metrosexual The action hero

In this essay I will be explaining how various chosen examples of media show different representations of masculinity,
gender is normally described as the socially constructed roles and behaviours that a society typically associates with males
and females. Some of these constructed behaviours for men are that they must be strong, emotionless and dominant, this
view of men became so popular and frequently used because it was a dominant ideology in a patriarchal society, which is a
society that is run by men for men. This can be seen in the Rambo first blood poster because of how Sylvester Stallone’s
muscles are clearly being shown off which reinforces that he is physically strong, this belief is also reinforced by the gun he
is holding and since guns are normally used by soldiers (which is what Stallone is being portrayed as) this also aligns with
the patriarchal belief that men should be protectors, these representations can also be seen in posters from other movies
involving soldiers such as Predator(1987), Commando(1985) and Hercules(2014), these types of men are normally referred
to as “the action heroes” which are normally seen going guns blazing into most dangerous situations. Another traditional
representation of men in the media is the Entrepreneur which are normally presented as being extremely rich, confident and
equally as smart, this also reinforces the dominant ideology of a patriarchal society because men are believed to be the
breadwinners in the family meaning that they bring in the majority or all the money that supports the family and these
representations can be seen in movies such as the wolf of wall street (2013) which can specifically scene in the main
characters attire, as people with higher income jobs or people with higher positions in a company are normally seen wearing
suits he even has the slick back hair, also his traditional wealth can be seen through the expensive looking watch he is
wearing in the poster and his confidence can be seen in his stance and how he is looking forward which creates a direct
mode of address. These representations can also be seen today in movies such as once upon a time in Hollywood (2019).

Over time however these representations of men became less dominant in society mainly due to the rise in feminism which
in turn created more equality between men and women, which started around the 1970s, this then led to new male
representations of men being created, that challenges traditional patriarchal representations of men, and many of them
involved men taking on traits that were originally related to women such as being emotional and soft, even traditional jobs
changed and some media forms showed men being good with housework (such as cooking) and being good at taking care
of the family, over time this version of a man became known as the “new family man” which is often seen being caring
towards their wife and kids, also seen trying to help the kids solve any emotional issues, an example of this can be seen in
the Colman’s shepherds pie advert, this can be seen in how the father not only hugs and comforts his daughter after she
had a breakup but he also cooks her a meal which would normally be expected from the wife because the wife is
traditionally expected to be the only one caring for the kids. Another modern representation of men that challenges
traditional representations is the metrosexual man which is normally objectified (such as how women were when society
mainly had a patriarchal ideology) for their body, and similar to traditional female values their intellect was is undermined,
another thing about metrosexuals is that they are often mistaken as being homosexual when they’re actual heterosexual.
Another reason for the introduction of these new representations of men in the media is the masculinity in crisis theory which
originated around the 1980s and saw men questioning their own masculinity because of how traditional ideas of masculinity
were changing.
 Entrepreneur

The new family

man