Daniel Probola - Objectification of Men

Objectification of Men

(Posting the pictures where I intended them was a major hassle. I provided links approximately where they should be located)

It is common knowledge that a significant amount of women have issues with their body, even if men perceive them differently. Women have been constantly bombarded with advertisements that contain unnaturally thin female models with plump lips, long, flowing hair, beautiful eyes, straight, white teeth, long, slender legs and everything else that Western society has deemed as “beautiful.” Walk into any store that sells beauty supplies, and you will see the variety of products that are marketed solely to increase physical attraction. Women have been told for countless years by marketers and the advertising industry to be in constant competition with one another, and to never be truly satisfied with themselves as individually unique people. Luckily, males never have to deal with this atrociously unattainable cultural norm to be aesthetically pleasing like a flawlessly bronzed Adonis. Right? --- Wrong. ( http://www.ohlalaparis.com/photos/uncategorized/dg12010702.jpg )Now more than ever before, there is an increasing amount of men who are dissatisfied with their physical appearance and are starting to feel the need to become a more desirable and sought-after individual. Studies have shown that men’s body image dissatisfaction of all Western men has tripled in the past 25 years, from 15 to 45 percent (Gregor). Advertising has been proven to play an important role in the way we think and act, and is now trickling in to the male psyche, feeding men images of what they should look like.

It is becoming apparent that men feel as if their physical being is the only thing that separates them from women anymore (Gregor). Traditionally, men have not been overly concerned with the problem of body dissatisfaction. The ideal man was more worried about bringing food to the table and offering strength through financial security. A bulkier paycheck had far more worth than physical appearance ever could. The man of the house was expected to provide funds for his family while the wife would take care of the home. When women were finally able to attain equal opportunities in the workplace, it, unfortunately, has had negative effects on men and their perception of manliness (Gregor).

There has always been an ideal look for an “attractive” man. Heartthrobs throughout American history such as Elvis Presley, James Dean, John Travolta, Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt and Ashton Kutcher have undoubtedly been swooned over, but still have had little effects on the overall male population in comparison to advertising (Neimark). Even though the heartthrobs have all had commendable sexual attraction at the peak of their careers, people have come to terms with the fact that, with actors and entertainers alike, a finely-toned body is usually accompanied by a handsome face. Ever since movies that wished to become blockbuster hits started constantly choosing violence as the main ingredient, the hero usually has to be fit and ready for relentless battle. The fact is, of course, movies make profit from the violence that attracts men as well as the sexually appealing actors who attract the women; so that everyone wins (Dotson).

But what happens when the advertisers have products whose main target is men, and the ad is just the brand name complemented by a hairless, tan, and comely yet robust man? Along with what men see on countless media, advertisements are over promoting a certain idealized image of what it means to be male (Gregor). There is also an increasing amount of societal acceptance of men as sex objects, or beautiful (Neimark). These beautiful males are being seen everywhere; TV, billboards, magazines, and they can sometimes be so intertwined with our life that they can be seen even more than immediate family members (Roberts). Just like most objectifying female advertisements, these attractive men are hired solely for their sex appeal. Take, for example, the recent ad campaigns for the brand Old Spice. ( http://www.digitaltrends.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/old-spice-commercial-ad.jpg ) It has been talked about amongst many viewers because of its hilarious, suave, and blatantly obvious sex appeal. It may seem as an innocent, comedic way of selling a product, but it also provides an unrealistic aspiration for many men (Neimark). In one of the campaign’s recent television commercials, the man states, “Hello Ladies. Look at your man. Now back to me. Now back to your man. Sadly, he isn’t me.” And, with the way things are going, this specific tactic of advertising will not be stopping any time soon.

