect is also reflected in Marx's concept of Ideological Forms (Marx, 1976a: 5)6. That is,
discourse and texts in any kind of form always entail a particular thought or image of the world,
which is usually in line with the dominant one. Here there is an explicit reference to the hegemonic
feature of society (Gramsci, 1971)7. The latter concept maintains that the representation of a
society is led, generally speaking, by a dominant voice which prevails on the others to the point that
dominated groups are persuaded to adopt it as their own. This view is reflected in texts as well,
which present ideological assumptions. Hegemony is an extremely important concept in ideology
because it helps sustain relations of power that are then reproduced in social practices. In fact, as
Althusser states, ideology is not only a body of ideas, but it also finds its fulfilment in material
practice8. It is therefore obvious that ideology is embodied in the practices of everyday life, giving
birth to a social order also recognized as social conventions. What I am suggesting here is that,
being language the reflection of representations of society, it can also be seen as the vehicle through
which ideological assumptions are spread. Nevertheless, it is also true that language is a social
4 John Storey, Cultural Theory and Popular Culture, An Introduction, Harlow, Pearson Longman, 2009, p. 3
5 Ibidem
6 Ibidem
7 Norman Fairclough, Op. cit., 2003, p. 34
8 John Storey, Op. cit., 2009, p. 4-5
6

practice itself. Foucault explains it in terms of discourse. He in fact sustains that discourse works in
three ways- that is, it enables, it constrains, and it constructs. Therefore, he says, discourses are
'practices that systematically form the objects of which they speak'9. In these terms, he adds that
language is a discourse itself since it enables one to speak, it constrains what one can say and it
constitutes one as a speaking object. I will discuss the latter function of language in more detail in
the next chapter. What I want to focus on here are the first two functions, which see language as a
way through which people seek to promote a certain image of the world (Hodge and Kress, 1988).
As a result, when people produce texts, they are explicitly building a phenomenon known as
naturalisation- that is, they make that image appear natural and commonsensical10. This is the
main idea that CDA researchers have in common. Since language both shapes and is shaped by
society, CDA researchers’ aim is to unravel the assumptions, values and identities constructed by
the dominant ideology and have a better understanding of our society and the world people live in.
In order to understand CDA’s approach to texts, I will also make reference to Michael Halliday's
invaluable contribution to Systemic Functional Linguistics. Halliday's work is indeed particularly
focused on the relationship between language and the elements of social life. However, as
Fairclough points out in his book Analysing Discourse (2003), SFL and CDA do not precisely
coincide since they have different aims. Indeed, what Halliday's approach to text analysis lacks is
what Fairclough calls transdisciplinary dialogue- that is, the dialogue between different
disciplines11. In this case, he is talking about an approach that sees the meeting of language and
discourse with social theory and research. Put simply, he aims at finding an approach in which
social analysis functions as a frame to textual analysis so as to reveal the linguistic strategies that
create power relations at work in the society. But where should one take the tools for social analysis
from? Fairclough points out that he sees analysis of texts as a part of Social Science:
The position I take is a realist one, based on the realist ontology: both concrete social
events and abstract social structure, as well as the rather less abstract social practice [...] are
part of reality. We can make a distinction between the 'potential' and the 'actual'- what is
possible because of nature (constraints and allowances) of social structures and practices, as
opposed to what actually happens. Both need to be distinguished from the 'empirical', what
we know about reality. […] Reality (the potential, the actual) cannot be reduced to our
knowledge of reality, which is contingent, shifting, and partial. This applies also to texts: we
should not assume that the reality of texts is exhausted by our knowledge about texts. One
9 Ivi, p. 128
Sage, 2012, p. 2-3.
11 Norman Fairclough, Analysing Discourse, Great Britain, Routledge, 2003, p. 161
7

consequence is that we should assume that no analysis of a text can tell us all there is to be
said about it-there is no such thing as a complete and definitive analysis of a text.12
I think Fairclough's idea here is pretty clear. What he is suggesting is that social analysis should
be based on the realist approach in which the main distinction on reality is between what he calls
the potential- what is possible to happen because of constraints and allowances of nature- the
actual- that is, what actually happens- and finally, the empirical- what is experienced and therefore
known by people about reality. By relying on critical social science, one is able to develop a social
analysis which can then be related to text analysis, though one has always to bear in mind that one
cannot expect that reality will all be included in our knowledge, but that it is, on the contrary,
always contingent, shifting and partial. Therefore, one cannot either expect that the analysis of a
text will reveal every concealed detail of the text itself. In this way, since one is aware of the
impossibility to reach full knowledge, texts will be studied and analysed over and over again so as
to unveil different hidden details and find out new elements of implicitness.
II.II. The relation between Social Sciences and Textual Analysis
A necessary step in the development of the argument is the detailed explanation of the important
relationship between social science and textual analysis. But first, I am going to present the main
concepts Fairclough uses as a basis for his studies on texts. The linguist distinguishes three main
causal powers that shape texts: social agents, social structures and social practices.
Social agents are the individuals involved in social events. They are, for definition, socially
constrained. In fact, the social environment, as well as its culture and social life are all elements that
influence an individual's values and construe his/her identity. However, I will deal longer with this
topic in the second chapter, since my intent now is to delve a little longer on how social structures
and social practices work. They are, indeed, two extremely important aspects in social life, strictly
correlated to one another. Social structures can be seen as abstract entities that frame the social
environment in which social agents act. One can indeed talk about economic structure, social class,
kinship system, and so forth. The main function of social structures is to define a set of possibilities-
that is, the equivalent of the potential in social science. The same can be said for the role of the
actual that is, in this context, associated to the function of social events. However, Fairclough points
out that the relationship between these two forces is a very complex one. As he declares, '[e]vents
are not in any simple or direct way the effect of abstract social structures. Their relationship is
mediated, as there are intermediate organisational entities between structures and events. Let us call
12 Ivi, p. 13
8

these social practices' 13. Basically, what Fairclough is suggesting here is that social practices are
ways through which the potentiality of social structures are restricted. Their function is to select
some structural possibilities and exclude others in order to clarify the nature of the actual - that is,
social events – to members of a given community or society. However, my aim in this chapter is not
to discuss about social science and philosophy. What I am interested in is, on the other hand, to
examine how this pattern can help clarify the process of textual analysis. Fairclough applies this
knowledge to critical discourse analysis in order to grasp the implicitness in texts that could not
have been revealed in previous studies. One can see all these social elements respectively as:
• Social structures: Languages;
• Social practices: Orders of discourse;
• Social events: Texts.
In terms of CDA, social structures are reflected in the role of languages. Fairclough points out that
language itself is an essential element of the social at all level. In this case, it represents the
restricted set of linguistic possibilities individuals can use in order to create meaning. Orders of
discourse are, on the other hand, identified as discourses, genres and styles, which all tend to
influence both grammatical and lexical aspects of language. The role of the orders of discourse is,
like social practices, to restrict and control linguistic choice and variability. However, things are not
that easy in terms of critical discourse analysis either. In fact, language cannot be considered as a
pure element. It is indeed liable to mingle with other social elements, which give birth to a
phenomenon known as the overdetermination of language (Althusser and Balibar, 1970)14.
Therefore, as Fairclough explains,
[…] orders of discourse are the social organization and control of linguistic variation, and
their elements (discourses, genres, styles) are correspondingly not purely linguistic categories
but categories which cut across the division between language and 'non-language', the
discoursal and the non-discoursal. When we come to texts as elements of social events, the
'overdetermination' of language by other social elements become massive: texts are not just
effects of linguistic structures and orders of discourse, they are also effects of other social
structures, and of social practices in all their aspects, so that it becomes difficult to separate
out the factors shaping texts.15
13 Ivi, p. 18
14 Ivi, p. 19
15 Ibidem.
9

