-Men's Health- According to Gauntlet
In the class textbook, Media, and Gender Identity, Gauntlett explains Men's Health Magazine in a controversial way. The magazine displays the following three things which I will explain in further detail: Irony and humor in men's magazines, the crisis of masculinity, and recurring themes from mens magazines, specifically self-improvement.
RECURRING THEMES
Page 163 reports that Men's Health magazine has over 1.6 million publications, and explains Men's Health as being the only magazine to feature semi-naked men. Also, it says that this magazine is most closely related to other women's magazines. It focuses mainly on body appearance and ways to lose weight. There is also plenty of advice given on improving self-esteem and keeping passion alive in relationships. The theme is so popular among men, there is even a Mens Health-18, directed toward teenage guys.
The information displayed in this magazine shows the recurrent theme of self-help in men of becoming the "impossible ideal." No matter how fit you are or how knowledgeable, there is always room for improvement. This quality, once seen in women's magazines, is highly abundant in Men's Health.
Page 178 of the textbook quotes a regular reader of mens magazines, who liked the way the magazines gave him a sense of fitting in with popular culture. The reader, a 23-year-old from England said, "They offer examples of success, and how to achieve this success."
This quote, as well as many more quotes listed in Media, Gender and Identity confirms that men are aware of the changing construction of masculinity and are willing to accept the self-help aspect that has previously been seen more in women's magazines.
On pg. 179 of the textbook, Gauntlett talks about men's magazines bringing out the notion that men are lost in society, and the image in the magazines aren't imposing strength, but rather that men are seeking help to better themselves, a practice commonly seen in the past and presently in women's magazines.
The Crisis of Masculinity Gauntlett says Men's Health is everything women's magazines are expected to be, from focuses on looks to relationship help and diet information. On page 163, he says the ideal MH man is good in bed, smart, considerate, and "potentially intimidating."
This video clip may be offensive to some, but it is a real demonstration of what kind of information is given in Men's Health.
Men's Health consistently adds information like that of this video to its magazine. The "Girl Next Door" page is present in nearly every magazine, and considers a woman's perspective on how to handle certain relationship questions. The reason for this? To become a better, smarter, more attractive man, in just a few quick steps!
Irony & Humor in Men's magazines
On page 176, Gauntlett says, "It's true magazines do often joke about the general supposed differences in women and men." He continues to explain that though this is true, it can be at the expense of the other sex. However, typically sexist jokingness is actually based on the fact that men and women really are the same species and not a whole lot different! Hence the irony and humor in the joking.
This is very much seen in Men's Health, because although it talks about how to turn your woman on, Women's Health does the same thing about men. Sure, it can be humorous that an article is telling a man how exactly to handle a women's breasts, but if you look at Women's Health, you will find plenty of self-help articles to become a woman of knowledge when it comes to men. Therefore, the reason for Gauntlett's perception on humor and irony is that it is found in both men and women's magazines, where the opposite sex is often joked about. It seems as if we are almost expected to know that we are the same species, and it is important to see these jokes can go both ways.
Let's finish with a visual example of irony and humor in Men's Health magazine, where it is clear it portrays the same ideas as Women's Health does. Notice the headlines in Men's Health, "Flat-Belly Foods, Eat More, Weigh Less, Strip away Stress, Make Good Sex Great, and "Great Abs Made Easy!" This is equal to the fixes women are expected to make to improve their appearance and sex qualities for a man. These are seen in the titles of Women's Health with the headlines "Foods that Burn Fat, Sex and Satisfaction (Get more of both), New Shiny Hair Made Easy," and last but not least, "2,793 Cool Health, Fitness and Sex & Nutrition Tips."
