This document discusses hypermasculinity in Indian cinema and advertisements. It defines hypermasculinity as the exaggeration of male stereotypical behaviors like aggression and sexuality. Researchers have found hypermasculinity portrayed in many Indian advertisements and films through muscular male models and heroes who emphasize strength and toughness. This reinforces unrealistic standards of masculinity that can influence societal attitudes and behaviors, encouraging traits like callousness, danger-seeking and the belief that violence is manly.

1. A Study on Hypermasculinity in
Indian Cinema and Advertisements
Submitted to Prof. KS Mochish
For Mass Media In India
Submitted by Sashank Kini
FSC 2 (140065)

2. Concept and Origin
Hyper masculinity is a psychological term for the exaggeration of male stereotypical behaviour,
such as an emphasis on physical strength, aggression, and sexuality. One of the first studies of
hyper masculinity was conducted by Donald L. Mosher and Mark Tompkins in 1984.
They argue that hyper-masculine personality trait forms, in part, through enculturation, the same
process through which normative masculine traits and attributes are formed. Enculturation, the
process through which an individual is informed through culture of the rules and values of the
society, establishes a context of boundaries and accepted behaviour that dictateswhat is
acceptable within the confines of the given society. Mosher and Tompkins have operationally
defined hypermasculinity or the “machos personality" as consisting of three variables – callous
sexual attitudes toward women, the belief that violence is manly, the experience of danger as
exciting. This may stem due to a number of reasons, including early negative parent-child
interactions, ones that lead to fear and humiliation in young boys, or constant reinforcement to
refrain from crying or showing emotion.
Researchers have suggested that traits associated with masculinity are more influenced by social
construction than biology (Herek, 1986) such that developmental, social and family experiences
my convert normative masculine personality into hypermasculinity.

3. Hyper-masculine Culture
The theory of hyper-masculinity is highly relevant in contemporary times, with the re-definition
of sexuality and gender, spearheaded by LGBTQ and feminist movements, constantly
questioning and critiquing certain ‘hyper-masculine’ traits that were championed in the white-
male dominated media and society. Hypermasculinity is visiblein multifarious spheres, two of
which are explained below –
Hypermasculinity and Advertising – Using the image of manliness to sell products to men has
been around since the dawn of advertising. From Ronald Regan selling cigarettes to Marky Mark
selling underwear, there are a host of glossy images associated with masculinity. The
concentration of advertisements targeted toward young men is an area of real concern, as they
are still learning appropriate gender behaviours, and their beliefs and attitudes can be subtly
shaped by images that the mass media repeatedly represent. Men with limited social and
economic power are more likely to adopt a tough persona and to use violence to gain respect.
Advertisements with hyper-masculine overtones send a message that these traits are acceptable.
The danger in these stereotypes is that they are linked to social and health problems, such as
drug use, reckless driving, and domestic violence.
Hypermasculinity and Film – There is still a definite demand for the hyper-masculine in certain
genres, especially action. Films like 300 or the James Bond Series exude hyper-masculine passion,
with the movie The Wolf of Wall Street subversively commenting on this very phenomenon. .
The portrayal of a hyper masculine male has potential consequences for socialization of audience
members into roles and for the learning of aggression from exposure, due to the frequent
correlation between exaggerated expressions of masculinity and aggression. It is likely that young
boys watching these portrayals will use this information to compare with other sources in
learning what it means to be a male in contemporary society.
Existing research and theory provide evidence of the potential influence of media models on
learning both gender role attitudes and aggression (Bandura, 1986, 1994; Berkowitz, 1984, 1993).
The presence of a macho personality in male actors appears especially in a wide variety of police
and detective programs and correlates machismo with the antisocial actions of those characters,
leading most likely to stimulate an antisocial response, including those without consequence,
without punishment, with graphic portrayals, and with justification. Instances of violence and
aggression in film have been shown to co-occur with portrayals of macho male characters (Craig,
1992; Donald, 1992; Jeffords, 1994; LaFrance, 1995).