Since language is overdetermined by other social elements, orders of discourse have also the role
to go beyond the marked boundaries and define what is language and non-language, discoursal and
non-discoursal. Therefore, texts are the result of an ensemble of intertwined social structures and
social practices so well entrenched that they sometimes are very difficult to identify.
As I have mentioned above, orders of discourse can be identified respectively in three aspects:
• Genre (ways of acting);
• Discourse (ways of representing);
• Style (ways of being).
Genre reflects the social agents' different ways of acting and interacting through speaking and
writing. An example can be the genre of interviewing, where the interviewer makes questions and
the interviewee gives answers. The pattern is very structured and entails a particular use of
language, and therefore implicit rules are to follow at different levels. Therefore:
• Semantic relations between clauses and sentences are required;
• At the level of the clause, it demands particular types of exchange, speech functions, moods,
and so forth;
• It also demands a particular mode of intertextuality- that is, ways of adding and embodying
utterances from other texts.
As to discourse, on the other hand, Fairclough prefers not to rely on the definition given by
Foucault. In this case, in discourse he sees the different representations of the world. One cannot see
the social world as an objective entity, but as a multifaceted phenomenon characterized by different
dimensions that influence the use of language. Finally, style entails the social agents' different ways
of being. Their use of language is obviously influenced by their social and personal identity, as well
as their behaviour and personal background. I will discuss further the function of style in Chapter 2
since it is a salient aspect of the representation of social actors.
In accordance with this distinction, Fairclough realizes the different aspects that reflect the
multifunctionality of texts. As Halliday's proposal in his theory of Systemic Functional Linguistics
(1978, 1994) 16 points out, texts have ideational, interpersonal and textual functions. That is,
16 Ivi, p. 21
10

[…] texts simultaneously represent aspects of the world (in the physical world, the social
world, the mental world); enact social relations between participants in social events and the
attitudes, desires and values of participants; and coherently and cohesively connect parts of
texts together, and connect texts with their situational contexts.17
Respectively, Fairclough calls these textual functions types of meaning. Relying on Halliday's
classification, he suggests that representation is meant to reflect an interpretation of the different
aspects of the world. The action, on the other hand, reflects the different ways social agents act and
interact in social events. Finally, identification defines social agents' ways of being and their
consequent ways of reflecting themselves through language. These types of meaning do not work
individually. On the contrary, they are strictly connected in a relation defined as dialectical
(Fairclough 2001a, Harvey 1996a)18. It is indeed the basic way our modern society works. Social
practices are networked together in different domains and different levels of social life. The results
of this network include transformations in social practices, orders of discourse and, consequently, in
the interconnection of texts. Texts respectively reflect the transformations of society and are, at the
same time, a crucial part of it. A very clear example of this kind of transformations are genres and
their structures. As I have already explained, genres are supposed to present a basic and
homogeneous structure that includes specific semantic and grammatical relations. Nevertheless, the
changes our society is recently subject to have caused several variations in the basic configurations
of some genres. The result of it is that some genres are quite variable and in flux. This phenomenon
is called genre chains; that is, the systemic transformation of texts that see different genres linked
together, changing their own nature. Differently from past literature, one cannot indeed define
genres with a specific term. Some genres have defined names according to the social practices in
which they are used, others do not. For this reason, Fairclough talks about different levels of
abstraction. When a genre is on a high level of abstraction, it means that the category in question is
widely general. An example of it can be the narrative genre. Nowadays, it is a category that involves
many other types of narratives, such as conversational narratives, stories reported in the press or on
television. In their transformation process, genres follow a particular step called re-
contextualization. When different genres are intermingled, they are indeed re-contextualized; that
is, they are re-elaborated and then adapted to a new context where all the different elements and
aspects work together and become commonsensical.
17 Ivi, p. 21
18 Ivi, p. 20
11

II.III.Text: how are voices intertwined?
As I have suggested, texts are not sterile forms of discourse, nor is language a pure means of
communication. As Barthes states, a text is 'a multi dimensional space in which a variety of
writings, none of them original, blend and clash. The text is a tissue of quotations drawn from the
innumerable centres of culture'.19 Every discourse ever made, be it spoken or written, entails hybrid
genres and different voices all networked in order to work together and create commonsense.
Critical discourse analysis aims at working on texts at different levels so as to unravel what is
implicit and unsaid. On this purpose, Fairclough (2003)20 indicates two relational approaches to
take:
• Analysis of external relations of texts;
• Analysis of internal relations of texts.
The former involves the analysis of the relation between the different dimensions of social life,
which I have already discussed above. The latter implies, on the other hand, an analysis of several
relations of elements strictly related to the linguistic aspects of texts; that is, semantic and
grammatical relations, vocabulary or lexical relations, phonology and graphology. In this way, one
is also able to analyse the elements in presentia and in absentia. This approach, in fact, has as its
aim to find not only the elements actually present in the text- also known as syntagmatic relations
- but also what have might have been present but is not - that is, paradigmatic relations. In order
to do so, the analysis of internal relations is carried out on different levels:
• Semantic relations- they involve the relations between words and long expressions, or
between elements of clauses.
• Grammatical relations- they are about the morphological aspect of texts (e.g. 'bald' and
'ness' in 'baldness'), or how words work in order to link together in phrases and clauses, and
so forth.
• Vocabulary- this aspect of analysis aims to find all those lexical relations which are subject
of Applied Linguistics, such as collocations, patterns of co-occurrence, lexical bundles and
elements of phraseology.
Speaking of elements in presentia and elements in absentia, it is important to distinguish two
19 John Storey, Cultural Theory and Popular Culture, an Introduction, Pearson and Longman, p. 126
12

ways of embodying explicit and implicit voices in texts: intertextuality and assumptions.
Intertextuality is the specific presence of elements of other texts within a text. Voices of other texts
can be applied in a text in different ways. For this reason, it is not always easy to identify them with
great precision. Fairclough suggests that the analyst starts her investigations by wondering, “Which
texts and voices are included, which are excluded, and what significant absences are there?”21 By
following this thread, one can distinguish four ways through which intertextuality is enacted:
• Direct reporting- which entails quotations.
• Indirect reporting- it is the concept of another text rephrased in a summary.
• Free Indirect reporting- it is a combination of direct and indirect reports. This kind of
intertextuality is especially used in literary language.
• Narrative report of speech act- which reports the sort of speech act without reporting its
content (e.g. She made a prediction)22.
Assumptions are, differently from intertextual elements, implicit concepts. They create the
ideological background on which a text is elaborated. Texts, indeed, always make assumptions. One
can distinguish three main types:
• Existential assumptions- that is, assumptions on what exists;
• Prepositional assumptions- i.e., assumption about what is, can be, or will be the case;
• Value assumptions- i.e., assumptions about what is durable or desirable.
Nevertheless, Fairclough also makes reference to another classification of assumptions. It is
indeed a categorization made by Verschueren that sees a deeper and more detailed distinction:
• Presuppositions- which are basically the kinds of assumptions Fairclough makes reference
to;
• Logical implications- which entail implicit meaning hidden in features of language (e.g. 'I
have been studying English for 10 years' implies that I am still studying since I am using the
21 Ivi, p. 36
22 Ivi, p.38
13

present perfect continuous);
• Standard conversational implicatures- which are, according to H. Paul Grice (1989)23,
assumptions whose content is not explicitly said but, at the same time, does not result as
hidden. It is indeed an implicated content that the text producer wants to be recognized.
• Non-standard conversational implicatures- differently from the standard conversational
implicatures, they are assumptions kept hidden on purpose.
As one can see, other texts can be embodied in a text in different ways. However, it is important
to understand how these explicit and implicit meanings work when put together. Fairclough talks
about a process called dialogicality of a text. In this case, the linguist makes reference to the
concept of dialogicality introduced by Bakhtin (1981, 1986a, 1986b)24. According to the Russian
philosopher, all texts are dialogical since they inherently embody voices from previous texts. He
also suggests that language itself appears as dialogical. It can be explicitly seen, for instance, in the
inherent ability of a word to acquire meanings used in the past. Therefore, one can say that words
have their own history, and their use is consequently influenced by it. The interaction of different
voices in a text works in the same way. Critical discourse analysis uses Bakhtin's concept of
dialogicality to explain how texts are the result of a series of ideological assumptions and
intertextual elements.
II.IV.CDA’s set of analytical tools
In the previous sections I have set the theoretical context of CDA by illustrating its aims and
essential relationship with social science. I have also mentioned how different voices are
intertwined in texts and how social representations, social events and social practices work together
in terms of genres, orders of discourse and styles. At this point, I am finally going to talk about the
set of tools I will use in my analysis in order to identify and dismantle ideological elements.
The first step of linguistic analysis is lexical analysis. At this starting point, I am going to focus
on the vocabulary and lexical elements that compose texts. First, it is relevant to take a look at the
basic choice of words used by the text producer. Thanks to Sinclair's contribution to Applied
Linguistics and his studies on how meaning is created through language, it is widely known that
language is composed of lexical and grammatical elements that follow specific patterns. Therefore,
since language is phraseological, one's choice to select a particular word will always be restricted
23 Norman Fairclough, Op. cit., 2003, p. 45
24 Ivi, p. 32
14

