Dominate Everything: Maxim's Advice to Men (2008)

Undergraduates: Laura Morrison, none none none

Faculty Advisor: Jane Brown
Department: Journalism & Mass Communication

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Nearly 40 years after Second Wave feminist thinkers explored the distinction between biological sex and socially defined gender, gender and gender roles remain topics of heated debate and study, especially in the context of effects of mediated images of men and women. Several studies highlight links between the proliferation of thin models and growing instances of eating disorders among young women, for instance. Few studies, however, explore the content and effect of mediated images of men._x000D_
This study sought to explore the mediated construction of masculinity in Maxim, a young men’s magazine. Extensive content analysis of four 2007 issues of Maxim revealed that its content strictly defines masculinity in five broad categories: entertainment, wealth and career, sexuality and relationships, appearance, and role models. A true man, according to Maxim, delights in violent entertainment, aggressively pursues wealth and success, views women as sexual conquests, and uses his fit, hard body to inflict pain on other men. _x000D_
Given Albert Bandura’s social learning theory, this study suggests that young men learn gender roles and behaviors from Maxim’s content and stresses that content promoting a restricting view of masculinity have real and dangerous consequences for both men and women living in today’s Maxim culture. _x000D_
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