View article

Men’s lifestyle magazines have long since been the focus of theorists in their examination of masculinity. However, research concerning men’s responses to such content, and whether these representations speak to their perceptions on embodying particular forms of masculinity in an Australian context, is largely absent. To understand how Australian men conceptualize their own ideas about masculinity and identity, interviews were conducted with twenty Australian men who were asked to peruse copies of men’s lifestyle magazines while pondering what it means to be masculine. Engaging with the theoretical frameworks of representational masculinity and masculine reformulation patterns, the results of this study found that the men interviewed identified four themes of social pressure perpetuated by these magazines regarding their own formation of a masculine identity. These include media representation and …