(Sinclair, 1991) 25. Nevertheless, it is the producer who decides what kind of meaning to create, and
therefore what type of linguistic expression to use. It is thus important to ask what kind of discourse
the words in a given text create, what kind of world they constitute and what kind of interests they
serve. In line with this purpose, one might also find a lexical phenomenon known as
overlexicalisation. According to Teo's studies, overlexicalisation results 'when a surfeit of
repetitions, quasi-synonymous terms is woven into the fabric of news discourse, giving rise to a
sense of over-completeness' 26. That is, a text is overlexicalised when it has a certain number of
repetitions and synonyms in order to repeat a specific concept. It is used as a means of over-
persuasion and is therefore common when it is used for ideological purposes. However, just as texts
can be overlexicalised, they can also be subject to the opposite phenomenon, called suppression,
which indeed sees the omission of lexical items. In this case, one can ask what terms are missing in
the text and why the producer has decided for their exclusion. It is indeed a strategic tool, most of
the times used by producers on purpose. However, text producers might also decide to create
contrast between two concepts implicitly.
As I have broadly discussed, texts are inherently dialogical. Therefore, the fact that different
voices and ideologies from other texts are networked in order to create new meaning is unavoidable.
For what concerns intertexuality and reported quotes in a text, lexical analysis focuses on quoting
verbs- that is, verbs chosen to represent how someone has spoken. Despite what one might think,
quoting verbs have a considerable impact on the way in which authors can shape perceptions of
events. They can indeed stress participants' moderation, attitude or personality. According to Caldas
Coulthard's study (1994)27, quoting verbs can be defined schematically as:
• Neutral structuring verbs- which introduce a saying objectively (e.g. say, tell, ask, inquire,
reply, answer, and so forth). The absence of evaluation can cause a lack of personalisation in
the representation of participants;
• Metapropositional verbs- which mark the author's interpretation of a speaker. They can be
assertive (e.g. remark, explain, agree, accept, correct, announce, etc.), directive (e.g. urge,
instruct, order) or expressive (e.g. accuse, grumble, lament, confess, complain, claim, etc.);
• Metalinguistic verbs- their use helps specify what kind of language is used by a speaker
25 John Sinclair, Corpus, Concordance, Collocation, 1991, Oxford University Press.
Sage, 2012, p. 37.
27 David Machin and Andrea Mayr, Op. cit, 2012, p. 59
15

(e.g. narrate, quote, recount);
• Descriptive verbs- they aim at describing participants' attitudes and power relations.
Therefore, the tone of a speaker’s voice is particularly relevant in this case. For this reason,
they can be distinguished between prosodic- that involves loudness and pitch emotion (e.g.
cry, intone, shout, yell, scream)- voice qualifier- that entails manner (e.g. whisper, murmur,
mutter)- and paralinguistic- that sees verbs such as laugh, giggle, sigh, gasp and groan;
• Transcript verbs- which stress the development of discourse and relate quotations to other
parts of a text. In this case, one can distinguish between verbs of relation to other parts of
discourse (such as repeat, echo, add, amend, and so forth) and discourse signalling verbs
(which see verbs like pause, go on, hesitate, continue, etc.);
As one can see, when carrying out lexical analysis, it is inevitable to deal with the representation
of individuals. For this reason, Van Leeuwen (1996)28 has classified the different ways through
which social actors can be distinguished:
• Personalisation and impersonalisation- in this case, one can ask to what extent
participants are personalised or impersonalised. For instance, in the sentence 'The hospital is
suing me', the use of the impersonalised term hospital gives a certain weight to the statement
since it is not involved just a person, but a whole institution.
• Individualisation and collectivisation- in lexical analysis, it might be relevant to see if
participants are described as individuals or as a group (e.g., the miners, the Italians, etc.).
Most of the times, when they are defined as individuals, it means that the text producer
wants to stress their being humans and get them closer to the reader/listener. In a sentence
like 'Two women, Jane Smith and Patty McConnelly, died in a car accident today', readers
are more inclined to feel empathy for the two participants, who are defined with their own
names rather than anonymously.
• Specification and genericisation- it is also relevant to notice whether participants are
represented as specific individuals or as a generic type. In a sentence like 'A black man stole
a car today', one can clearly see that the man in question is defined as a type. In some
circumstances, the use of genericisation could have a discriminating effect.
• Nomination and functionalisation. Participants can be identified with their own name or
28 Ivi, p. 79
16

simply with a term that entails what they do. In the example 'Hollande said that France is the
greatest country in the world', the individual in question is mentioned with his name. If it
were functionalised, it would have been defined as 'The current President of France'. This
kind of classification might have different effects according to the circumstances and the
level of social class. For instance, the use of nomination might imply honour or low
consideration depending on the popular appreciation acquired by the individual.
Nevertheless, the use of fuctionalisation might sound more official, and therefore express
legitimacy, or reduce people to a simple role, all the same.
• Use of Honorifics- in case a text producer wants to convey honour through
functionalisation, he/she will be inclined to use an official title. The term will in fact refer to
the individual's role suggesting a certain degree of respect (such as Judge, or Professor) at
the same time.
• Objectivisation- when participants are objectivised, they are identified with a particular
image that reduces them to some features. This might easily be seen in the metaphorical
function of personification/objectification. An example is the term 'A bundle of joy' referring
to a baby. However, this kind of form of classification can also be used when framing
ideological squaring, as Van Dijk sees in the example 'a beauty', which is often used to
reduce a woman to a mere aesthetic image.
• Anonymisation- in some particular cases, especially in journalistic domain, participants can
also be anonymised. (e.g. 'A source has revealed...').
• Aggregation- participants are reduced to numbers and statistics. It is mostly used in
scientific, as well as journalistic domain. (e.g. 'Many thousands of English speakers...').
• Pronoun and noun- the use of noun and pronoun in particular circumstances is usually a
text producer's strategic work. Producers can indeed frame a particular kind of ideology by
classifying individuals in a specific way. In a text, for instance, the pronoun we can work in
opposition against the pronoun they. With regard to this, Fairclough points out that the
concepts of the pronoun we is sometimes slippery. It can indeed be used by text producers to
create power relations.
The next step in textual analysis is to look at how participants' actions are represented. To this
aim, it is not only important to pursue a lexical and grammatical analysis, but also to examine
17

semantic relations. For this reason, I am going to rely on Fairclough's classification according to the
linguistic meaning the clauses embody (2003)29. In fact, clauses can be distinguished by the type of
conjunctive devices. Therefore, one can find:
• Causal clauses- which can entail function of reason, consequence, purpose, conditional or
temporal. Respectively, this kind of clauses can be characterised by conjunctions such as
because, so, in order to, as a result of, if-clauses, when, while, and so forth;
• Additive clauses- which include several pieces of information. (e.g. 'My cat wasn't feeling
well yesterday and I had to get her seen by the vet');
• Elaborative clauses- they have explanation of the facts (e.g. 'My cat is really happy today:
she is running back and forth and playing all day');
• Contrastive clauses- which have opposite concepts (e.g. 'My cat is very devoted, but she
doesn't like to be touched by people for too long').
As one can see, three main types of elements are in action in clauses: participants, processes and
circumstances. Participants include both the doers of the process, as well as the done-tos- that is, the
person who is subjected to the action. Processes are represented by verbs and verbal groups. On the
other hand, circumstances are expressed with adverbial groups and prepositional phrases. By
studying their role in the clauses, one is able to analyse how they are represented in action. This part
of the semantic analysis is called transitivity, and its process involves the use of Halliday's
classification verbs (1994)30. These are listed below:
• Material process- this category entails verbs describing actions of doing- that is, verbs that
describe concrete actions that have a material result or consequence. The two key
participants are the actors and the goal. The latter basically includes the participants to
whom the process is directed (e.g. 'The drug dealer hit the policeman');
• Mental process- here one can find verbs related to senses. They can be verbs of cognition-
verbs that involve cognitive actions such as think, know and understand- verbs of affection-
that is, verbs that entail personal taste such as like, dislike- and finally verbs of perception-
include verbs related to senses like seeing, hearing, perceiving. All this kind of verbs allow
30 David Machin and Andrea Mayr, Op. cit, 2012, p. 104
18

