Muscular, Sexy, and Powerful: Hegemonic Masculinity in Men's
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KADİR HAS UNIVERSITY GRADUATE SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AMERICAN CULTURE AND LITERATURE DISCIPLINE AREA MUSCULAR, SEXY, AND POWERFUL: HEGEMONIC MASCULINITY IN MEN’S LIFESTYLE MAGAZINES IN THE US AND TURKEY SERKAN ARAS SUPERVISOR: PROF. DR. MARY LOU O’NEIL PHD THESIS ISTANBUL, JUNE, 2018 MUSCULAR, SEXY, AND POWERFUL: HEGEMONIC MASCULINITY IN MEN’S LIFESTYLE MAGAZINES IN THE US AND TURKEY SERKAN ARAS SUPERVISOR: PROF. DR. MARY LOU O’NEIL PHD THESIS Submitted to the Graduate School of Social Sciences of Kadir Has University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of PhD in the Discipline Area of American Culture and Literature under the Program of American Culture and Literature ISTANBUL, JUNE, 2018 TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................................ V LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................................................. VI LIST OF CHARTS .............................................................................................................. VII ABSTRACT ......................................................................................................................... VIII ÖZET ....................................................................................................................................... IX INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................... 1 1. THE IDEAL MAN: PHYSICAL PROWESS .............................................................. 34 1.1. Bigger, Better, and More Powerful ................................................................................... 36 1.2. Controlling Your Body Means Controlling the World: “How Could You Be the Strongest Man?” (Mutlu, Men’s Health Turkey, November 2016, 56) ................................................... 38 1.3. The Fit and Muscular Body Is Necessary for Good Health. ............................................. 40 1.4. Body Anxiety .................................................................................................................... 44 1.5. Objection! .......................................................................................................................... 46 2. MAN WHO HAS SEXUAL POWER ........................................................................... 49 2.1. Strong Erection .................................................................................................................. 51 2.2. Does Size Matter? ............................................................................................................. 55 2.3. Sex: No Limits .................................................................................................................. 57 2.4. Sex Supplies: Medication .................................................................................................. 59 2.5. Women .............................................................................................................................. 60 3. MAN WITH WOMEN ................................................................................................... 64 3.1. The Objectified Female Body ........................................................................................... 69 3.2. Men Versus Women (Esquire USA, April 2015, 76) ....................................................... 74 3.3. Feminism and Women’s Rights in Men’s Lifestyle Magazines ....................................... 79 4. STYLISH MAN ............................................................................................................... 86 4.1. Style Is Personal. ............................................................................................................... 88 4.2. Style: Be Yourself by Becoming Someone Else. .............................................................. 90 4.3. Differentiate Yourself from Others. .................................................................................. 92 4.4. Take Control of the Zone You Enter. ................................................................................ 94 4.5. Your Style Can Make You Elegant. .................................................................................. 95 4.6. Be Masculine. .................................................................................................................... 96 4.7. Rebel with Your Style. ...................................................................................................... 98 4.8. Be a Modern Man. ............................................................................................................. 98 4.9. Believe in Yourself. .......................................................................................................... 99 4.10. Break the Rules and Be Brave in Your Style. ............................................................... 100 iii 4.11. The Ladies’ Man. .......................................................................................................... 102 4.12. Having Style Means a Prosperous Career. .................................................................... 102 5. GOOD-LOOKING MAN ............................................................................................. 105 5.1. The Man Who Wants to Look Younger .......................................................................... 106 5.2. Baldness Is a Big Problem. ............................................................................................. 108 5.3. Hair is Rewarding. .......................................................................................................... 110 5.4. Cosmetics Are Necessities .............................................................................................. 111 6. WHITE HETEROSEXUAL MAN VERSUS INVISIBLE MEN ............................. 116 6.1. Heterosexuality in Men’s Lifestyle Magazines ............................................................... 116 6.2. White Man versus Black Man and Asian American Man ............................................... 125 CONCLUSION ..................................................................................................................... 133 SOURCES ............................................................................................................................. 137 iv LIST OF FIGURES Figure. 1.1. White, J. 2014, Emmy Rossum [photograph], Esquire USA. 42 Figure. 1.2. Barclay, G., April 2016, Tom Hopper [photograph], Men’s Health 42 USA. Figure. 1.3. Watts, B. February 2016, Ronaldo and Alessandra [photograph], GQ 44 USA. Figure. 1.4. December 2016, a man and a woman in a café [online], Men’s Health 44 USA. Figure. 2.1. Galveston, G. 2016, A snapshot from Men’s Health USA, p. 19. 52 Figure. 3.1. A snapshot from GQ Turkey, December 2014, cover. 69 Figure. 4.1. Kıvanç, K. December 2014, A snapshot from GQ Turkey, p. 112. 88 Figure. 4.2. A snapshot from Men’s Health USA, September 2014. 92 Figure. 5.1. A snapshot from Men’s Health USA, February 2016. 106 Figure. 6.1. A snapshot from gq.com/about/lgbtq, 2018. 119 Figure. 6.2. A snapshot from esquire.com/one-year-out, 2018. 122 v LIST OF TABLES Table Int.1. The USA circulation averages of men’s magazines for the six 4 months ending in June 2016 Table 6.1. The number of white men and the black men appeared on the cover 127 of the three magazines in three years (2014-2016) Table 6.2. The number of Asian American men who appeared on the covers of 131 the three magazines in a year vi LIST OF CHARTS Chart Int.1. Turkey circulation averages of men’s magazines in July 2017 5 Chart Int.2. The comparative circulation figures of the highest grossing 28 magazines in Britain between 1996 and 2000 vii ABSTRACT ARAS, SERKAN. MUSCULAR, SEXY, AND POWERFUL: HEGEMONIC MASCULINITY IN MEN’S LIFESTYLE MAGAZINES IN THE US AND TURKEY, PHD THESIS, İstanbul, 2018. This dissertation examines Turkey and USA versions of three men’s lifestyle magazines, GQ, Esquire, and Men’s Health to identify the characteristics of the ideal man of hegemonic masculinity in these magazines. These men’s lifestyle magazines idealize the heterosexual white man who has a muscular body, high sexual power, dresses well and cares about his look. The magazines employ a discourse that gives the message that this ideal man is also the favorite man of hegemonic masculinity who has control over women and marginalized masculinities. The comparison of the magazines shows the ideal man in Turkey and USA versions of men’s lifestyle magazines has similar characteristics. Keywords: Hegemonic masculinity, men’s lifestyle magazines, masculinity, gender viii ÖZET ARAS, SERKAN. KASLI, SEKSİ, VE GÜÇLÜ: AMERİKA VE TÜRKİYE’DEKİ ERKEK DERGİLERINDE HEGEMONİK ERKEKLİK, DOKTORA TEZİ, İstanbul, 2018. Bu çalışma GQ, Esquire, ve Men’s Health isimli erkek dergilerinin idealize ettiği erkek imajını karşılaştırmalı bir biçimde analiz etmektedir. Tez, bu üç derginin Amerika ve Türkiye versiyonlarının 2014-2016 yılları arasında yayınlanan sayılarına odaklanmıştır. Çalışmanın sonucunda bu erkek dergilerinin benzer özelliklere sahip erkeği idealize ettiği görülmüştür. Bu dergilerin Amerika ve Türkiye versiyonlarında kaslı/fit, cinsel gücü yüksek, heteroseksüel, giyimine ve genel olarak nasıl göründüğüne dikkat eden erkek figürü ideal erkek olarak sunulmaktadır. Dergiler, idealize ettikleri bu erkek figürünü görseller ve metinler yoluyla