Representations of men

Representations of Men

Constructionist Approach:


The person being represented in this advert looks very confident, healthy and comfortable in themselves. This is shown by the choice of casual clothing, the positioning of his body and his posture, all gestures radiating confidence.
The photograph has been framed in a medium close up allowing focus to be drawn to the chiseled physique of the model, specifically his broad chest and arms. This is further emphasised by the low angle shot which promotes the ideologies of male superiority and intimidation. In addition to the fact that the model in this image stands alone, create a male ideology of independence and by the image covering the masthead of the magazine, it promotes the ideology of confidence.
The taglines of the magazine constantly reinforce many physical ideologies of men such as '6 weeks to your perfect body' and 'massive shoulders in 28 days'. Most items that grace this cover that suggest they have fast results to have the 'perfect body'. In addition to this, by using the title of 'America's 25 fittest colleges', it suggests both that this is only for America citizens and that fitness/sports facilities should influence your choice of higher education.
The target audience of this magazine are both the aspirer and succeeder in reference to the 4C's model. It targets the younger generation of men, I believe from late teens/early twenties to mid 30's. These men are more likely to have higher esteem needs, due to social desires and a want to be accepted by those around them. The preferred reading of this magazine would suggest that all men of this target audience believe and agree with all the ideologies presented in this magazine. Whereas, an oppositional reading of this text would suggest that the magazine promotes ideologies of vanity and self-absorption. Rather than, promoting ideologies of how to live a long-lasting healthy lifestyle, it only shows how to get 'massive shoulders in 28 days', short-term 'fad' solutions.
Health and fitness for men has been a dominant and recurring ideology for a very long amount of time, due to the belief that men have to always have the best physique possible. Although society is slowly changing their un-achievable standards, men are still told through representations that the ideal physique is a necessity.

Stereotypes:



Will McKenzie from the channel 4 comedy 'The Inbetweeners' aims to represent the typical 'geek' or 'nerd'. Although the show in over exaggerated and dramatised for comedic affect, the values and jokes made from the characters provide an element of relatability.
Will's appearance shows a young man with gapped teeth and glasses, both typical traits of the nerdy character. In addition to this, he is always shown to wear very smart, formal clothing even when he is not in a school uniform. Will, in comparison to his friends in the show, is known to have a very posh accent which again reinforces the stereotype and aids in differentiating and individualising 'geeks' from the rest of society.
In the show, Will's behaviour can often be labelled as submissive. It is repeatedly obvious that he is not the alpha-male of his friends and often takes verbal attacks without little retaliation at all. He is never shown to be violent, however, it is made evident through his appearance that if any violence was ever to come his way, he would always be the victim, not the instigator.
The most notable factor about Will is his humour. Although extremely funny, his humour is often dry and as a result misunderstood by his peers, emphasising isolation.

Ideologies:


In this advertisement, many traditional ideologies of the typical 'dad' character are reinforced. Firstly, the fact that the young girl is embarrassed of her Father. Fathers are traditionally represented as embarrassing, often due to the age gap and difference between generations, they often struggle to perceive what is 'cool' or not. This is shown in the Volkswagen advert when initially the young girl shrinks in her seat in an attempt to mask herself from her peers, avoiding being seen with her Dad.
However, it then establishes another key ideology of men being the providers and business owner. This is displayed following the fathers encounter with his daughter, in which his car alerts him of a change in times for his meeting. This is almost like a snap-back into reality and back to the grind of working every day. This clip also promotes the idea of a high paying successful job as it is aimed to advertise a car with an expensive price tag with many unnecessary accessories.
However, this advert then breaks the same ideologies it initially establishes. Following the young girl cowering away from her father to avoid embarrassment, it shows the girl become more confident and proud to be seen with  her father due to the auditory features of the car making her father look cooler and acceptable to be seen with.