one to create a certain link with the participants. By having information on their thoughts
and feelings, the listener/reader is able to feel empathy for them (e.g. 'The young girl
thought life would be better if she could have ice cream for breakfast every day');
• Behavioural process- these verbs denote psychological or physical behaviour. Basically,
they are a combination of material and mental processes. For instance, one can say that the
verb 'listen to' or 'look at' define a behavioural process because they describe a perception
that imply a physical effort on the part of the participant;
• Verbal process- this category includes any kind of verb that implies a verbal expression
(e.g. say, tell, chat);
• Relational process- it sees verbs that denote states of being. They also include things that
exist in relation with other things. Most of time, one can see relational process in clauses
with verbs such as become, define, symbolise, mark, stand for, and so forth;
• Existential process- it entails verbs that describes something that exists or happens, such as
exist, arise, occur, and so forth.
Once transitivity is individualized, one is able to identify the activated or passivated social actors
in clauses. According to Van Leeuwen (1996)31, the formers are participants that have direct power
in the action. In fact, they make things happen. On the other hand, the latter are passive actors; that
is, they are subject to the action. However, another phenomenon may also commonly occur. It might
happen that the text producer omits social actions on purpose. In this case, Fairclough talks of
abstraction. One can talk of concreteness when the representation of social events is specific. In
the opposite case, actions are generalised and non-specific. On this matter, one can distinguish two
way of concealment: nominalisation and presupposition. The former sees the replacement of verb
processes with noun constructions, which can therefore hide information that might be relevant such
as agents and responsibility for the action, but also the time and place of the action development.
The latter is, on the other hand, the way in which a text producer implies meanings without overtly
stating them. Basically, they are meanings that are clearly taken as given.
For what concerns people's identities through their use of language, it is important to analyse
texts in terms of modality. This can be defined as a system through which a text producer commits
himself/herself to a particular idea or opinion. According to Fairclough (2003)32, modality can
31 Ivi, p. 111
19

easily be identified in the use of hedges such as I believe, or I suppose, as well as by using modal
verbs, adjectives and adverbs. One can distinguish different types of modality according to the type
of exchange and speech function in use in the text. Schematically:
• Epistemic modality- it has to do with the text producer's commitment to the truth-validity
of his/her statement. This kind of modality takes into consideration the level of uncertainty
or certainty in a text producer's words. For instance, the sentence 'I might hang out with my
friends tonight' implies a certain level of uncertainty. In fact, I am not totally sure of what I
am going to do tonight;
• Deontic modality- this modality implies the level of influence that a text producer's
statement has. It denotes the level of power and persuasion on the hearers/readers. For
example, in the sentence 'You must cut sugar', I am compelling my interlocutor to follow my
instruction by using the modal verb of obligation must;
• Dynamic modality- It is related to possibility and ability overtly expressed in the statement.
It differentiates from the other modalities because it relatively works in an objective way. In
this case, the statement doesn't indeed commit to the text producer's opinion or thought. It
doesn't judge, nor does it persuade the public. In a sentence like 'I will play the guitar
tomorrow evening', I am not attempting to influence the receiver, nor am I expressing an
opinion that could imply subjectiveness towards a particular matter.
Apart from modal verbs and adjectives, modality can also be identified by other verbal markers
such as verbs of appearance (e.g. see, appear), as well as by modal adverbs such as in fact,
obviously, usually, often, always, and so forth.
Finally, I find important to dedicate a paragraph to metaphor and its important role in CDA
analysis. According to several linguists' studies, metaphor is an important means of expression in
language, which has a strong action in one's statement. It can indeed be used as a persuasive device
in political speeches, but also as an easy way of spreading ideologies. In the various ages of human
history, many metaphors and images have been elaborated in both verbal and written texts, but just
some of them are still in use nowadays. They are indeed the metaphors that express dominant
ideologies. They embody not only the way people think and understand the world, but also the
institutions that lead our society. As Fairclough (1995)33 points out, metaphors are a linguistic way
of hiding power relations. Therefore, it is essential to draw particular attention to them in text
33 Ivi, p. 164
20

analysis. Basically, one creates a metaphor when one displaces a concept from its source domain
and applies it in another. In this way, the concept can be easily understood by acquiring a new
image. According to Lakoff and Johnson (1980)34, what characterises the process of metaphorical
construction is the target domain and source domain. The former is the concept eradicated from its
domain while the latter is the image that disguises the concept in order to create metaphor. On this
purpose, one can distinguish different way through which one creates metaphors. They are called
rhetorical tropes and schematically are:
• Metaphor- which is the simplest way to understand a concept in terms of another (e.g. 'He
is the apple of my eyes');
• Hyperbole- that is, an implied comparison creating by exaggeration (e.g. 'My cat roared');
• Personification/Objectification- can be identified in the representation of inanimate object
for human qualities or abilities (e.g. 'That woman is a beauty');
• Metonimy- it implies the substitution of one thing with an image which is closely associated
to it. It is used in the process of impersonalisation of social actors I have previously
mentioned (e.g. the term 'hospital' used for referring to the head physician);
• Synecdoche- in this case, one can use a part of the subject for referring to the whole. (e.g.
the term 'plastic' referring to a credit card).
II.V. MCDA set of tools
One can talk of multimodal critical discourse analysis when the set of tools I have previously
mentioned for critical discourse analysis are elaborated in order to be applied to the analysis of
images. In the 1980s, linguists started wondering about how images convey meaning and help
spread ideologies. On this purpose, Barthes's contribution to semiotics (1973-77)35, as well as Kress
and Van Leeuwen's work, have been considered essential on the analysis of visual communication
(1996)36. As the French philosopher points out, in fact, images can denote and connote. Therefore,
images have two functions: on one hand, they show elements, such as people, events, places, things,
and so forth. In semiotic terminology, this is called to denote. On the other hand, images illustrate
34 Ivi, p. 165
35 Ivi, p. 49
36 Ivi, p. 7
21

those people, events, places and things and, at the same time, give an abstract idea of them. In
semiotic terminology, this is what means to connote. The elements denoted in an image are framed
in a specific way in order to convey a certain idea of it. In the analysis of visual communication,
several aspects are to be taken into consideration. First, one has to individualize the attributes- that
is, the objects in the image that communicate values and meaning. Basically it is the answer to the
question 'how are objects represented?'. Second, what follows is the analysis of the setting- which is
the aspect concerning the place where objects are found. What is relevant to ask here is how it is
created. Despite what one might think, the setting is a salient aspect of the analysis since it
communicates general ideas and create a certain environment. Finally, the salience concerns certain
features explicitly made during the composition and re-elaboration of the image in order to stand
out and therefore to stress a particular meaning. The most important aspects of this part of analysis
are the size of the image, the colours- that can be more or less saturated- the tone- which entails the
brightness of the colours and the image- and the focus. It is indeed through the modification of these
items that modality can be represented. In terms of the articulation of these aspects, one is able to
understand how much reality is altered and therefore how much is hidden. On this purpose, it is also
relevant to notice the positions of the objects- which can be foregrounded, backgrounded or
overlapped depending upon their importance. If the image to analyse is a family portrait, for
example, I expect to see two adults with their children as subjects. Usually in this kind of pictures,
children are foregrounded since they are supposed to be younger, and therefore shorter, then their
parents. But this is also a way to convey that children are the most important thing for both parents
since they are the result of their love. I also expect to see happy and smiling faces. For this reason,
the colours of the picture will be vivid and saturated at a medium degree. Furthermore, the setting
of the picture is supposed to create a pleasant atmosphere, such as their living room or backyard. It
will be tidy, and the light exposition will be bright enough to convey trust and hope.
In the previous section, I have explained the way through which a text producer's attitude and
identity can be expressed and discovered in spoken and written text. According to Kress and Van
Leeuwen (1996)37, these social actors' aspects can be conveyed in images through specific features,
too. Gaze is, for instance, an important element of analysis since it helps understand the real
attitude of the participant. Therefore, one needs to check if the actors' eyes want to meet the
viewer's gaze, or if they look out downward or upward. This is indeed a metaphorical way to
express the actors' current feelings. In some cases, it might also happen that the gaze stares off
frame. In those circumstances, the viewer is invited to wonder what the actors are thinking about.
37 Ivi, p. 70
22