4. Scenario in India
It is understood that the concept of hyper-masculinity prevailed in India largely during post-
colonial era. The pre-colonial era did not stress as much on the rejection of private/domestic
sphere, which includes perceived ‘feminine’ traits such as emotional ties, filial commitment, and
parental responsibility. It is during the British Raj that such qualities, prevalent then in the
Indian society, were frowned upon as ‘effeminate’. This happened when the British labelled the
Bengali men, most literate among Indians due to introduction of English education to facilitate
communication between colonizer and colonized and therefore a potential political threat, as
lazy, effeminate (a word used derogatorily for them was ‘babu’, which was honorific at a time but
came to be associated in the colonial parlance with a negative stereotype of the middle-class
Bengali man) and incapable to lead the nation. The indigenous elite rejected the imputation of
effeminacy by reinventing itself as aggressively masculine or “hypermasculine”, a term associated
with colonizers which were now being adopted by them to end colonial rule.
Even the male body was being redefined to suit a hyper-masculine image. Spiritual leader Swami
Vivekananda’s played a key role in this, as he wanted to oversee the resurgence of Bengali men
who would be strong and fearless in countering all the obstacles of the world. He perhaps
believed, partly owing to his English education, that effeminacy and lack of strength would be
nothing but detrimental to the progress of the state. His masculine oeuvre was indeed essential in
stirring up a new aesthetic of Bengali masculinity. He wanted the Gita to be understood with
muscles and biceps.
Soon, images of the bodybuilders like Sandow were used to stir up Bengali men’s imagination.
Vivekananda’s rhetoric indeed gave birth to a brand of masculinity in Bengal as many young
boys, including the famous Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, tried to emulate his formula. In this
way, hyper-masculinity came to the fore.
Today, hypermasculinity is witnessed in Indian cinema, advertisements, magazine covers,
television shows especially youth oriented, music lyrics etc.

5. Hypermasculinity in Advertisements
Indian Advertisements, especially the ones targeting the male consumer, are full of stereotypes
which typically depict hyper masculinity by attributing to them the characteristics of aggression,
fearlessness, emotional bankruptcy.
The men's products that have been advertised over the ages in India, are shaving products,
underwear, toiletries, alcohol etc. And although some of them have a large population of women
consumers as well (for e.g. alcohol), they are attributed to men for their ‘unfeminine’ image.
In ads, models are of a particular shape, size and build. They are mostly tall, fair and muscular,
and adhere to the Aryan ideas of beauty. For example, the VIP Frenchie underwear ads, which
show the bulging biceps and abs of the model, which is not really necessary to sell the product,
thus, help the ad agencies to sell the idea of a certain type of a man, who would probably be
considered desirable to the Indian women. So by purchasing these products, the men in the
country can feel assured of their masculinity and sexuality too.
Recently, some cosmetic products which were earlier sold to women have been marketed for
men in a different manner. By introducing the concept of ‘metro-sexuality’, men are encouraged
to consume such products with the assurance that it wouldn’t ‘hurt/reduce’ their masculinity.
Even in commercial advertising with good intent, notions on a certain kind of masculinity creep
in. For e.g., the anti- rape campaign called M.A.R.D. (Men Against Rape and
Discrimination),that came up in the backdrop of the recent spate of increased reportage of
sexual violence in the country had Farhan Akhtar as its poster boy making statements like how
"real men"don't hurt women. The ad ended up making a horrible stereotype of men being the
wild, uncontrollable pervert who is pitted against an equally problematic image of masculinity,
which protects, patronizes women. The logo for the campaign uses a moustache, which as we
know, is (culturally) synonymous with being manly.
How this has affected society is as follows –
- Print ads targeting men through hyper-masculine encourage them to aspire to an
unrealistic and potentially harmful brand of masculinity.

6. - They make men believe that toughness equals control and that danger is exciting;
also violence is manly or callousness towards women and sex is alright.
- Hyper masculine content was more likely to appear in magazines targeted to younger,
lower-income, and less educated readers, who are more at-risk for appropriating such
beliefs and behaviours.
- Men who compare themselves to the hyper-masculine or over-exaggerated male
stereotypes in advertising and popular culture experience a range of emotions,
including feelings of inadequacy and vulnerability

