Gaming magazines and the drive for muscularity in preadolescent boys: a longitudinal examination

The development of a drive for muscularity among boys has been linked to various cultural influences, one of which is exposure to mass media depicting the muscular male body ideal. We sought to determine whether self-reported exposure to four ideal-body magazine genres (health/fitness, fashion, sports, and gaming) predicted an increased drive for muscularity 1 year later. A sample of 104 Black and 77 White preadolescent boys (mean age 8.77) participated in a 2-wave longitudinal panel study. Controlling Wave 1 grade, perceived thinness/adiposity, and drive for muscularity, exposure to video gaming magazines predicted a significant increase in Wave 2 drive for muscularity, but only for White boys. Discussion calls for the inclusion of video gaming magazine exposure measures in future research on print media and male body ideals, along with empirical exploration of racial themes in gaming magazines.     

Muscularity versus leanness: an examination of body ideals and predictors of disordered eating in heterosexual and gay college students

The aim of the current study was to add to the growing body of research on men with eating disorders by examining the association between different types of body dissatisfaction (muscularity and body fat) and disordered eating in heterosexual and gay men. Two hundred four participants (over one-third were gay) completed measures assessing disordered eating, muscularity and body fat dissatisfaction, and sexual orientation. Body fat dissatisfaction, but not muscularity dissatisfaction, predicted disordered eating, dietary restraint, and concerns about weight and eating in gay and heterosexual men. These findings were consistent across all measures of body fat and muscularity dissatisfaction, providing stronger evidence that body fat dissatisfaction may be a greater risk factor for disordered eating in both gay and heterosexual college aged men than muscularity dissatisfaction.     

For Your Health? The Relationship Between Magazine Reading and Adolescents' Body Image and Eating Disturbances

Research has indicated female adolescents are more vulnerable to body image disturbance than male adolescents. However, scholars have begun to examine the increased emphasis on muscularity for men. The current supposition is that a drive to be muscular may be as dangerous for adolescent boys as a drive to be thin is for adolescent girls. Sports, health, and fitness magazines may be a meaningful training ground for adolescents to learn the importance of muscularity and the methods to obtain these perfect sports bodies. Magazines also reinforce the rewards that accompany the attainment of “perfect” bodies. Nearly 400 high school and college students from an urban area in the Midwest were surveyed to test the extent to which reading fashion, sports, and health/fitness magazines is related to body image and eating disturbances, including the added dimension of muscularity. Results indicate that magazine reading, social comparisons, and critical body image processing are important predictors of body image and eating disturbances for adolescent boys and girls.     

Media Influence on Drive for Thinness and Drive for Muscularity

The present study investigated relationships between media influence (exposure, self-comparison to media ideals and internalization of media messages, societal pressure to have the perfect body, using media as a source of information about how to achieve a certain body ideal) and drive for thinness and drive for muscularity in 311 male and female undergraduates at a university in the Rocky Mountain region of the United States. We hypothesized that drive for thinness and drive for muscularity in both women and men would relate to body comparison/internalization, societal pressure, use of media for information, magazine consumption and television viewing. We also expected television and magazines would have different influences on men and women’s drive for muscularity and drive for thinness. Finally, we hypothesized that societal pressure and using media as a source of information would mediate the relation between media exposure (number of magazines read, hours of television watched) and drive for thinness and drive for muscularity in women and men. Students completed surveys on-line. Results revealed using media as a source of information on how to attain the ideal body mediates the relationship between drive for thinness and media exposure in women. Overall, it seems that media and the internalization of general/non-athletic body ideals may have an impact on drive for thinness in both men and women. Similarly, internalization of athletic body ideals may relate to drive for muscularity in both collegiate men and women in the U.S. Implications for counselors were discussed.     

Gender Role Portrayals in American and Korean Advertisements

This article reports on an examination of gender role portrayals in American and Korean magazine advertisements that is based on the work of Erving Goffman (1979). Through a study of advertising images, we explored implied gender roles within and between cultures. Results of an analysis of a random sample of American advertisements are compared to results for comparable Korean magazines and to previous researchers' applications of Goffman's approach to American advertisements. Results indicate that sexism in American magazine advertisements has decreased but not disappeared. Evidence of sexism in Korean magazine advertisements was found as well. We also compared gender depictions in advertisements directed to magazine audiences of relatively different ages. Observations are made about differences in gender role portrayals in American advertisements over time, between cultures, and for different aged magazine readers.     

