Topic > Does men's fashion reflect changes in male gender roles?

This article aims to study whether men's fashion magazines reflect any changes in men's roles in contemporary society and, if so, how they reflect them and what changes these are. To achieve this, an image from a men's fashion magazine will be used. The image will be analyzed from the perspective of the consumer, male audience, and will demonstrate how men perceive the meanings of the image, whether they are influenced by the information they are exposed to and how they have used that information to construct or express their identity. Starting from the study, very brief notes will be provided on the concepts of fashion, fashion magazines and advertising through them and on how the concept of men's fashion magazines has changed over time. Subsequently the image in question will be analyzed, using fashion theories and various references to relevant texts to achieve the aim of the article. Fashion plays an extremely important role in the daily life of modern society. Fashion is more than just clothing, it has to do with a variety of things such as hairstyles, accessories, makeup, furniture, vehicles, colors, and more (Kratz and Reimer 1998). According to Kratz and Reimer (1998, p.193) “fashion can be seen as a form of collective behavior”, it is a social process in which people use to display and build an identity. As we continually form our identity, fashion can play an important role in this process. Unlike women's fashion magazines, "general interest" men's magazines, including fashion magazines, are a relatively new growth market (Jackson et al 1999). Until recently, men's magazines were focused on nudity and explicit images, like Playboy or Penthouse, or with a specific focus...... middle of paper ...... on men who don't change their attitudes and their shape of masculinity in response to magazines, but the fact is that this editorial material is a response to the already changing attitudes of the male public. In this article we have studied and confirmed that men's fashion magazines reflect changes in attitudes towards men's roles in contemporary society. Magazines provide a public forum for new ways of thinking about masculinity. Furthermore, it can be said that magazines have played an essential role in moving the conversation about masculinity into a more public scene, and as a result have helped men address many issues that concerned them (Jackson et al, 1999). A study like this significantly opens up the question regarding the relationship between masculinity and consumer culture, and the relatively new concept of men as consumers could be a continuation of this essay..