These sexual ads tap into one of our most primal and instinctive desires to reproduce with a suitable (attractive) mate (Taflanger). We are always being pestered by sexual advertisements and they are processed by our subconcious, whether we like it or not (Roberts). The main culprits are advertisements for exercise products, lifting equipment, and underwear. In most of these sexual ads, the male is either A. dehumanized, where the model is gazing away from viewer, or B. objectified, where the body is only shown in parts, sometimes just the neck down (Silva). ( https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLr6fK9A_z4-Ph_lvkct0Yj1q7EPBfXFYUrNp2BgyYKMNrd0-zCU0yTvNPoIskstGKLTnDin7pncCMpfkU_HEjrlXsIBbX17cvqAsCo8FoRtW410rrbaOn7rsr2zihqkoCAd17zL3EMzpi/s400/voodoo_01.jpg )

Not surprisingly, these ads are mostly targeted towards women and homosexual men (Silva). Even so, men see this ideal body type in advertisements targeting women (and homosexual men) and think that, to find an attractive female companion, they need to look just like it (Neimark). Most men think that they need to look a certain way, but studies show that it differs from what women actually find attractive. For instance, many men believe that the highly-muscular build is preferred, but, most women actually prefer a medium, lightly-muscled build, and rank personality, intelligence and a nice face over body (Neimark).

The continuation of such ads is correlated with higher profit for the brands that pay the advertising companies to create them. This tactic of advertising is working and has been working for numerous years. The men’s grooming and cosmetic industry has had a 37 percent jump in sales between 1991 and 1996 (Gregor). In 1996, American men spent $500 million on cosmetic surgery procedures, $300 million on chin surgery, chest implants, and penis enlargement, and 200 million on nose surgery and liposuction (Silva). In 1997, American men spent $4 billion on exercise equipment and gym memberships, $3 billion on grooming products and colognes, and $800 million on hair transplants (Silva). The number of men exercising has increased, and about 8.5 million men have health club memberships (Neimark). There seems to be a direct correlation between the way the male image has changed since the 80’s and the increase in these unnecessary procedures (Roberts).

A significant amount of men are being affected by these advertisements in one way or another, especially young adults. A study conducted by Adam Drewnoski, PhD, and Doris K. Yee, MA, showed that 70 percent of college-aged males were dissatisfied with their body weights. The 70 percent was split roughly down the middle by males who wanted to gain weight, and males who wanted to lose weight. As seen in the corresponding chart, the perception of self is fairly opposite between males and females, but the overall percent of male respondents who thought of themselves as either “overweight” or “underweight” is approximately the same as the overall percent of females who are also dissatisfied. ( http://i.imgur.com/8kX1w.png ) The percentage of males who think that they are “very underweight”, and the percentage of females who believe they are “very overweight” are closely related, numerically speaking. Not only are young adults affected, but so are men between ages of 45 and 55 who show concerning insecurities related to their stomachs, chests, and hair loss (Roberts). Even in children's toys you can see the ideal man increasing in muscle definition and size. The G.I. Joe dolls, comparable to Barbie dolls for girls, have gotten large enough that if they were drawn to scale of an actual man, their biceps would be larger than any other bodybuilder in human history (Silva).

The ideal body type for men, just as woman, is becoming harder and harder to obtain and a lot of the times, the individual perceives themselves as a lot less muscular, or more fat, than they actually are (Silva). The average male actually has little to no hope of achieving this ideal body without implementing things such as: excessive exercise, eating disorders, taking supplements to increase muscle mass, and steroid abuse (Gregor). These images of what men should look like, which are increasingly displayed in current advertisements, are having a negative impact, both mental and physical, on males of all ages.

The resulting diseases in males differ, usually, between heterosexual and homosexual males. Heterosexual males are more concerned about gaining muscle mass, and can be affected by a disease known as muscle dysmorphia, or “bigorexia” (Gregor). ( http://www.projectswole.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/ronnie-coleman.jpg ) Bigorexia occurs when there is a prevalent negative image of the male self and leads the male into thinking that he can never be as big as he thinks he should be. This disease can ultimately lead to an unhealthy steroid abuse (Roberts). Steroid abuse can lead to high blood pressure, liver damage, cancer, stroke, digestive problems, reduced sperm count, baldness and so much more (drugabuse.gov). Body dissatisfaction is having the opposite effect on homosexual males who believe that they are much fatter than they actually are (Silva). These inadequate feelings can lead to unhealthy eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, or binge eating (Silva). Anorexia nervosa is characterized by self-starvation and excessive weight loss, bulimia nervosa is characterized by binge eating followed by purging, laxatives, or over exercising, and binge eating is characterized by periodic, impulsive eating followed by repetitive diets and intermittent fasts (NEDA).