Images of Men and Women in Mobile Phone Advertisements: A Content Analysis of Advertisements for Mobile Communication Systems in Selected Popular Magazines

The present study was designed to analyze gender stereotypes in print advertisements for mobile communication systems in German popular magazines intended for men, women, and general readership. Depictions of both women and men are addressed. A total of 288 depictions were examined using Goffman’s (Gender advertisements, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1979) framework for content analysis. Other variables studied were the setting in which men and women are depicted and the different types of magazines in which the advertisements appeared. It is shown that certain means of emphasizing stereotypes (such as Feminine Touch) are still widely used, at least in mobile phone advertising, whereas others have decreased in frequency since Goffman’s time (for example, Function Ranking).     

Effects of gender and sexuality on judgements of victim blame and rape myth acceptance in a depicted male rape

Relatively few studies have investigated judgements towards male rape, and no published studies have investigated gay men's judgements towards this offence. The current study investigated the effects of gender and sexuality on victim blame and male rape myth acceptance in the depicted rape of a gay man. It was predicted that heterosexual men would make the most anti‐victim judgements, while gay men would make the most pro‐victim judgements. One hundred and fifty members of the UK population read a scenario that depicted a male rape, and then completed a questionnaire that measured blame and rape myths. As predicted, heterosexual men endorsed more rape myths and blamed the victim more than heterosexual women or gay men. Gay men made the most pro‐victim judgements overall. Results are discussed in relation to homophobia and traditional gender roles. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Role portrayals of men and women in print ads

The study examines role portrayals of men and women in Indian magazine ads. Fourteen hundred ads of 2006–2007 were collected from men’s, women’s, and general interest magazines and were content-analyzed. Results reveal that women in Indian magazine ads are primarily portrayed in traditional roles such as concerned with physical attractiveness, housewives and sex objects. Contrarily, men are portrayed in sex appeal, authority figures, career-oriented, and outdoor roles. Men and women are also portrayed in egalitarian roles. While in most product categories, men are portrayed as sexually appealing, authority figures, in activities outside home, and as career-oriented, women are depicted as concerned with physical attractiveness, as housewives, and sex objects. Some product categories also depict women in egalitarian roles and as outdoor and adventurous. Men’s magazines portray men and women in highly traditional roles. Contrarily, women’s and general interest magazines portray women in more modern roles. Findings support an incremental change in contemporary role portrayals compared to past.     

Support for an expanded tripartite influence model with gay men

This study investigated whether an expanded tripartite influence model would represent gay men's experiences. This model was extended by adding partners and gay community involvement as sources of social influence and considering dual body image pathways (muscularity and body fat dissatisfaction) to muscularity enhancement and disordered eating behaviors. Latent variable structural equation modeling analyses upheld this model for 346 gay men. Dual body image pathways to body change behaviors were supported, although three unanticipated interrelationships emerged, suggesting that muscularity and body fat concerns and behaviors may be more integrated for gay men. Internalization of the mesomorphic ideal, appearance comparison, muscularity dissatisfaction, and body fat dissatisfaction were key mediators in the model. Of the sources of social influence, friend and media pressure to be lean, gay community involvement, and partner, friend, media, and family pressures to be muscular made incremental contributions. Unexpectedly, certain sources were directly connected to body change behaviors.     

Masculinity Ideology, Male Identity, and Romantic Relationship Quality Among Heterosexual and Gay Men

This research assessed factors that may affect men’s romantic relationships. One hundred men (50 heterosexual and 50 gay) in the Northeast US completed measures that assessed masculinity ideology, male identity, and relationship quality. We examined whether the quality of heterosexual men’s romantic relationships differ from that of romantic relationships among gay men, and whether masculinity ideology and male identity are related to the quality of heterosexual and same-sex romantic relationships. Results indicated no differences between heterosexual and gay men in the perceived quality of romantic relationships. However, in both gay and heterosexual men, traditional masculinity ideology and a male identity characterized by a lack of psychological relatedness to other men were associated with lower quality romantic relationships.     

