Representation of Masculinity

 Within media, the male gaze theory has explained how women are percieved, however it is less likely to be analyitical of the way men are shown.
 There are two main theories which explain why this is

THEORY ONE

This is associated with the polarisation of masulinity with femininity. If a man isn't shown to be completely masculine, then they are automatically seen as feminine. Stereotypically, a feminine man, described as "camp" is assumed to be homosexual.
 Lady Gaga shows a man to be feminine in her video "Alejandro" through both clothing and movement. The dancers will automatically be assumed as gay just through their exterior motives.

 

 Knowing this, many glam rock bands such as "Slade" purposefully wear clothing overly feminine. By doing this, it cancels out the idea of femininity and homosexuality and brings back the idea of the band being masculine by having purpose images in a video.

 

The most popular image to represent masculinity would be the Phallic Symbol. This is a large, usually long object which symbolises manhood by refering to power via the metaphoric size of a penis. Madonna is greatly known to use this in her videos to show power and dominance within the pop industry, however it is now common in boy bands.

 

 

 Take that give a clear indication of power through a Phallic Symbol, the microphone stand and the use of buildings. These long and tall objects represent the male genitals and suggest dominance within the gender in order look superior.

THEORY TWO

Age- this is seen to be a deciding factor of masculinity, when a male is young they look inexperienced, innocent and vulnerable. When a male is shown to be masculine, they need to appear dominant, confident and powerful. Older men, after having much more life experience and confident within themself, are much more likely to be percieved as masculine than a younger male. This is also down to the facial shape, with age the jaw line is more dominant to the face, the ability to grow facial hair etc all help to make a man appear masculine.
 

 

 

 Another part to this theory, is that a male on his own, is much more masculine that a boyband/group of men. This is down to the idea of one man having power over the rest, survival of the fittest, however when in a band where all the memebers sing, they are all shown as equal, thus, making them appear less masculine. When a male vocalist is singing solo, an emotional connection is allowed to be made with the audience. Much more eye contact can be made with the camera, and the focus is purely on the male rather than scattered throughout a band. This allows females to look up to the male and become sexually attracted or interested in him, thus selling more records.  

 

 

 

 

Robbie Williams appears much more masculine when appearing on his own, than when in a group of other men. When in a group, the members of the group look equal to each other, and the singer usually gets the same amount of shots as the other band members.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Out of the three videos, the most masculine I would say to be Robbie Williams’ “Rock DJ”.  I have chosen this one due to the idea of the women circling him, showing him they want his body. The fact of him peeling his skin off and throwing it to the group of women could represent the fact they want “meat.” It could also mean that they want him badly to be their own, reflecting his power over women. Although no phallic symbols were used, the audience’s imagination suggests his penis is out but blacked out whilst the girls “admire” it.