Radhames Guzman
Magdalena Bogacka
English 101
11/8/2010
Advertisements, articles, and other media are displayed almost everywhere we go and everywhere we look. The purpose of media is to convince us to buy the goods, products and/or services they're advertising. The media designs images which influence how we see the world and society around us. Most of the time, it’s much more than what they want us to see. The medium use hidden messages behind their products more specifically referring to men and the type of masculinity they promote. The manliness aspect of masculinity which is considered to be men who are tough, strong, sometimes aggressive, and along with other features are being promoted in certain magazines and articles that sometimes we miss when we are skimming through pages. Esquire magazine is a men’s magazine which focuses, or better yet emphasizes men’s fashion. However, fashion is not everything that is being articulated. The messages in articles and advertisements show hints to what the magazine is really offering to people reading it.
Throughout the year of 2009 including other issues, Esquire magazine demonstrated a pattern within articles and advertisements that showed types of masculinity and how they were trying to promote it to the society. Esquire magazine, through research, promotes this manliness aspect masculinity. This manly type of masculinity reflects toward hegemonic similarities which promote power, authority, and aggression. Some articles in reference to manly masculinity, provided supporting points within the magazine which included what things a man should own, how the ownership of items represents knowledge and skill, the evolution of man, how he’s come to be defined in the present, and what people view as manliness through specific careers/jobs. Some other points which are very effective in providing evidence on how the magazine promotes the manly aspect of masculinity includes articles which show how men should be athletic or be built to show the “macho” in them, how men react toward women and specific rules into proving their manliness to attract them.
Society sees men as people who are responsible and that can carry on the name of being called a man. Mary-Louise Parker writes a thank-you note to men expressing appreciation to which men could do the things women particularly won’t do. Mary states men are “manly creatures” (Mary-Louise Parker 76). She describes how men who smell good or bad are still considered to be manly. Men have certain features which describes manly. The fact that men are able to bait a hook, or build a decent cabinet with tools, or “make the perfect sandwich’ (Mary-Louise Parker 76), shows men could do dirty work along with sweet things to please women. This article promotes the masculinity of men being manly due to the physical features of smell, hair looking fuzzy, or having the lost look on their faces and the mental capacity of fixing up a sandwich for your loved one.
According to the manliness stereotype aspect of masculinity, men are supposed to be people who lead their family. They are the ones who are in control. Men are also known to be born with specific knowledge and skill by gender. According to an article in Esquire magazine, it states that “A man using a GPS is half a man” (“Things a Man should own” 80-83). What this means is for example, if a man is using a map or a cordless drill, it signifies how men could utilize certain items to get somewhere or fix something within the home to show manliness. Most men have the natural born ability to have the urge to fix things. The manliness in being a handyman is displayed through the ability to fix problems and seen in the man who is knowledgeable of his surroundings therefore giving him a sense of direction in other aspects of his life.
In accordance with another article in Esquire magazine, an author wrote, “With a strong and flexible core, you can throw harder, hit harder in swing sports, and perform better in demanding sow sports (Curtis Pesmen)”. Working out the body’s anchor makes the body strong and flexible. Some women when looking for men in their lives search for specific features including physical appearance. Statistics show women are attracted to men who are fit. Curtis explains how having a better body makes you a better man. It’s important for men who want to attract women to work out and develop those certain things which are muscles, fitness, or self-perseverance to create the look of being manly to attract women. The appearances could be going to the gym, working out to get nice big muscles, or just to prove to others you are fit enough to be in a gym. This shows that the man is strong, has endurance in specific activities, and handles himself independently. This conveys masculinity because women would look men in a way that their strong and as well as men handling himself. Along with that, men could also handle their women in a way that’s attractive towards them because of their muscular and independence.
A quote from an article says, “When you happen upon a beautiful woman, you are that monk (“A Man’s Guide to Women” 104-111)”. It is to believe that to win a woman’s heart you must know her heart. According to “A Man’s Guide to Women”, men are required to have a specific guide to women in order to have a decent relationship. You are to learn how to understand women by knowing what makes them feel more comfortable around you. Women see men as gentlemen who are involved into considering the feelings and emotions of a woman. Women also feel it’s important to show affection through the love of buying gifts and occasional outings. Knowing these key points puts a label on a man’s head that screams out “this is the man I want!” This promotes the manliness aspect of masculinity because men need to prove themselves as a man to act a certain way or show women affection. This of course shows responsibility which will give the opportunity for men to, hence the term, “go wild”, once women see the actions men are doing.