Gay Stereotypes: The Use of Sexual Orientation as a Cue for Gender-Related Attributes

This study investigated whether gay men and lesbians are assumed to have attributes stereotypically associated with the other gender. Participants were 110 male and female undergraduates from a private, Midwestern, U.S. university. Participants were randomly assigned to one of four conditions (i.e., gay male, lesbian, heterosexual female, heterosexual male) and rated their given target on possession of traditionally masculine and feminine occupational interests, activities, and traits. Results revealed that, despite some changes in the status of gay men and lesbians in society, stereotypes regarding sexual orientation were similar to those seen in studies conducted 20 years ago. Specifically, gay males were viewed as less masculine/more feminine than heterosexual males, and lesbians were viewed as more masculine/less feminine than heterosexual females.     

A Preliminary Investigation of Body Dissatisfaction and Eating Disorder Symptomatology with Bisexual Individuals

Body dissatisfaction and eating disorder symptomatology were examined in bisexual individuals (n?=?139 women, n?=?37 men) and compared to lesbian/gay (n?=?51 women, n?=?96 men) and heterosexual individuals (n?=?82 women, n?=?34 men) in a U.S. online sample. Age, body mass index (BMI), income, and exercise frequency served as covariates. MANCOVA results showed a significant gender by sexual orientation interaction and significant main effects of gender and sexuality. Univariate tests were used to explore multivariate results. ANCOVA results for body dissatisfaction showed a significant gender by sexual orientation interaction. Post-hoc comparisons revealed higher levels of body dissatisfaction among all groups compared to heterosexual men. ANCOVA results for eating disorder symptomatology showed a significant main effect of sexual orientation. Post-hoc comparisons revealed higher levels of eating disorder symptoms among bisexual compared to heterosexual individuals. For bisexual men, gay community involvement, maladaptive social comparison, drive for muscularity, self-esteem, gender role orientation, and body dissatisfaction were explored as predictors of eating disorder symptomatology while controlling for age, BMI, exercise frequency, and income in a hierarchical regression analysis. The same factors, minus body dissatisfaction, were explored as predictors of body dissatisfaction in bisexual men. For bisexual women, similar factors, with the exception of drive for muscularity, were explored. Drive for muscularity predicted body dissatisfaction and exercise frequency predicted eating disorder symptomatology in bisexual men. BMI and self-esteem predicted body dissatisfaction in bisexual women; gay community involvement and body dissatisfaction predicted eating disorder symptomatology.     

Mags and Abs: Media Consumption and Bodily Concerns in Men

Media messages directed toward men increasingly promote the hypermuscular male body, an ideal impossible for most men to achieve. In this study we investigated the association between media consumption and bodily concerns in a sample of 89 college men. Reading male-directed magazines was associated with concerns about muscularity and general fitness, beauty product use, and dietary supplement use to build muscle. Low self-esteem was linked to weight concerns. Men's media exposure was also associated with their standards for women's bodies: the more male-directed magazines a man read and the more movies he saw, the more he valued thinness in women.     

The differential depiction of female athletes in judged and non-judged sport magazines

Sports magazines portrayal of female athletes over the past ten years, in terms of body size, age, and race was examined. Using the Contour Drawing Rating Scale (CDRS), estimated body size was obtained for cover models on a set of judged and non-judged sport magazines. The frequency with which the full bodies of models were depicted on the covers of these magazines was also investigated. Cover models on judged sport magazines were rated as significantly thinner than cover models on non-judged sport magazines. Judged sport magazines also displayed a higher number of full-body images than non-judged sport magazines. These findings suggest that individuals who read judged sport magazines are more likely to be exposed to thin media images than those reading non-judged sport magazines.     

Hair today, gone tomorrow: a comparison of body hair removal practices in gay and heterosexual men

Although hairlessness is rapidly becoming a component of the ideal male body, little research has examined men's concerns about their body hair or their hair removal practices. Samples of gay and heterosexual men completed questionnaires that assessed whether they had ever removed their back, buttock or pubic hair, the frequency with which they did so, the methods used and their self-reported reasons for removing this hair, as well as their level of appearance investment. Results indicated that many gay and heterosexual men remove their back, buttock and pubic hair regularly and that their primary reason for doing so is to maintain or improve their appearance. The frequency of hair removal was also associated with the motivational salience component of appearance investment. The findings offer further support to the premise that gay and heterosexual men exhibit similar body image concerns.     