The actors' gaze can convey two basic things: demand and offer. The former implies something
requested by the actors in an imaginary relationship with the viewer. On the other hand, the latter
occurs when the actors do not look out at the viewer. In that case, there is no request. On the
contrary, pose is the way actors are positioned. It is an essential element to analyse on the purpose
of the connotative meaning conveyed by the image. Pose can indeed shape actors' value, identity
and attitude. In the example of the family portrait above, I expect the family members to watch right
in front of the camera. In this way, I am inclined to think that they are trustworthy and pleasant
people I would like to bond a relation with. Moreover, I assume they will be standing so as to
communicate that they all have the same power and right in their nuclear family.
As to the visual representation of the relations between participants, it might be interesting to take
a look at the distance. In images, it can be reflected in the technical size of frame. It can indeed be a
close, medium, or long shot.
• Close shot- it generally implies sincerity and trust. Viewer's and actor's relation becomes
closer and it's easier, for the former, to interpret the latter's feelings and thoughts.
• Medium shot- in this case, viewer and actor are not in a intimate relation, but the relative
closeness allows to understand actor's point of view.
• Long shot- it is the long-distance relation between viewer and actor. It doesn't allow any
possible imaginary link between the two. Rather, it communicates loneliness and isolation.
Apart from size of frame, one can also draw attention to whether people are represented as
individuals, groups or anonymous figures. As in textual analysis, when people are grouped, it means
that they are homogenised. They indeed figure in the same pose and act as one another, just at
different degrees. On this purpose, one can also see if they are depicted as generic or specific
people. The former is indeed the main tool used in order to create stereotypical representations. In
the same way, people can also be excluded, and therefore not appear strategically in the
representation.
As I have explained in this chapter, textual and visual analysis involves a series of tools that
embodies not only linguistic and semiotic features, but also social science concepts. It is indeed
important to take into consideration both linguistic and sociological aspect in order to have a
perspective of the whole. Critical discourse analysis, as well as multimodal discourse analysis, can
be used in order to dismantle any kind of ideology embodied in texts and images. However, the aim
23

of this study is to focus on Western men's stereotype and the changes it has being subject to in post-
modern society. In the next chapter, I am thus going to explain how gender can be defined as a
social construction and how masculinity works in male individuals.
24

Chapter 2
III. Masculinity: gender construction
III.I. Doing gender
In Chapter 1, I have broadly explained how society is based on ideological constructions. For
centuries, individuals have been labelled according to their being born man or woman, rich or poor,
black or white, gay or straight. Sharp distinctions between individuals have created a strict and
unequal society that has started to see some changes only in the 20th century. It is indeed the time
when feminist movements have occurred, soon followed by Afro-Americans' and LGBT's
movements in the 60's and 70's. They were the explicit demonstration that Western society had
always been, and perhaps still is, flawed and radical changes were necessary. Nowadays, people are
still trying to understand all those differences that have been concealed for years by a patriarchal
society. In Chapter 2, I am thus going to give a broad view of how individuals are constructed in
post-modern society. First, I will introduce the subject by relying on Anthony Giddens's theories.
Second, I will provide clarification on the definitions of sex, gender and sexuality (Cameron and
Kulick 2003)38 drawing particular attention to Butler's Queer theory. Third, I will focus on the
creation of categories that nowadays define social restrictions and how they are enacted through the
representation of stereotypes (Eckert and McConnell-Ginet 2003)39. Finally, I will make an
introduction on the representation of masculinity in the mass media and its changes from the past
image of man to the modern one.
Anthony Giddens is one of the most influential philosopher of post-modernism. He has always
been focused on the representation of individuals in contemporary society and the influence
institutions have on social actors. In his works, he first finds it important to clarify the definition of
post-modernism. Giddens indeed criticises the way intellectuals approach this current, sustaining
that it cannot be defined as post-modernism. Rather, one should talk about late-modernism since the
era in question has not ended yet. Giddens makes an accurate examination of current Western
society by grounding it on a combination of classical sociological school with the contemporary
awareness of changes in society. He sustains that human agency and social structures do not work
separately, but rather they are in a relationship with each other, creating a perfect condition of
repetition of acts of individuals. As a result, this condition gives way to the reproduction of social
structures, which consequently influence individuals and human agency, and so forth. It is therefore
38 Deborah Cameron and Don Kulick, Language and Sexuality, Cambridge University Press, p. 2
25

a social cycle of actions and repetitions in which individuals appear to be trapped. However,
Giddens observes that this social structure, which claims to give instructions on how to act and
react, can see some change when people start to ignore it, replace it or reproduce it differently.
Giddens indeed cuts across the absolute determinism of the Frankfurt School asserting that
individuals are not mannequins that social media create and control, but rather they are free
individuals who have the ability to decide and change the way of their being social actors.
Nevertheless, it might be difficult to come to changes. Relying on Garfinkel's sociological studies
(1967)40, Giddens explains that people find it hard to leave ordinary social activities, since a new
way of doing things could appear as a threat to the collective’s understanding of 'normal behaviour'.
A clear example of what the philosopher suggests can be recognized in one of the most acclaimed
British drama movie, Billy Elliott. It indeed tells the story inspired by Philip Mosley's life and his
fighting the male stereotype in the Thatcherian period. In the movie, one can see how an aspiring
dancer boy is mistreated by his family because his dream doesn't fit in with the canon of male
behaviour. In the same way, a female plumber can be still squint-eyed nowadays. And these are just
two examples of how people's everyday actions reinforce and repeat a set of expectations. Giddens
calls them social forces. As he states, 'Society only has form, and that form only has effects on
people, in so far as structure is produced and reproduced in what people do' (Giddens and Pierson,
1998) 41. It is also true that, in late-modern society, people are less inclined to respect the traditional
expectations of previous generations. Nowadays, we live in a society of awareness and reflexivity
where people are conscious that they are able to change and give way to the reproduction of a new
representation of the self. As Giddens states:
What to do? How to act? Who to be? These are focal questions for everyone living in
circumstances of late modernity- and ones which, on some level or another, all of us answer,
either discursively or through day-to-day social behaviour.42
While earlier societies have always designated roles according to the individual's sex, social class
and ethnic group, in late-modern societies people are to work out their role by ourselves.
In terms of sex and gender, this opposition between traditional and late-modern society is
particularly clear. In the mid 1900s, the first feminist studies introduced a new way of approaching
the issue of gender roles. One of the most influential European philosopher of these times was
Simone de Beauvoir. In her work Le Deuxième Sexe (1949), she treated a crucial subject that was
criticised by some, but was also the starting point of evolution in Western society for others. She is
indeed the first intellectual who asserts that gender is a social construction: in her famous words,
40 David Gauntlett, Op. cit., 2008, p. 103
41 Ivi, p.103
42 Ivi, p.106
26

'On ne naît pas femme: on le devient' 43-that is, 'One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman'. Her
statement gives way to a series of studies in the Humanities field that have changed the society we
live in. What she is asserting here is that to be woman and to be female are not two concepts
inherently linked together from the birth. Being woman does not simply mean to possess female
reproductive organs. Rather, it is a sociocultural achievement that is learnt through everyday social
practices. As Cameron and Kulick state in their book a Language and Sexuality, 'This sociocultural
“being a woman” is what the term gender is supposed to denote, while sex is reserved for the
biological phenomenon of dimorphism (the fact that humans come in two varieties for purposes of
sexual reproduction)'44. Judith Butler adds a different interpretation of sex and gender, though. In
her book Gender Trouble (1999)45, she starts from Simone De Beauvoir's famous statement in order
to elaborate an extension of it. She indeed asserts that the French philosopher's definition of gender
is limited since her explanation implies that sex is determined by nature, as well. Moreover, she also
suggests that sexes, as Cameron and Kulick point out, are two- that is, male and female. Butler calls
this accepted model of sex and gender the heterosexual matrix. Against this position, she argues
that biology is a social construction itself and, therefore, it will always guarantee a particular
version of the feminine and the masculine. In her words, 'One is not born a woman, one becomes a
woman; but farther, one is not born female; but even more radically, one can if one chooses, become
neither female nor male, neither woman nor man' 46. What Butler is suggesting here is that sex, as
well as gender, has been naturalised throughout time. As she adds, 'There is no reason to divide up
human bodies into male and female sexes except that such a division suits the economic needs of
heterosexuality and lends a naturalistic gloss to the institution of heterosexuality' 47.
Nowadays, the fact that people become gendered as they grow up in society is proved and
accepted in the humanistic and scientific domains. Nevertheless, it is interesting to take a look at
how this question is seen through the discursive psychologists' point of view. Discursive
psychology is a branch of psychology concerned with discourse. It especially studies how discourse
works as a social means in order to build gendered social actors. Discursive psychological studies
are mainly grounded on the fact that the accomplishment of gender construction does not see an
end. Rather, gender identity is in constant change since it is capable of adapting itself according to
the context individuals find themselves. Gender is therefore something that is developed and
reproduced in the course of social interaction. Previously I have mentioned Giddens's assertion
about the set of behavioural expectations people have when involved in social interaction. In
43 Simone De Beauvoir, Le Deuxième Sexe, France, Gallimard, 2010,p. 13
44 Deborah Cameron and Don Kulick, Language and Sexuality, Cambridge University Press, p. 21
45 John Storey, Op. cit., 2009, p. 160
46 Ivi, p. 161
47 Ibidem
27

