How are men represented in the media today?
Representation is a way that a group of people are presented
in the media. The two stereotypical men that are represented in the media are either
very masculine and 'manly' or, more 'in touch with their emotions', can be
quite feminine. Three examples I will be using are Dolce and Gabbana’s The One
fragrance for men, Daredevil season two poster and Phil Dunphy from Modern
family.
One example of a very masculine man in the media is in the
advert for 'The One' by Dolce and Gabbana. In the advert, he is shown as a
typical, successful, strong, silent type. This is shown by him getting out of a
nice car, with the press taking pictures of him, and walking into a very nice
hotel. The advert is edited to be in black and white, this makes it seem like
an old romance film, this suggests that this fragrance will make you romantic
and to be desired. Another point that suggests this product makes you desired
by women is the name, the one. The actor in the advert, Matthew McConaughey, is
well known for being a sex symbol. This shows that if you use this fragrance
you will be like him, successful and wanted by women. This will also appeal to
women as they might want their boyfriend/ husband to be like him. The shape of
the bottle will appeal to men as it is a very simple shape. When he takes his
shirt off the ad is in colour, this is done to show that the fragrance can
bring some fun into your life as he is seen to be smiling, when in colour.
Most representations of men that are very masculine are seen
as cool characters, such as Daredevil (Matthew Murdock) on the Netflix to
series. In the season two poster he is looking over his shoulder at the camera.
This gives him power. From the cover we can see that he is violent as there is
a lot of red, which connotes blood, violence and anger. Even with that we know
he is the hero as he is the title character. The poster is dark and gritty
which shows us how he is. The way that he is standing is very empowering as he
is slightly turned towards the other male on the poster and he does not look
like he is cowering away. The mid-shot used is taken from quite a low angle
which gives the three power. Daredevil is in the middle of them and closer to
the camera which makes him the biggest person on the poster, this solidifies
the fact that he is the main character and that he has the most power out of
the three. The woman on the poster is attractive and physically fit, with
Matthew Murdock the hero this could make her the potential love interest for
him.
An example of the latter is Phil Dunphy from Modern Family.
He is very childlike and playful, this is shown by his look on life as he is
always cheery. Throughout the multiple series he is trying to earn the respect
from Jay (his father in law), he always seems to fail ridiculously and
humorously. One episodes storyline Phil and his wife, Clair, swap parental
roles, this ends up with him trying to be the stern, strict disciplinarian of
the house, and again he fails humorously. In another episode he is taking part
in an interview on the news, he asks one of his daughters to do his makeup, at
the end of the episode the daughter is complaining about having to do his
makeup for every picture and meeting he has, this shows he is more of a
metrosexual man than a very masculine one.
From the representations that I’ve found of men in the media,
and other sources, I have found that there are classically three types of men. The
good looking one, that every woman wants, and men want to be, successful and ‘cool’.
The dangerous, violent, strong and angry man, and the emotional, ‘under the
thumb’ caring and light hearted man. These three types of men are used in their
multitudes, with no cross over of them. These are the three types of men that
women identify with.