In comparison to the understanding of a woman’s feelings and having the gentlemen feature, men are described to be gentlemen by acting out hegemonic masculinity. Manliness sometimes tends to describe hegemonic masculinity. Tony Coles in “Negotiating the Field of Masculinity: The Production and Reproduction of Multiple Dominant Masculinities” stated, “male power is at a structural level with no real understanding of how power is organized in terms of complicity…”(Tony Coles 33). Tony also stated that, “Masculinity does not mean the same thing to all men” (Tony Coles 33). Men that possess positions of power and wealth are described to be people who are manly. For example, they are responsible, they know what they want, and they have goals; all of which applies to men who are in control and men who are dominant. Some examples which apply to hegemonic masculinity focus on men who are “slender, fit, young, aggressive, and businessman dressed”. Many women see men are very well dressed to be high-class gentlemen which find them attractive. Other people within society believe it’s much more that the actual possession of wealth that makes a man hegemonic but how men came to be itself through development.
Many people believe that men are who they are because of tradition. The evolution of the man has changed over the past decades, the progression refers to how society views it and how man is defined but some things stay the same. In another article, Tom Chiarella tries to convey readers that to truly look at the manliness of masculinity, we would need to focus where man originated from (Tom Chiarella 61-63). The foundation of manliness can be based on the ideals that stem from the traditional man and certain qualities a man possess. For example, back in the day, there were no clocks. Certain developments such as telling the time of day was a man’s way to be in control of knowing his surroundings. Looking up at the sun, along with knowing which way is north and where the fish run made man one with the environment, thus adding to the control. In reference to Tony Coles, both articles are similar through the possession of things but one with actual physical items like wealth and the other with knowledge and mental features. Through the centuries, the ideas knowledge and skill have been added on or altered to the perspective of man. The ideas point out the manliness masculinity coming from the very beginning of man.
Along with the evolution of man, there are reasons to believe as well that men who are manly are developed as early as young men in school. Macho mannerisms are displayed in order to conform within the school social setting. For example, “macho” students are perceived to run the show and define what is cool and uncool. Loud and rough, they make themselves the center of attention. In another secondary source article, it quotes “The concept “student styles” is inspired by the students’ own discourse” (Selma Therese Lyng 466). A multiple set of student styles is presented, including the macho man. Lyng states, students have shared what performances, preferences, and other signifiers fit well together within one style and being able to display through practice, the knowledge of these rules which is essential to being rendered as a socially competent and intelligible person (Selma Therese Lyng 467). The macho mannerisms promote the manliness masculinity and ultimately, the macho developments will carry out with young men past their pubescence and into their adult manhood.
Based on these reviewed articles, Esquire magazine portrays subliminal messages of the manliness aspect of masculinity. To attract readers and devoted subscribers, Esquire used fashion and articles to convey the points of masculinity of men. In this way, they could reach out to a broader audience which focuses on men but can also include women. Their articles imply that real men own tools to represent knowledge and skill, take into account for staying fit, learn the ways to understand women, and are born with the foundation of manliness the come from the traditional man. In a manly man's world, Esquire magazine has it all figured out to promote their views and reach its target audience by writing certain articles for which people in society can analyze what is truly being said about men and their masculinity.
Works Cited
“A Thank-You Note To Men.” Esquire, 152.2 (August 2009) 76-77. Print
“Things A Man Should Own.” Esquire, 151.5 (May 2009) 80-83. Print.
Chiarella, Tom “What Is A Man?” Esquire, 151.5 (May 2009) 61-63. Print.
Pesmen, Curtis “Better Body, Better Man…” Esquire, 141.5 (May 2004) 100-107. Print.
“A Man’s Guide To Women.” Esquire, 153.5 (May 2010) 104-111. Print.
Coles, Tony “Negotiating the Field of Masculinity: The Production and Reproduction of
Multiple Dominant Masculinities” Men and Masculinities, Vol. 12 Number 1 October
(2009) 30-44. Print
Lyng, Selma Therese “Is there more to “Antischoolishness” than Masculinity? On Multiple
Student Styles, Gender, and Educational Self-Exclusion in Secondary School” Men and
Masculinities, Vol. 11, Number 4 June (2009) 462-487. Print.
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