KATHRYN DEHOYOS - NEW STUDY: Macho Advertising Encourages Hyper-Masculinity

From The Good Men Project, a brief report on how macho advertising leads to hyper-masculine behaviors in men. The research, published in the May issue of Sex Roles, found that “print ads targeting men also encourage them to aspire to an unrealistic and potentially harmful brand of masculinity,” what is often referred to as hyper-masculinity, defined in the paper as “gender-based ideology of exaggerated beliefs about what it is to be a man.”

Nearly all advertising aimed at men is essentially "macho," so this problem is so pervasive that it seems unlikely that it will change any time soon.

NEW STUDY: Macho Advertising Encourages Hyper-Masculinity

MAY 9, 2013 BY KATHRYN DEHOYOS

Hyper-masculine advertising has been found to encourage men to an “unrealistic and potentially harmful brand of masculinity.”

A new study published in the most recent issue of Sex Roles suggests that sexist advertising aimed at men is just as damaging as that aimed at women. According to the report, researchers found that “print ads targeting men also encourage them to aspire to an unrealistic and potentially harmful brand of masculinity,” otherwise known as hyper-masculinity, which the paper defines as “gender-based ideology of exaggerated beliefs about what it is to be a man.”

Psychologists from the University of Manitoba studied the ads in 8 US men’s magazines which were published in 2007-2008, the publications were “differentiated by readership age, education, and household income,” and the ads were analyzed for any “hyper-masculine depictions.” What researchers found was that at least 50% of the ads in most magazines, and as many as 90% in some promoted one or more of the following hyper-masculine beliefs:

• Danger is exciting.
• Toughness is a form of emotional self-control.
• Violence is manly.
• It’s fine to be callous about women and sex.

The study indicates that throughout the ads which were analyzed, “The beliefs that toughness equals control and that danger is exciting were more common than the belief that violence is manly or callousness towards women and sex.” Research also showed that hyper-masculine ads were significantly more common in magazines geared toward “younger, lower-income, and less educated readers.” In other words, those who are most at-risk for “appropriating such beliefs and behaviors.” The study also asserts that the perpetuation of the hyper-masculine images in the advertisements is problematic because it “exposes readers to these beliefs and normalizes them.”

Photo: FontShop/Flickr

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Full Citation:

Vokey, M,  Tefft, B, Tysiaczny, C. (2013, May). An Analysis of Hyper-Masculinity in Magazine Advertisements. Sex Roles, Volume 68, Issue 9-10, pp 562-576. DOI: 10.1007/s11199-013-0268-1

An Analysis of Hyper-Masculinity in Magazine Advertisements

Megan Vokey, Bruce Tefft, Chris Tysiaczny

Abstract

Hyper-masculinity is a gender-based ideology of exaggerated beliefs about what it is to be a man. HM consists of four inter-related beliefs, namely toughness as emotional self-control, violence as manly, danger as exciting, and calloused attitudes toward women and sex (Zaitchik & Mosher1993). Adherence to HM is linked to a host of social and health problems in North America, such as dangerous driving and violence toward women (Parrot & Zeichner 2003). Advertising is believed to play a role in constructing hyper-masculinity (Kilbourne 1999). In this study, eight U.S. men’s magazines published in 2007–2008, differentiated by readership age, education, and household income, were analyzed for hyper-masculine depictions in their advertisements. Using a behavioural checklist with good inter-rater reliability, it was found that 56 % (n = 295) of 527 advertisements depicted one or more hyper-masculine beliefs. Some magazines depicted at least one hyper-masculine belief in 90 % or more of advertisements. In addition, reader age, education, and income were all inversely related to the prevalence of hyper-masculine beliefs, with HM depictions presented more often in advertisements targeting young, less educated, and less affluent men. Implications of these findings for the well-being of men and society are discussed.