Professor Magdalena Bogacka
English 101.0800
December 10, 2010
The Modeling of Masculinity
If you had to place a bet on a fight between the male models of Calvin Klein versus the male models of Hugo Boss, I’m guessing you’d be going with the models of Hugo Boss. Today, ads create specific imagery to display certain types of masculinity to sell products and as argued by Susan Bordo’s chapter "beauty (re) discovers the male body", these images give birth to new trends/types of masculinities amongst men in society. David Coad’s book The Metrosexual: Gender, Sexuality, and Sport, and a piece by Rosalind Gill called "Body Talk: Men in the Spotlight" also help to provide support and evidence about ads and there connection to new trends/types of masculinity. To introduce you to the concept I will first discuss 3 types of representation of men’s masculinity provided by Bordo’s reading, so you have a understanding of the different type of modeling that takes place in advertisements. After, I will then connect the different types of modeling discussed by Bordo to the new type of masculinity these ads have helped to give birth to, as evidence that this concept is a reality and does take place. Lastly, I will connect the different types of modeling and the masculinities that are being created and illustrated to the brands that these ads are created for, drawing that point back to its creators. If your still thinking about the odds of that bet I mentioned earlier, maybe reading what Bordo had to say will help you understand why Hugo Boss models would beat the crap out the Calvin Klein models.
Looking at different advertisements from different brands you can notice that there are differences between the models and how they model the brands product. Bordo, discuss that there are three specific types of male modeling that advertisers use to display products to create a certain kind of image, thus recreating masculinities. The three types of male modeling poses Bordo discuss are "I am a rock"(186), "Face-off"(188), and "the lean"(188). "Rock" focuses more on traditional views of masculinity, displaying this very physically fit strong man that comes off as intimidating, very self-confident, and is normally standing upright towards you. "Face-off" describes a type of modeling where the model pose is staring at the viewer creating a stare contest that he cannot loose, letting you know he’s watching you watch him and you will give in first. "The lean" focuses on more non-traditional forms of masculinity where the male looks younger, sometimes feminine, is usually slouching or looking away allowing you to look at him without a fight and provides a more alluring look giving the viewer thoughts of dominating him. These different types of modeling help create concepts for different types of masculinities that some men are replicating in their everyday lives, but all these masculinities were seen in society already individually being portrayed by everyday men, but time has started to change things. Today, advertisers are combining these different forms of modeling, creating new images and concepts, thus giving birth to new kinds of masculinity.
Metrosexuality seems to be the new leading type of masculinity dominating the world today. The combination of those three different kinds of modeling and other factors have helped to create this new masculinity which describes straight men, who take pride in their appearance, and use money to buy a variety of products to better their appearance and recreate the images and masculinities of the advertisements. In Gill’s piece she discusses how men now, are looking for ways to individualize themselves as men (Session1). The masculinities created by ads are giving men room to find ways to be individually different in appearance and masculinity by providing different variations and fewer rules on how a man can appear and represent himself. A man can now choose to be "rock", "face-off, and "the lean" at the same time and vary which ones he represents the most or least, allowing him to be an individual but still be masculine and in most cases today that masculinity is metrosexuality. Advertisers for various brands have put together these images and help the creation of these ads but it was the brand they advertise for that provided the fundamental foundations and vision.
As described in the chapter of Coad’s book titled "Ralph Lauren and His Models" he talks about how Ralph Lauren used major sports athletes to model his clothing to give American men a mental permission to wear his clothing because their favorite athletes were not only wearing it, but were taking an interest in fashion and their overall appearance (43). The designers of brands like Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren, and Hugo Boss at one time would’ve of had to rely on women to purchase clothing for men as Gill describes in "Session 2" of her piece, but because of marketing strategies like the one used by Ralph Lauren men now shop for themselves in hopes of establishing their identity and thus their masculinity. The brands are marketed differently and used the specific types of modeling mentioned by Bordo or combinations of them in an effort to create an identity a man can identify with and recreate in his own life. So in essence the brands create the foundation and the dream, and then the models and advertisements bring them to life for men to see.
Now, back to that bet do you now agree that Hugo Boss male models would dominate the Calvin Klein male models in a fight? The Hugo Boss Models represent that tougher edgy side of male masculinity, more so the traditional male in new age fashion. Whereas the Calvin Klein models represents the more passive calmer side of masculinity that is being displayed more as the masculinity taking over. So the tougher Hugo Boss Models would def have won the fight over the Calvin Klein models. This bet goes back to this concept I’ve been discussing with support from Bordo, Coad, and Gill, who have helped to further the concept that ads do indeed help to give birth to new trends/types of masculinity thru the use of particular masculinities put an a image. Just by the discussion over the Hugo Boss models versus the Calvin Klein models we can identify specific types of masculine characteristics that are being displayed by each of the brands and men when purchasing these brands will recreate these images in real life, thus the giving birth of new trends/types of masculinity based upon images of specific male characteristics provided by male advertisements.
Works Cited Page
Bordo, Susan. "beauty (re)discovers the male body" The Male Body: A New Look At Men In Public And In Private Farrar, Straus, and Giroux. New York, 1999. 168-225. Print.
Coad, David. "New York" The Metrosexual: Gender, Sexuality and Sport. NewYork:
SUNY, 2008. 39-41. Print.
Gill, Rosalind. "Rethinking Masculinity: Men and Their Bodies" The London School of Economics and Political Science. Fathom. 2001. http://www.fathom.com/course/21701720/session2.html Nov 26 2010.
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