Male and female body dissatisfaction is almost equal, but that never seems to be the apparent case. Men are less vocal about the anguish they might be going through because of what society has taught them: body dissatisfaction is only a female concern (Neimark). This can lead to anxiety, depression, feelings of inadequacy or unattractiveness, failure, isolation or distress. Not only that, but it is culturally acceptable for a male to excessively exercise and can sometimes be encouraged or unnoticed by family and friends for it is seen as a manly behavior (Gregor).

A way that the advertising industry might eliminate such demoralizing advertisements is by showing real men, as opposed to spruced up pretty boys. Dove decided to do this for women in an effort to save self-esteem and expand the commonly accepted stereotype of what true beauty really is. Dove is a brand that offers many different hair products, deodorants and lotions primarily targeted towards women. Dove not only realized the growing and constant body dissatisfaction among women, but actually tried to do something to thwart it. Dove found out many disheartening statistics about how unhappy women were about the subject of being constantly bombarded with professional models trying to sell them beauty products, accessories, clothing and pretty much everything else on the market. As if somehow women are to believe that the cream, makeup, satchel or dress would magically transform the self-conscious women into something they did not think they were previously: beautiful.

Dove’s campaign, labeled ‘Campaign for Real Beauty’, broke through the mold and tried to show real women that they should let their true beauty shine. ( http://assets.nydailynews.com/img/2008/04/06/alg_dove-ad.jpg ) Dove tried to tell women to stop stressing on what they might not have, but to start embracing what they do have. The women were not the average models you would see from a brand that’s main consumer is female. The ladies in the commercials were of all shapes, sizes and ages, unlike most other advertisements targeted towards women. The ladies more than managed to radiate such beauty with their overwhelming confidence. With their various array of advertisements in all forms, including television, billboard and print, Dove tried to demonstrate that beautiful does not have to be defined as tall, young, slender, and hidden by an overwhelming amount of makeup. Dove pushed the idea that beauty should be a “source of confidence, not anxiety.” Dove did not just stop at creating these advertisements; it created self-esteem workshops that taught about the manipulative ways of the media as well as self-esteem tools for mothers and daughters to be able to access on Dove’s corresponding website.

There was, though, some controversy with the campaign. Even though it does seem like a remarkable idea to diverge women from thinking they need to look a certain way to be beautiful, questions arose when word got out that the photos were digitally manipulated (Helm). Perhaps this could cause some backlash, but the message behind the edited photos is still the same: women need to see their true beauty and stop comparing themselves to unrealistic standards. The images might have been slightly touched up, but the message remained the same.

If this same campaign was targeted towards men in a slightly more masculine way, perhaps we could stop the increasing mental and physical risks of body dissatisfaction among men all around the Western world. Bountiful scars, body hair, and getting rid of the pretty boy image might cut down profit for marketers around the world, but perhaps it would halt body dissatisfaction among men, just as Dove tried to do in their campaigns. ( http://www.mikesblender.com/haikyo_museum%20real%20men.jpg )

The male perception of self has certainly evolved more than one would have ever expected about 30 years ago. Advertising litters almost everything you see, so much so that we actually have been able to ignore most of them, but subconsciously we are taking them all in. We are constantly being told that we are not as good as we can be, or even should be. Advertising has banked off of the eruption of feminism and the emerging need for men to have the perfect body, and they can be held accountable, but perhaps it is we as consumers who are actually at fault. Buying the products that are advertised with these unrealistic bodies only encourages advertising industries to continue using sex as a primary selling device. Only when we can look past our primal desire for sexual attention can we rid ourselves of such objectifying images of both men and women. Until that day, expect to be told that you are not good enough. The only thing you can do, though, is to understand that no one is perfect or content with himself or herself – Not even the models who spend their entire life attempting to be.

Works Cited

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