Susan Bordo Masculinity In Advertising

Masculinity in Advertisements Today What does it take to be a “man?” Men do not generally enjoy being told they are not exemplifying the features needed to be considered a man. Advertisements in society today have depicted what they envision is what it takes to be a man. Susan Bordo, in “Beauty (Re)discovers the Male Body” argues that advertisements are now sexualizing men in more ways that are similar but still different to how women are sexualized. Bordo believes that males have become oversexualized just like women. Men and women are however sexualized in both similar and different fashions. In Bordo’s culture women were sexualized in an erotic and intimate way that is meant to depict them as risqué and beautifully appealing, whereas men

He is staring directly into the camera to establish a presence of dominance. This model is clearly in shape, due to his washboard abs and arm muscles, showing his masculinity. Calvin Klein is trying to convey a message that using this cologne will allow you to become more masculine, just like the man in the ad looks like. A company uses this type of advertisement because masculinity is a huge part of a male’s confidence, in which companies know they want to be as masculine as they can be to compare themselves to the model on the ad. The Calvin Klein ad pictured above is a general ad that was the main way men were sexualized in the 1999 culture. In the 90’s, women tended to be the ones who were sexualized in movies and shows. It was believed that “women in ads and movies thus require no plot excuse to show off their various body parts in ads, proudly, shyly, or seductively (Bordo 209).” What Bordo is trying to convey to her readers is that women were meant to be the focal point based on their appearance, not anything to do with their actual acting ability. Men tend to be viewed as “dependent upon the promise of power which he embodies…what he is capable of doing to you or for you (Bordo 208)”, which shows that the males were there to show their power and masculinity throughout the movie/tv show being

In the culture Bordo writes about, men were only being sexualized in ads that pose them in the “face-on” or “the lean” position. Yes, Dempsey is posed in those positions in the advertisement above, but he also poses in different styles that imply a more sexual feel. In the above advertisement for Versace, Dempsey is posed in a laying down position on a boat in the ocean. This is clearly much different from the normal male advertisements in Bordo’s time. Women used to be the ones who were sexualized in sexual ways, but society has now added males into this type of sexualization. Men are no longer meant to look purely masculine but are also now meant to look seductive and alluring. Dempsey is portrayed in this way based on the way he is laying on the