accordance with this line, individuals have restrictions that apply to the construction of gender
identities. Males and females create masculine or feminine identities by relying on representations
of masculinity and femininity which they learnt from their life experiences. On the one hand, one’s
identity construction is therefore grounded on the concept of modelling- that is, the idea of taking
as behavioural model a person of the same sex. On the other hand, the phenomenon of
reinforcement is enacted- which entails the acceptance of an individual's behaviour in social
context. The latter aspect encourages individuals to keep on reproducing and developing a particular
attitude so that, at the end of the day, gender identity becomes the result of a habit. As Nigel Edley
points out making reference to the discursive reproduction of masculinity:
Masculinity may well exist as a set of discursive practices which inform the way men
speak, feel and think, but it is important to understand that many of these practices become so
utterly familiar, so thoroughly routinised and automatic, that most men and women mistake
history for nature. For most of the time the vast majority of men remain completely oblivious
to the ways in which masculinity has inscribed itself upon their bodies.48
In line with this purpose, Edley explains a method to analyse masculinity through a discursive
psychological point of view. Among the several steps and aspects he mentions, he also argues that
the concept of subject positions is central in this kind of analysis. Here it a reference to Althusser's
philosophical concept (1971)49 is evident. Louis Althusser is one of the most influential philosopher
in cultural theory and popular culture. In his works, he particularly focuses on ideologies and their
manifestations in society. One of the three definitions of ideology he gives is the concept of subject
positions. He indeed sustains that '[…] ideology creates or constructs “subjects” by drawing people
into particular positions or identities' 50. Therefore, subjectivity is the by-product of ideological
education given by institutions. In this way, it is possible to understand how subject positions can be
related to gendered identities. For centuries, individuals have been given specific roles according to
their being born male or female. Institutions teach them how to be masculine or feminine through
both discursive and attitudinal aspects. However, Nigel Edley explains that, in terms of discursive
psychology:
Subject positions can be defined quite simply as “locations” within a conversation. They
are the identities made relevant by specific ways of talking. And because those ways of
talking can change within and between conversations […] then, in some sense at least, so too
do the identities of the speaker.51
48 Nigel Edley, “Analysing Masculinity: Interpretative Repertoires, Ideological Dilemmas and Subject Positions”, in
Margaret Wetherell, Stephanie Taylor and Simeon J. Yates, Discourse as Data, A Guide for Analysis, London, UK,
Sage, 2001, p. 195
49 Margaret Wetherell, Stephanie Taylor, Simeon J. Yates, Op. cit., 2001, p. 209
50 Ibidem.
51 Ivi, p. 210
28

Discursive psychology therefore implies a change in the traditional division of roles starting from
an individual’s discourses. If the ways of talking can change through conversational practices, so
too can an individual’s gender identities.
III.II.The categorization of gender
As I have previously mentioned, the categorization of gender is a salient aspect of the construction
of society. This is why I find it important to focus on the concept of stereotypes in order to clarify
it. According to the philosopher Hilary Putnam (1975), stereotypes are created through the
linguistic use of experts of specific domains- what he calls the linguistic division of labor. The
experts he is referring to have always been scientists who have drawn boundaries according to
individuals' biological criteria for centuries. Nowadays technology allows biologists to have a
deeper knowledge of the matter. It is indeed broadly known that traditional biological criteria have
been limited and therefore they cannot mark well-defined boundaries. As Eckert and McConnell-
Ginet point out, 'The three kinds of criteria- chromosomal, endocrinal, and anatomical- sometimes
not only fail to coincide, but each can also sometimes fail to determine a perfect two-way sort' 52.
There indeed are some cases in which individuals lack of both XX and XY chromosomes since
their birth. In the past, rough methods to do science have helped ideologies to build up inaccurate
beliefs. For what concerns this aspect of gender construction, Goffman talks of a concept called
institutional reflexivity (1976)53. According to the philosopher, gender is so naturalised that the
development of masculine and feminine identities allegedly justifies the institutionalisation of
gender. For centuries, this aspect of society has helped demarcate the differences between males
and females and allocate social roles according to individuals' biological features. It has therefore
brought to a categorisation of gender (Eckert and McConnell-Ginet, 2003). This phenomenon
does not just create differences, but also supports the persistence of a hierarchical and unequal
society. As I have mentioned previously, this distinction is reflected in language and discourses, as
well. For instance, many linguistic studies demonstrate that women's qualities are always related to
their physical appearances, while men's qualities concern more their dominant and charismatic
attitude. An example can be the experiment Penelope Eckert does taking as a sample a group of
Stanford University students. She indeed provides them with an extract from a story published in
the November 7, 1999 in the Silicon Valley Magazine of the San Jose Mercury News. Here is the
extract:
R.C. Greenwood walks into a dark room lit only by black-light bulbs. The 56-year-old
53 Helga Kotthoff and Ruth Wodak, Communicating Gender in Context, Op. cit., 1997, p. x
29

chancellor of the 34-year-old University of California-Santa Cruz is wearing a peach blouse,
slacks, a double strand of pearls and sensible heels- an outfit that darkens under the ultraviolet
light, while her bra glows through the thin material like an X-ray. Greenwood is short, her
light-colored mantronly hair patched by gray at the sides...54
As one can see, the text is introducing the main character. It does not explicitly say that the
character is a woman, but one is able to deduce it since the person in question is wearing a blouse.
There are in fact several descriptions about the character's look. On this matter, Stanford students
are asked to re-write the text thinking of the main character as a male. However, as both the authors
of the book point out, this has been shown to be a challenging task:
The man, they [the students] noted, might be described as having “light-colored hair, with
distinguished silver streaks,” but neither they nor we could come up with a concept parallel to
matronly for categorizing men's appearance or styles. One might describe a man as fatherly
or, less colloquially, avuncular, but neither label also applies to hairdos or clothing styles.55
Stanford students found it difficult to apply the same looking description to a men. One might say
that this is a consequence of the fact that individuals are not taught to think of men in terms of their
look, but rather in terms of power and respect (e.g. the use of the term fatherly in opposition to
matronly). However, as Eckert and McConnell-Ginet point out, gender categories have a wider
array of operation than just the separation of males and females according to individuals' biological
features. They indeed classify people according to their personality traits, body shape, clothing,
activities, interests, and values. In terms of linguistic resources, for example, it might be interesting
to mention the so called shifting indexicality. Elinor Ochs (1992)56 is the first to use this term in
her studies on language and gender. She notices that some ways of speaking that are thought of as
feminine or masculine are actually stances which have been associated to women or men. They thus
index gender indirectly. Ochs makes the example of the exclamation fabulous! which indicate
flamboyance and is also linked to femininity. Yet, she points out that it is identified as a feminine
exclamation because of the association one makes between women and flamboyance. Michael
Silverstein (2003)57 starts from Ochs's concept of shifting indexicality in order to realize what is
called indexical orders. He argues that the chains of association are extremely important in the
development of discourses of gender and sexuality, and he sustains that linguistic forms linked with
a social category encourage the stereotypical property of the category itself.
55 Ibidem
56 Penelope Eckert and Sally McConnell-Ginet, op. cit., 2013, p. 251
57 Ivi, p. 252
30