Making sense of male rape: constructions of gender,sexuality and experience of rape victims

This study reports a preliminary investigation into accounting practices for male rape in conversation. Thirty men and women, in dyads, were asked to discuss an incident of male rape presented to them in a vignette. The findings showed that two main issues were discussed: the experience of the rape act and societal responses to male victims. In addition, participants established a ‘hierarchy of suffering’, where rape was judged to be worse for ‘heterosexual’ men than it is for ‘women’ or ‘gay’ men. Hegemonic, phallocentric representations of heterosexuality were mobilized to argue that acts of rape and consensual intercourse are the same for ‘gay’ men and ‘women’ and therefore less traumatic than for ‘heterosexual’ men. This obscures the violence of rape for gay men and women and exonerates perpetrators by minimizing injury sustained. Participants also argued that heterosexual victims are likely to experience ridicule for having departed from hegemonic masculinity. Arguments were constructed to avoid charges of being dismissive towards women and gay men and of victim blaming in relation to heterosexual men. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Gender-role's attitude, perceived similarity, and sexual prejudice against gay men

Two hundred and twenty-six heterosexual participants (115 women and 111 men) were asked to indicate their attitude toward gender-roles, their perceived similarities with gay men, and their attitude toward gay men (i.e., sexual prejudice). As expected, male participants showed more sexual prejudice than female participants, and perceived dissimilarities were related to a greater sexual prejudice. Support for gender-roles was related to sexual prejudice for male participants, but not for female participants. More interestingly, the three-way interaction suggested that perceived similarities moderated the link between gender-roles and sexual prejudice among heterosexual men, but not among heterosexual women. Attitude in favor of traditional gender-roles was related to sexual prejudice for male participants who perceived gay men as different, but not for those who perceived gay men as similar. These findings are discussed in terms of the defensive function of men's attitude toward homosexuality as a result of threat to masculinity.     

Queer Persona and the Gay Gaze in Brokeback Mountain: Story and Film

Using Jungian and queer theory, this article examines the queer personas of Ennis and Jack, whose queer archetypes fit into a context that had not generally been thought to contain those archetypes. For perhaps the first time a major motion picture appealed to and depicted what Steven Drukman calls the “gay gaze.” Ennis and Jack conform to socially constructed gender roles (as “masculine,” married men), but they are essentially gay. The queer archetype they fit is that of likes: the double of Plato's Symposium, yet both are bereft of gay icons and supportive archetypal stories. Before Brokeback Mountain, never had a mainstream motion picture with such wide appeal directed gay men's attention to the frank love, and lovemaking, of two such nonstereotypically gay and attractive young men. When they first look each other over outside Joe Aguirre's office, Ennis and Jack are unknowingly objects of each other's gay gaze. As gazers, gay men can appreciate these two young men for who they are, not for whom we'd like them to be, as is the case in other mainstream movies. For once we and our sympathetic heterosexual sisters are bearers of the look. To gaze at images that reflect our “inner selves” is a powerful and profound experience, all the more so for its rarity among gay male viewers.     

The portrayal of women’s images in magazine advertisements: Goffman’s gender analysis revisited

The research objective of this paper was to study the specific behaviors mentioned above and determine what gender behavior patterns have been most prevalent in magazine advertisements in 1979 and 1991. In this research, comparisons were made regarding gender displays between the years of 1979 and 1991 with random samples of print advertisements. The basic and essential starting question of this research project is: What messages about women have been given to society through magazine advertisements? This study was intended to be a conceptual replication of Erving Gofian’s study of Gender Advertisements to see how gender images in print advertisements have changed since Goffman’s study. For this research, advertisements were analyzed the gender behavior portrayed, utilizing Goffman’s categories of decoding behavior: relative size, feminine touch, function ranking, ritualization of subordination, and licensed withdrawal. Body display and IndependencelSelf-assertiveness categories were added. Advertisements that featured human subjects were collected from 1979 and 1991 women’s popular magazines. The random sampling procedure resulted in 252 samples in 1979 magazine advertisements and 252 samples in 1991 counterparts. This research showed that few changes have been made in the images of women in magazine advertisements since Goffman’s 1979 study. The findings indicate that the images of women in 1991 advertisements did not significantly change from the images found in 1979 advertisements. However; distribution or dispersion of stereotypical portrayal of women did change. In the categories of licensed withdrawal and body display, the magazine advertisements from 1991 showed more stereotyping of women than those from 1979. Two of Goffman’s categories-Relative Size and Function Ranking-were not prevalent depictions in magazine advertisements.