Making Sense of Men's Lifestyle Magazines

Abstract

In this paper we document the rapid growth of the British men's ‘lifestyle’ magazine market and explore its significance in terms of men's changing identities and gender relations. By drawing on focus-group discussions with men of different class, age, and regional and ethnic backgrounds, we contrast two ways of thinking about these magazines. The first employs a distinction between ‘surface’ and ‘depth’, and suggests that the magazines signal only superficial changes in contemporary masculinities. The second approach identifies a series of discursive repertoires on which men draw in ‘making sense’ of the magazines. Four such repertoires are highlighted, which involve notions of ‘honesty’, ‘naturalness’, ‘openness’, and ‘harmless fun’. The analysis suggests that although some respondents saw the magazines' commercial success in terms of a backlash against ‘feminist extremism’ and ‘political correctness’, most denied their wider political significance. We conclude that the magazines provide their readers with a form of ‘constructed certitude’ that represents a commodified response to men's current gender anxieties.

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