Nowadays society is aware of the fact that stereotypes are just a construction of inaccurate beliefs.
They are grounded on superficial criteria which boost inequality and discrimination. As Eckert and
McConnell-Ginet point out:
Each person uses the toolbox in their own way, mixing and matching linguistic resources.
Some of this may be automatic […] some may be quite consciously strategic. The outcome is
communicative style, which combines with other components of style such as dress, ways of
walking, hairdo, and patterns of consumption to constitute the presentation of a persona. It is
in this process of fashioning selves that we do gender, and that we bring about change.58
Each individual is able to create him/herself according to his/her way of being and his/her way of
feeling inside. In line with this purpose, what Butler says in her book Gender Trouble is rather
interesting. The American philosopher talks of gender identities as an aggregation of beliefs. Both
masculine and feminine concepts are so naturalised in individuals that they appear as undeniable
truth. Against this position, she sustains that masculinity and femininity are not expressions of
nature, but rather they are '[…] cultural performances in which their “naturalness” [is] constituted
through discursively constrained performative acts...that create the effect of the natural, the original,
and the inevitable' 59. Thus, gender is not what individuals are, but rather what they do. Moreover,
she adds that the reproduction of doing gender lies in the history of individuals. Those attributes
which define gendered way of doing are indeed '[…] historical and anthropological positions that
understand gender as a relation among socially constituted subjects in specifiable contexts' 60.
Gender is, therefore, a performance which is inherently able to shift and change according to the
different contexts and different times individuals find themselves. In line with this purpose, Eckert
and McConnell-Ginet introduce the concept of style (2013)61. Style is a structured combination of
resources which individuals assimilate through their life experiences and then use as a means to
express themselves. It is, as Butler has pointed out, a social practice related not only to the social
contexts where the individual lives, but also to the interaction he/she has with other individuals
different from him/her. Therefore, it is clear that style does not come up from nothing. Rather, it is
the re-elaboration of resources given by society and social interactions. As Eckert and McConnell-
Ginet state,
While social structure and available resources provide constraints, it is people who decide
just how constrained they will allow themselves to be. And these decisions are not made
58 Ivi, p. 248
59John Storey, Cultural Theory and Popular Culture, An Introduction, Pearson and Longman, 2009, p. 161
60 David Gauntlett, Media, Gender and Identity, An introduction, Great Britain, Routledge, 2008, p. 150
31

simply with reference to gender, but with reference to all the other aspects of our being that
interact- often unknown to us- with gender.62
As I have previously introduced talking about Giddens, nowadays people are aware of the fact
that they are able to change the reproduction of representation of the self, and this manifestation of
social change is clear in the creation of new styles. An example can be the advent of metrosexuals
(Simpson 1994)63 that have introduced a new way of doing masculinity - which sees men as more
fashionable and definitely more careful with respect to their look. People are getting tired of old
labels, while they are getting more and more conscious that gender boundaries are a limitation of
the expression of the self.
III.III. Representation of masculinity in mass media
In terms of categorization of gender, many different aspects have been studied in humanistic and
scientific domains. The image of woman in society has spotlighted sociolinguistic researches for
decades. Recently, research on homosexuals' discourses and their representations have been carried
out, too. Researchers are obtaining new findings which help society to advance on social aspects
that in history have always been ignored. In line with this purpose, I find it important to treat an
aspect of gender construction which is sometimes taken for granted: masculinity. In Chapter 3, I am
going to show how the representation of masculinity has been changing. I will indeed carry out a
sociolinguistic analysis on some articles that describe three different stereotypes promoted by men's
magazines. Therefore, I find it now useful to give a quick introduction about how masculinity has
been connoted over the time.
An essential means to do gender construction is the mass media. Television, radio, newspapers,
adverts- they all spread a certain kind of image of man and woman. They encourage the
reproduction of gendered individuals. People learn how to be masculine or feminine from TV
series, movies, books and magazines. Kids are taught what it means to be man or woman by playing
with video games. The advent of the Internet has had a great impact on this aspect, as well. People
are provided with more information and get more and more ideas on different ways to express
themselves. People have therefore been offered different models of masculinity and femininity.
Despite this, a man's main features were strength, love for adventure and for action, physical
aptitude and self-confidence. He used to be found especially in authoritative roles, not only in the
work place but also at home with his wife and children. In accordance with this model, Antony
62 Ivi, p. 263
63 Ivi, p. 261
32

Easthope (1986)64 has realized the concept of dominant masculinity- that is, the myth of a
heterosexual man who appears as tough, masterful and always in control of the situation. According
to Easthope, this stereotype of man works as a gender norm that is in opposition to all the other
types of doing masculinity. As he says,
Clearly men do not passively live out the masculine myth imposed by the stories and
images of the dominant culture. But neither can they live completely outside the myth, since it
pervades the culture. Its coercive power is active everywhere- not just on screens, hoarding
and paper, but inside our own heads.65
Nevertheless, nowadays, different ways to do masculinity are recognized. Men are not
constrained to follow the macho stereotype. Rather, they can choose what kind of image of man
suits more with their personality. Society has learnt to be more flexible and this aspect is clear
especially in the media. People are learning that men are not untouchable figures, but that they can
be victims, as well. Moreover, the advent of equal rights has encouraged the presence of multi-
ethnic work staff and families. Caucasian man is not the only masculine model anymore. Now it is
common to see black and white men together in authoritative working positions. Similarly,
homosexuals are starting to have a place in plain sight in society, too. It is not unusual to see
prominent gay characters on TV series and movies. On the whole, the image of men in the media
has changed. In opposition to Easthope's dominant masculinity, it is also common to find in
television the couch potato type- such as Homer Simpson from the famous TV show The Simpson
or Peter Griffin from Family Guy- or even the nerd type- for instance, Sheldon Cooper in the TV
show The Big Bang Theory. It is obvious that media are presenting different ways to be masculine.
Yet, some might not totally agree with it. The ongoing changing condition for men is in fact
considered by some as men's crisis. The advent of the independent and self-sufficient woman in
society has implied the decline of the traditional role for man, which has always seen in him a
provider role, the one who takes care of the family and solves difficult situations. However, as
David Gauntlett argues,
Men may not be able to fit in the traditional role, but that's no reason to conclude that life is
over for men. Men just have to find a new, modern, useful place for themselves in the world-
just as women have to. And this is where the mass media and popular culture come in,
because they offer important tools to help men- and women- adjust to contemporary life.66
64John Storey, Op. cit., 2009, p. 159
65Ibidem.
66 David Gauntlett, Media, Gender and Identity, An introduction, Great Britain, Routledge, 2008, p. 9
33

This has seen an important change in the image of male hero, as well. The macho type like
Silvester Stallone in the Rambo saga has lost his appeal. As Gauntlett points out, 'The difference
with some 1980s action movies may be that the male hero is today more cynical, weary, and
perhaps aware that violence may not be the solution to everything' 67. The male hero also appears
more sensitive, thoughtful and conscious, like the Marvel superhero Spiderman, who, in Sam
Raimi's movies, is always ready to bad situations, reluctant to use force and tormented by
sentimental thoughts for Mary Jane. Furthermore, men are usually supported by a female hero, like
in the Matrix movies, where the female character Trinity acts as the male protagonist's bodyguard,
Neo. Men's magazines pretty much reflect these changes, as well. Nevertheless, it is not unusual to
find representations of the modern man built on the basis of the classical one. As Nigel Edley points
out,
There are restrictions that apply to the construction of gender identities. People may be
able to experiment with new versions of masculinity but there is no guarantee the these will be
accepted. Instead, many men rely upon much more tried and tested construction; those
versions of masculinity which they know from experience work. 68
To sum up, people need a historical background in order to construct their own style. Within the
contemporary British culture, we are used to identify masculinity with accepted behavioural
features, such as watching sport on TV, doing social drinking at the pub and using irony as the best
defence against anything. Yet, different way to be masculine are emerging nowadays. As I have
previously mentioned, it is common to find skinny nerd guys in opposition to pumped up and
obsessed-fitness men. They are not only showing that society has been changing, but they are also
offering people new ways to be themselves.
67 Ivi, p. 74
68 Nigel Edley, Analysing Masculinity: Interpretative Repertoires, Ideological Dilemmas and Subject Positions, in
Margaret Wetherell, Stephanie Taylor and Simeon J. Yates, Discourse as Data, A Guide for Analysis, London, UK,
Sage, 2001. p. 194
34

