The Influence of Media on Masculinity and Male Body Image: A Project

This project examines the representation of male body image in various media platforms, including magazines, television, journals, and social media, and its connection to the existing discourse on masculinity. The research aims to understand how these representations impact young adolescent men. The methodology employed is a qualitative design incorporating media analysis and interviews with young adolescents to explore their perceptions of body image and the influence of media. The study also analyzes secondary data from magazines. The findings reveal that media representations set unrealistic standards, leading to negative body images and unhealthy habits among young men. The research also highlights the prevalence of body dysmorphia and the impact of media on self-worth and the internalization of masculine stereotypes. The project concludes that media representations significantly influence young men's perceptions of their bodies and their behaviors.

Running head: MASCULINITY
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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................2
Literature Review.......................................................................................................................3
Method.......................................................................................................................................4
Result/Analysis..........................................................................................................................5
Conclusions................................................................................................................................5
References..................................................................................................................................6
Appendix....................................................................................................................................7

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Introduction
According to David Frederick although there has been studies about the bodyweight
issues and body image of women linked to their femininity, there have been an
invisibilization about the repercussions about the media focus related to the men’s body
(Bruce 2016). There is an ignorance about the impact of media on the body image of the
perception of body image of men and the increasing pressure on men to internalize those
masculine stereotypes and at the same time the changing social norms regarding the body
images like Bigorexia (O’Neill 2015). In thus light, the aim of the research is to explore the
representation of male body images in the media and link it to the existing discourse on
masculinity. The universe of study or the setting for the research would be media images
appearing on magazines, televisions, journals and social media platforms like Facebook,
Instagram and Snapchat. The study would strive to understand the media depiction of men
and the message it sends out regarding masculinity. Secondly, it would attempt in
understanding whether these depictions are sexualized and whether such depictions have
become normal. The study would also be committed in understanding the influence of these
media images on the self-value and worth of these men. It has been noted that there is the
proliferation of male athletic images on the social media and therefore, the objective would
be to understand the impact of these representations and depictions on the young adolescent
men.

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Literature Review
The term body image refers to the perception about how one feels about their body.
The body image revolves around the perceptions, thoughts, motions and the imagination of a
person. Body image issues have been traditionally considered to be women’s problems and
therefore the impact of body image on the lives of men have been largely ignored or
invisibilized (Dakanalis, Carrà, Calogero, Fida, Clerici, Zanetti and Riva 2015). Studies have
shown that it is not just women who feel Insecured about their body image or at the risk of
going to depression because of criticism about their look. Surveys have found that 20 per cent
to 40 per cent mal were discontented about their body image that includes the physical
appearance, weight, looks, muscle size and tone. These negative feelings are transferred into
the health and the sexual lives of the men (Women 2018). It has been found that 55 per cent
straight men and 57 per cent gay men exercise to lose their weight and 29 per cent straight
men and 39 per cent gay men exercise to lose their body weight. The survey further found
that 20 per cent straight men and 39 percent gay men tend to conceal their body weight
during the time of sex. Poor body image of a person is associated with dieting, over-
exercising or eating disorders like anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and binge eating
disorders. It also leads to mental health issues like low self-esteem, anxiety and depression
(O’Neill 2015). Therefore, it can be stated that masculinity is associated with the body image
of men. From the review of literature it can be stated that there have been academic
scholarships concerning the body image of men but there have been limited studies
concerning the impact of media representations of masculinity on adolescent men.