7. Hypermasculinity in Indian Cinema
Since the 70s, popular Hindi films focused on representing masculinity as anti-authoritarian yet
ideally nationalistic. The "angry young man" image championed by "Bollywood film star
Amitabh Bachchan corresponded with feelings of anger against the government of Indira
Gandhi, who imposed a state of emergency that severely restricted Indian freedom of expression
(Banerjea, 2005). Bachchan would influence a generation of everyman heroes in Indian films,
including Hindi actors such as Anil Kapoor, Jackie Shroff and Ajay Devgan; Malayali actors
Mammootty and Mohanlal; and Tamil actors Kamal Haasan and Rajinikanth. These male actors
embodied an underdog masculinity intertwined with moral patriarchal masculinity and
nationalism.
Hypermasculinity came recently, though, with a spate of Hindi movies eulogising a somewhat
hyper masculine behaviour in the protagonist, who is invariably male. Films are stuffed with
pointless male centric action sequences, mindless dialogues and heroes with chiselled bodies and
6-pack abs. Every top rated star has started to adhere to this one stereotypical image of a “manly
man” and thus, we see different movies with practically the same storyline – a body-builder with
a hidden heart of gold, who copes with his inability to show emotions. This has led to reduction
in both variety and standard of movies.
The exportation of the Indian male body began in earnest with the introduction of Bollywood
star Hriththik Roshan and his V-shaped torso. This was followed by importation of male actors
whose body types conformed more to Europeanized standards of beauty, with British-born
models such as Milind Soman and Upen Patel, as well as other internationally circulated models
such as John Abraham and Dino Morea becoming Bollywood stars. Idealized hetero-normative
hypermasculinity became the conformity.
Examples include the 2007 film Dostana, in which Abraham stripped to his g-string in the
opening song, "Shut Up and Bounce," and was serenaded by numerous women. Multiple torso
close-ups contributed in its international success. Bollywood stars Salman Khan, Shah Rukh
Khan, and Aamir Khan, in their late 40s, also propagate this image with chiselled bare-chested
bodies dominating many frames, sometimes just for sake of audience titillation.
The Indian versions of entertainment gossip sites also encourage hyper-masculinity, with sites
like glamsham.com or bollywoodhungama.com having downloadable pictures of various actors
in states of undress. Additionally, hundreds of global web sites celebrating the bodies of Indian

8. male actors have been created, frequently by fans living outside of India. For example, a fan
created site, shahid-kapoor.net, was dedicated to the "eight-packed" Bollywood movie star.
Display of hyper-masculinity is also a sure-shot way to attract advertisers, who take full benefit
of exploiting physical attributes of the actors.
How this has affected society is as follows –
- There is an increase among gym memberships and skin lightening creams among
Indians
- The Indian male body has gained significant traction on the Web, facilitated by
pirated online films, fan forums and social media.
- The Machismo factor results in glorifying some aspects of a particular stereotyped
masculinity. Young men are vulnerable to such kind of thinking and social
conditioning, which without any doubt is very harmful since this eulogises violence,
which is seen to be stylish and “manly”.
- There is absolutely no scope of depicting and/or appreciating alternate masculine
characters in these movies. At a subconscious level, this sends out a message to men
that only a certain type of image is acceptable and regarded as true masculine
behaviour; all the others need to be repressed. Non-violent expressions of
masculinity are not accepted at all.
- These movies have made women completely redundant for the storyline. Earlier,
some strong roles used to be written for them, but nowadays all they do is
ornamental at best. The man becomes the centre of all the attention.
- Risk taking among Indian cinema fraternity has decreased to a large extent. The
Bollywood producers are playing the safe card and appealing to mass audiences solely
on the strength of the physical attributes of lead male actor.
- Hypermasculinity also stresses on the hyper sexual aspect of a man. The hero is
invariably straight and is homophobic to a certain extent. The films are filled with
crass sexual innuendos and the hero is often found to be lewd in his behavior. Rape
jokes and misogynist song lyrics are the order of the day. Films such as Rowdy
Rathore, Phata Poster Nikla Hero and Grand Masti are perfect examples.
-
- The hero’s action isn’t subject to scrutiny by audiences even if they may be regressive
in nature. The hero is regarded sacrosanct because his hypermasculinity seems to
make him invincible and faultless in the eyes of masses.

9. Bibliography
1. Transgressive territories: queer space in Indian fiction and film; Sucheta Mallick
Choudhuri
2. Transforming Men: The Anglicisation of Bengali Masculinity in the Colonial Era;
Saswata Kusari
3. Trait aggression and style of video game play: The effects of violent video game play on
aggressive thoughts; Angela Paradise
4. Tough Guys: The Portrayal of Hypermasculinity and Aggression Televised Police
Dramas; Scharrer, Erica; Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media
5. Indian Masculinity; Murali Balaji, Hindu American Foundation
6. Be A Man: Macho Advertising Promotes Hyper-Masculine Behavior, Study Finds;
Huffington Post
7. http://www.healthline.com/health-news/mental-masculine-ads-distort-mens-
perceptions-030313#2
8. https://campusdiaries.com/stories/hypermasculinity-and-indian-advertisements
9. http://archive.indianexpress.com/news/do-men-really-want-to-see-macho-men-in-ads-
/982902/