Representing Gender: Men and Masculinities

Introduction

If the representation of women has been the primary focus of feminist media theory, masculinity has long been a less visible object of analysis — partly because it is often treated as the unmarked norm. Yet masculinities are also constructed, plural, and contested. For AQA A-Level Media Studies, you should understand R. W. Connell's hegemonic masculinity, the historical shifts from "new man" through "new lad" to contemporary debates about toxic masculinity, and the representation of men in advertising, fatherhood, and genre cinema.

R. W. Connell and Hegemonic Masculinity

Raewyn Connell's theory of hegemonic masculinity (Masculinities, 1995) is central to analysing male representation. Connell argues that within any society, there are multiple masculinities arranged in a hierarchy, with one form occupying a hegemonic position.

Connell identifies four broad categories:

Type	Description	Media Examples
Hegemonic	The culturally dominant, idealised form	Action hero, CEO, athlete
Complicit	Men who benefit from hegemony without fully embodying it	Suburban professional in ads
Subordinate	Masculinities excluded from hegemony	Gay men in traditional narratives
Marginalised	Masculinities excluded by race/class	Black masculinity in white-dominant media

Hegemonic masculinity in Western societies has typically valorised: physical strength, emotional stoicism, heterosexual conquest, economic success, rationality, authority, and violence when "justified". It is not that most men fully embody these traits, but that these traits are culturally presented as ideal.

Hegemonic masculinity:

• Secures power over women (patriarchy)
• Secures power of some men over others (subordinated/marginalised masculinities)
• Is historically contingent — what counts as hegemonic shifts

flowchart TD
    A[Hegemonic Masculinity] --> B[Power over Women]
    A --> C[Power over Other Men]
    A --> D[Valorised Traits]
    D --> E[Strength]
    D --> F[Stoicism]
    D --> G[Heterosexuality]
    D --> H[Economic Success]
    D --> I[Rationality]

Men in Advertising

Advertising is a rich site for analysing masculinity. Historical shifts include:

• 1950s-60s: Men as breadwinners, heads of households, cigarette-smoking authority figures (e.g., vintage car adverts).
• 1970s-80s: The "new man" emerges — sensitive, involved with childcare (though often still physically idealised, as in the famous Athena Man and Baby poster).
• 1990s: The "new lad" reaction — "Loaded", "FHM", "Nuts" magazines reassert laddish masculinity with irony as a defensive shield.
• 2000s-10s: The metrosexual — David Beckham as grooming icon; increased male consumerism in grooming and fashion.
• 2010s-20s: Contradictory messages — rise of body positivity alongside intensified gym/alpha cultures; debates about toxic masculinity; "Gillette: The Best Men Can Be" (2019) advert provoking backlash.

Decade	Dominant Advertising Masculinity
1950s	Patriarchal breadwinner
1970s	Rugged outdoorsman (Marlboro Man)
1980s	Yuppie, sensitive new man
1990s	New lad (ironic beer-drinker)
2000s	Metrosexual groomed consumer
2020s	Gym-focused, contested, influencer-driven

Men in Film and Television

Male representation in film varies by genre:

• Action: Hypermasculine bodies (Schwarzenegger, Stallone); more recent hero archetypes (Bond, Bourne, Wick) emphasising competence, physical capability, restrained emotion.
• Superhero: Increasingly complicated — vulnerability alongside power (Logan, Iron Man's anxiety), though hegemonic body norms persist.
• Romantic comedy: Shift from confident seducer to "lovable loser" (Apatow films) — arguably a retreat from responsibility.
• Drama: Antihero protagonists (Breaking Bad, Mad Men, Succession) explore the costs and pathologies of hegemonic masculinity.
• Comedy: Masculine insecurity mined for laughs (The Inbetweeners).

Strong examples to discuss in exam answers:

• Don Draper (Mad Men): Near-perfect embodiment of mid-century hegemonic masculinity, whose destruction the show charts.
• Walter White (Breaking Bad): Crisis of emasculation driving a descent into violent hypermasculinity.
• Logan Roy (Succession): Patriarchal capitalist masculinity interrogated.

Fatherhood

Fatherhood representations have shifted significantly:

• Mid-20th century: Distant, authoritative patriarch.
• 1980s: Emergence of the sensitive, involved father (Three Men and a Baby).
• 2000s-10s: Hapless sitcom dad (Homer Simpson, Peppa Pig's Daddy Pig).
• Contemporary: Competing images — the hands-on modern father in John Lewis ads; the absent/toxic father in crime drama; the anxious "dad-fluencer".

The "hapless dad" trope is problematic: it normalises male incompetence at domestic labour and childcare, reinforcing the assumption that caring work is women's responsibility.

Toxic Masculinity: Origins and Debates