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Method
The research design for the given study would be qualitative design considering the thrust
of the study to understand in an intensive and detailed manner regarding the media depictions
of men’s bodies and its impact on the young adolescent men. Drawing from the interpretivist
paradigm, qualitative study enables in delving deeper into the phenomenon that is being
investigated and grasp the nuances of the problem that is conspicuously absent in quantitative
research design (Clifford, Cope, Gillespie and French 2016). Media analysis would be
foundation of this report ad would be deployed as a research tool to identify and explore the
media representations of men’s bodies. Both primary and secondary data analysis would be
deployed for the study. The primary data analysis would be done by interviewing twenty
young adolescents (14-16) and there would be a personal face-to-face interview with them.
The rationale behind this sample size is that an intensive qualitative interviewing takes long
period of time and twenty participants would be sufficient to grasp the research problem. A
structured interview schedule be adopted with the aim that all the participants respond to
same questions. Some of the questions that would asked during the interview are
1. What is your ideal body? Why?
2. What is some common body image issue you see for males?
3. What are some weight-concerning problems faced by males
4. What are some issues males face due to muscle dysmorphia?
The interview method would allow the participants to articulate about their perceptions
about body image and this would contribute to the existing literature on masculinity and
media(Walliman 2016). The interview would be conducted in the location as decided by the
participants preferably in an open and relaxed setting. During the course of the interview, the
informed consent and privacy of the participants would constitute the ethical aspects of the

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research (Lewis 2016). The data would be collected through tape recorder or through jotting
down the notes. The secondary method of data collection would be reviewing the images of
men’s bodies in five reputed journals and magazines.
Result/Analysis
The data collected was analyzed through seeking the commonality in the themes that
emerged in interviews and the review of the five magazines. Based on the personal interview
with the young adolescents it was found that the participants of the study tend to be affected
by the media representations on masculinity. They feel pressurized to live upto a certain body
type that would make them desirable in the peer group as well as in finding potential partners.
They have developed eating disorders and do not perceive their current bodyweight as
normal. Some of them have resorted to excessive exercise that have led to dysmorphia or
pathological condition of the muscles. The media content tha was reviewed found that men
have been represented as herculean creatures with bulging muscles that indicates their
confidence and assertion of masculinity.
Conclusions
Therefore, it can be stated that media representations about the bodies of men sets
unrealistic standards on young adolescents who feel pressurized to live to that image. They
develop negative images and resort to unhealthy habits. The secondary data analysis found
that men are represented in an unrealistic manner in the media.

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References
Bruce, T., 2016. New rules for new times: Sportswomen and media representation in the third
wave. Sex Roles, 74(7-8), pp.361-376.
Clifford, N., Cope, M., Gillespie, T. and French, S. eds., 2016.Key methods in geography.
Sage.
Dakanalis, A., Carrà, G., Calogero, R., Fida, R., Clerici, M., Zanetti, M.A. and Riva, G.,
2015. The developmental effects of media-ideal internalization and self-objectification
processes on adolescents’ negative body-feelings, dietary restraint, and binge
eating. European child & adolescent psychiatry, 24(8), pp.997-1010.
Lewis, S., 2015. Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five
approaches. Health promotion practice,16(4), pp.473-475.
O’Neill, R., 2015. Whither critical masculinity studies? Notes on inclusive masculinity
theory, postfeminism, and sexual politics. Men and Masculinities, 18(1), pp.100-120.
Walliman, N., 2017. Research methods: The basics. Routledge.
Women, B. (2018). Body Image Men ....Effects on physical and mental health. [online]
Mirror-mirror.org. Available at: https://www.mirror-mirror.org/body-image-men.htm
[Accessed 7 Jun. 2018].

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Appendix
1. The media’s representation of the ideal male body: a cause for body muscle dysmorphia
(Liet, Gray & Pope Jr 2002)
2. Mirror, Mirror on the wall, who is the largest of them all? The features of phenomenology
of muscle dysmorphia. ( Oliviardia 2009)
3. Media Images of Men: Trends and Consequences of Body Conceptualization
https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/ad7b/174ee3bf9e4f357b39bbe07371c618a86146.pdf
4. Research into the Representation of Gender and Body Image in the Press
http://media.leeds.ac.uk/files/2012/05/miriam-lowe.pdf
5. Four out of five men confess to being unhappy about their body
http://www.bbc.com/news/health-16430142