Chapter 3
IV. Masculinity in Men's Magazines: An Analysis
IV.I. Methodology
My corpus is composed of three articles which present three different men's stereotypes:
• The Italian Stallion type- according to the online Urban Dictionary, he is 'A well-endowed,
sexually talented man of Italian descents' 69. He is described as a fitness-obsessed resolute
man.
• The Nerd type- one who has great intellectual skills. Nevertheless, he finds difficulties to
relate with other people. He is underestimated and often mocked for his lifestyle.
• The Existentialist type- he is a wise man whose strength consists of his patience and his
harmony with the world.
My analysis will focus on the comparison of these male characters in order to grasp an idea on
the way coolness is represented by modern magazines. They are indeed all stereotypes promoted by
mass media whose main intent is to spread a certain image of masculinity. Each article is taken from
three British magazines that promote different way of doing masculinity: Men's Health, FHM, and
Loaded. The former was launched in 1995. It teaches men how to take care of their own body by
working out at the gym and following a strict and healthy diet. It is mainly addressed to single men,
in fact it gives advice on how to be self-sufficient and how to interact with women. On the other
hand, the second is more flexible. FHM- that is, For Him Magazine- offers different ways of being
male. It mainly gives advice on the best way to express himself, so it is not unusual to find articles
about stereotypes totally different from one another. Finally, the latter is considered as the magazine
that has launched the current men's literature market first. Loaded was published for the first time in
1994, and it is recognized as the cornerstone of the modern British male stereotype. Its issues
usually concern singers, successful and handsome men, as well as superheroes and football players.
The aim of my analysis is to study the representation of men in current times. This is why I have
chosen magazine issues recently published. In fact, the material for the analysis has been gathered
between January and March 2015, and comprised issues released from autumn 2014 to winter 2015.
69 http://it.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Italian+Stallion
35

Each issue concerns different subjects which are of interest for the man of our times. The Men's
Health issue published in September 2014, for instance, draws attention on the transformation of
body. This is why I am going to analyse an article dedicated to the American actor Joe Manganiello
and his physical changes from his teenage shape up to now. The FHM issue was instead released in
November 2014 and takes into consideration different aspects of being a man. In this case, I have
found interesting to analyse the FHM Hero article, which brings out the typical nerd (but lovely)
type. Finally, the Loaded issue was published on January 2015 and focuses especially on DC
Comics superheroes. It is a very interesting issue because it concerns the difficulties actors face in
order to become the man stereotype that the film industry has been promoting for decades. The
article I have chosen shows the hard time the British actor Guy Pearce had during his early career
and how he has given an order to his life again through meditation and Buddhism.
Each stereotype shows a different representation of the modern man. I have thus found it
interesting to analyse not only the critical discursive aspect, but also the multimodal one by relying
on the tools provided by Fairclough (1989) and Kress and Van Leeuwen (1996)- which I have
already discussed in the first chapter. The first step of my study is the analysis on the Italian Stallion
type. I will start showing my interpretation on the images related to the article. So I will explain
colour saturation and light exposition, as well as Manganiello's attitudes through salient features of
the pictures, such as gaze, distance and position. Then, I will make a lexical analysis on the text,
starting from the title and proceeding to the whole article. I will therefore explain the contrast
between the young Manganiello and the adult one by taking a look at the author's lexical choices.
Finally, I will take into account the use of metaphors, which stresses the creation of this masculine
identity. The second step of my study is the analysis on the nerd type. As in the first case study, I
will focus on the images of the FHM Hero Brian Cox. It will follow the lexical analysis of the text,
where I will draw attention to the high use of honorifics which defines him. I will then mention the
way he deals with his being public character, as well as a proper scientist. In the final step of my
analysis, then, I will introduce Guy Pearce character by focusing first on the way he is depicted in
the pictures. I will finally delve on his life change by focusing especially on the author's lexical
choice of verbs and adjectives.
IV.II.Text analysis
IV.II.I From Zero to Hero: The Italian Stallion
The article I have chosen from Men's Health shows how the actor Joe Manganiello's life has
changed since he has committed his life to strict discipline and to the achievement of his goals. I
36

will carry out my analysis starting from his representation on pictures.
The first image which introduces the actor is the two-page cover. Here the viewer can see two
different versions of the same person. On the left, the 13-year-old Joe Manganiello is pictured. He's
wearing a gym suit from his basketball school team and he is handing a basket ball. From the clues
this picture shows so far, the viewer is able to understand that he plays sport, even though he doesn't
have an athletic body, at all. Moreover, he is wearing a pair of glasses which appear definitely too
big for his face. His look is way far from being cool, and this aspect is accentuated by the salience
of the picture. The high exposition of the light makes the young Manganiello look pale.
Furthermore, the use of contrast creates a more linear and clearer profile. The thinness of the subject
is marked so that nothing is hidden to the viewer. However, the saturation of the colours makes the
image vivid so as to convey the brightness of his future. In terms of transitivity, it is interesting to
notice the young Manganiello's gaze, which is staring right at the viewer's eyes. Although his look
is naïve, young and a little geek, it also conveys hidden strength and determination, which makes
the kid appear sympathetic to the viewer's eyes. Here distance plays an important role, as well. The
subject is indeed pictured in a medium shot, which helps create a close, but also formal, relationship
with the viewer. On the opposite side, one can see the 37-year-old Joe Manganiello instead. Clearly,
he looks totally different from that skinny little boy on the left. As the article's author says, he is a
'mountain of a man' (16). His big muscle mass needs to make an effort not to tear his t-shirt into
pieces. Moreover, that pale and naive face makes contrast with the tanned skin and the aggressive
but composed gaze. The young Manganiello's soft skin is replaced by a greyish beard, and the short
brown hair have grown. From the two pictures contrast, it is clear that the actor has been subject to
many physical changes throughout his life. However, the differences between the two figures are
accentuated by the salient features. As I have mentioned above, the young Manganiello's picture is
saturated and high exposed. On the other hand, the grown Manganiello's image is modified in such
a way that he appears as a ancient Greek statue. The exposition of the light is high, but the tones are
lowered. In this way, the actor's profile looks more severe and serious. Moreover, the contrast is
medium, so that the shadows draw his muscles in a more definite way. His presence is classic and
authoritative, and it has a huge effect on the viewer. This image interpretation is even more stressed
by the title of the article, which stands below the two-pages cover. It indeed says 'From hero to
zero', which might remind the famous song of the same name from the Disney movie Hercules. It is
also relevant the way this title is distributed. One can see in fact that the term 'Zero' lies below the
13-year-old Joe Manganiello, while the term 'Hero' is below the adult Manganiello. This strategic
position highlights the contrast between the two images. From this cover, it is evident how the
37

magazine is trying to convey a message to young generations, as well. It indeed encourages skinny
little boys not to lose hope and keep on doing anything to become what they want to be.
The second step of this case study is the lexical analysis. From the short summary under the title
(1), it is possible to see interesting lexical choices which are the key terms of the core of the article:
body transformation. Collocations such as 'took labour', 'huge discipline', and 'little help' are indeed
essential concepts which will be then repeated in the whole text. Transformation implies strict
dedication to labour and rigorous discipline and, as the author tends to stress, these are essential
features a real man should have. In line with this purpose, it is interesting to see how the young
Manganiello is put in contrast with the adult one. The former is not much mentioned. He just pops
up at the beginning and at the end of the article when the author wants to stress the physical
evolution of the actor. Therefore, it is obvious that the adjectives that accompany him will make
reference to his physical shape. Indeed, the young Manganiello is introduced as 'The scrawny 13-
year-old from Pittsburgh pictured drowning in a high school basketball vest' (3). Making reference
to the picture of the cover, the writer uses a metaphor. The little boy is indeed 'drowning' as to
underline the thinness of his body. On the other hand, at the end of the article he is mentioned as the
'skinny boy' (15) and 'that 13-year-old kid' (17), both of which highlight the inexperience and
innocence of the boy. When it comes to describe the adult Manganiello, though, the image of the
scrawny boy is replaced by 'a very different beast' (2). In the interview, he associates himself to the
figure of an animal. This is clear from his statement, 'I'm like a unicorn in the world of the actors'
(7) when he criticises his colleagues for '[…] putting out an illusion on the cover of a glossy
magazine' (6). By comparing himself to a unicorn, he also wants to convey his uniqueness among
his peers. He restates this simile when talking about his commitment to physical fitness, saying 'I
didn't just train after work: I hit the gym like an animal' (8). In this way, he is stressing his
aggressive and challenging attitudes. The author finds another metaphor to describe him, though. At
the end of the article, he is indeed defined as 'a mountain of a man' (16) so as to highlight his huge
muscle mass. The actor's physical shape is, indeed, the real subject of the article. It is 'bigger,
stronger, more athletic and better defined' (4). Besides, the use of the comparative form for the
adjectives implies not only a radical change in the actor's body, but it also underlines the concepts
of strength and firmness, which are specific attributes of this kind of stereotype. It is also interesting
the position in which the last two adjectives are placed. The closeness of the terms 'more athletic'
and 'better defined' is not a coincidence. They indeed remind to the attributes of the classic Greek
statue that is implied in the cover. In terms of transformation of the body, the phenomenon of
overlexicalisation plays an important role. Several synonyms of the two words are indeed used. For
38

The Construction of Masculine Identities in British Magazines-Thesis

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