Representation of Different Masculinities

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Representation of Different Masculinities

It is contended that elements of Rutherford’s statements are invalid

when applied to contemporary media representations of masculinity.

Rutherford’s argument is threefold. Firstly, he contends that his

contemporary media portrayed two polarised images of men; they were

either sensitive “new” men or they were more stereotypical,

patriarchal “retributive” men, arguing that there is no grey area in

between or overlaps apparent. Secondly he proposes that this was an

aspiration and thus an unreal construct; that these states were

desired and that men strove to meet them, as they were somewhat out of

the reality that most men conceived. He also here appears to imply a

value judgement- that the media intended to influence the shaping of

men and through an idealised perception. Thirdly he argues that in the

late 1980’s the new man was repressed and that the retributive man was

the public face of masculinity. While the validity of Rutherford’s

arguments in his own time is certainly open to debate for its

inaccuracies and oversimplification over the portrayal of masculinity,

it is contended that much of it is also invalid when applied to the

contemporary media portrayal of men. It is proposed, here, that while

the modern media still utilises these polarised images of man, it

allows for a more well-developed and rounded conception to be

ordained- masculinity is not necessarily conceived as one or another.

It is also contended that these images are also not always used as an

ideal, as Rutherford naively argues- there portrayal in the modern

media is used for more than aspiration in purpose. It is also

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