Equal Denigration: Media's play on Man's Strength vs. Women's Beauty

I have been doing a lot of reading of online articles, both scholarly and non-scholarly, about media's effect on men. While there is not as much research done on this subject, it is obvious that it equally pertains to both men and women, although it seems that the targeting and denigration is specific to certain values of each respective sex. As I was reading, I found that marketing and television seem to say a lot about a woman's beauty, whereas they generally target a man's strength. 

Let us take your average sitcom: Generally, the male character is stupid and incompetent; the wife is really in charge of everything and works the family through her stupid husband; if the male character is intelligent, he is either unattractive and socially awkward, or gay; usually, the male character objectifies women and is a depraved sex-obsessed maniac. Obviously, this is not present in every television show, but it is seen a significant amount of time to imply that these stereotypes exist. 


Here is a list of some of the general stereotypes that men face in today's media; also listed are some non-traditional characteristics (Sam Femiano and Mark Nickerson):

Stereotypic Characteristics logical thinkers think rather than feel take charge of situations loners protect women and children aggressive adventurers, take risks worldly wise

Non-Traditional Characteristics sensitive to feelings work with others accept help emotionally expressive caring for children having harmonious relationships engaging in home-related activities having non-sexual friendships with women

In terms of marketing, men are generally portrayed as muscular, smooth, sleek, strong with a large, upper body, and a thin waist. Often times, the man's body is used as an icon rather than his face. An example of this is Abercrombie and Fitch's shopping bags and billboards which often feature a little bit of their jeans and a naked, headless torso of a man. Marketing of this nature is not saying "Our clothes will make you sexy." It is seemingly saying "Sexy people wear our clothes, and if you aren't wearing them, you're not sexy." Otherwise, it would show fully dressed models. It is one of millions of negative marketing campaigns employing sexual objectification.

As is common with women's media images, men's images are also altered and touched up to become more attractive and more pointed towards "youth" and/or "strength." A youtube video that I recently watched shows the process:

http://youtu.be/-_I17cK1ltY

In an article about his fitness and image, the writer quotes Jack Lalane, "Of the incessant media images, the still-avid exerciser says, 'Maybe at least that’ll get ’em out doing something!' Aspiring to today’s ideal body is fine, he says, as long as it’s what you want. He deplores, though, the overly muscular type that 'looks like they use steroids. Once you start fooling with Mother Nature, you’re in trouble.' (msnbc news)

It is obvious that there is stereotyping in the media of men, but is it wrong? The day of men being protectors, providers, and good fathers has seemingly ended. It seems that a lot of weight has shifted to the woman, and there was plenty of responsibility there already. According to census estimates, about 18 percent of men ages 40 to 44 with less than four years of college have never married. That is up from about 6 percent a quarter-century ago. Among similar to these same estimates for men ages 35 to 39, the portion jumped to 22 percent from 8 percent (NY Times). I believe that these statistics are due in part to media and their stereotypes of men.

I was talking to one of my friends and he said the following: "It is wrong to propogate negative stereotypes regardless of anything, even if they are true." I whole-heartedly agree. I think that media should promote successful and emotionally expressive men---men who can be good fathers and husbands without purposely following their stereotypes. I do not think that the media should sexually objectify men or women. I think that we as the general public should promote and advocate positive media that does not stereotype or objectify others, rather than accepting the negative media stereotypes that bombard us. 

Works Cited and Extra reading
Associated Press. "Guys have body issues too".
http://www.nbcnews.com/id/15160230/ns/health-mens_health/t/guys-have-body-issues-too/#.UYVheZX3B69

Sam Femiano and Mark Nickerson. "How do Media Images of Men Affect Our Lives?" http://www.medialit.org/reading-room/how-do-media-images-men-affect-our-lives

Eduardo Porter and Michelle O'donnell. "Facing Middle Age With No Degree, and No Wife." http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/06/us/06marry.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1&