Although this section is based on magazines specifically, I feel the themes run through advertising as well.
Men as sex objects
Women have been objectified in men's media for a while but the objectification of men in women's magazines is emerging. An example of this was in Cosmopolitan magazine inviting readers to send in a text message to vote for the 'fittest man'. These elements of female magazines mirror the content of typical men's media. If terms like "21 sneaky tricks to get guys to do what you want" (US Cosmo, Oct 2006) were found in mens magazines, there would certainly be an uproar from the female population. There appears to be a contrast in the viewpoints of both magazines; in women's magazines it is typically portrayed that the man does whatever the women wants, whereas, in men's magazines male readers need to win the consent of the partner.
The approach to men in women's magazines is done gladly as some sort of revenge for the traditional treatment of women. Men's rights groups have been set up but this works against the media's 'ideal man', thus the men look "self-pitying". The assumption of female magazines is that men have sexualised women for decades and therefore they cannot really complain.
There are however, leading sexual magazines that do not treat men as sexual objects in some areas. For example asking real men to answer the personal problems of readers. The answers are human, realistic and sensitive. So, despite the overwhelming sexual objectification of men, magazines are still allowing space for understanding the thoughts and emotions of the opposite sex.
Gauntlett, D (2008), 'Women's Magazines and Female Identities' , Media,Gender and Identity. An Introduction, 2nd edn., Abingdon: Routledge., pp.196-198
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