Kevin, University of Toronto
To some people, Photoshopped models may be just an amusing joke. To others, the Photoshopped model may become a goal or a standard to the unaware consumer. With technology rapidly advancing, it has become much easier to Photoshop someone to make them look to fit the culturally perfect representation. Many people discuss this ongoing issue in regards to media's portrayal of women (such as large breasts and hips, small waistline), negatively influencing the younger females and their standards. Issues of Photoshopping unrealistic images of women include self-esteem, peer-acceptance, health disorders (anorexia and bulimia), and so on. However, I believe that these issues also exist when Photoshopping male models. For this article, I will examine Men's Fitness magazine, specifically at their magazine covers, and discuss the social and cultural impacts of it towards men through the the rhetorical analysis and cultural analysis.
Before addressing the critical issues posed by this topic, it is important to define the concepts. As many may know, Photoshop is a software product that is commonly used for editing pictures. It has become so popular that 'Photoshopping' has become a slang of "to digitally edit", regardless of which editing software you use. This technique is commonly (almost mandatory) used for picture advertisements in digital media. Companies strive for that 'picture-perfect' look, and thus advertisements go through the process of vigorous Photoshopping to get rid of wrinkles, trim the fat, and specifically in this case, buff up arm and body muscles.
Andy Roddick, retired professional tennis player, with and without the touch of Photoshop
This is the first Men's Fitness cover that shows the humorous, yet depressing reality of advertisements. In this picture, we see Andy Roddick, a former Professional American tennis player, arms crossed, looking all buffed up. Nothing looks too disproportional (unlike the next cover), and many people can believe that his body actually looks that way. However, the reality of it is the picture on the right. Arms are dramatically smaller, and chest not as pronounced compared to the cover picture. The picture on the magazine might as well be Andy Roddick's Head on someone else's body! While I understand the idea of editing minor details out of the picture to make it look clean, this amount of Photoshopping is unreasonable, for both the consumers, and for Andy Roddick himself.
Now isn't this just simply harmless editing, and its purpose is to follow their specific theme of muscular men?
I believe that this inaccurate representation of a celebrate such as Andy Roddick has a negative influence towards consumers. As mentioned earlier, self-esteem is a big issue in terms of photoshopping, as young people are often unaware of Photoshopping antics by the media. In those cases, they are tricked into believing a even higher standard to become a 'man'. This also tricks consumers to believe that to be fit, it is a must to have huge biceps, large chest, and eight-pack abs. A simple Google image search of Men's Fitness covers will show that their cover theme is almost those three features. While being fit is partially culturally defined, I believe this is a manipulative way to make people think that this is the definition of being fit. In my opinion, there are plenty of other features that define one as being fit. It is also worth mentioning that some sports depend on a lean and non-muscular body to perform well (e.g. some types of gymnastics), and some sports that depend on a heavy build to perform (e.g. sumo-wrestling). The fact that Men's Fitness photoshopped Roddick's body so drastically is an aggressive and manipulative move on how consumers will view men.
For this cover, I will go over the rhetorical analysis of Critical Media Studies: An Introduction, by Ott and Mack (2009). I have briefly discussed on how consumers will absorb the information of these magazine covers as a representation of the world. I believe this relates to the theory of Plato's Allegory of the Cave. This is a story of prisoners stuck in a cave facing a wall, only seeing shadows shown from the wall all their life, and thus concluding the shadows as real objects. The similarities of Plato's Cave and our society with media are not much different. Everyday people are stuck in this society filled with advertisements all around their environment. Advertisements are the figurative shadows, as they implicitly control what the society and culture is like. For this case, these Men's Fitness covers of three-featured (abs/chest/arms) represent what a fit man should looks like. Thus, these Photoshopped model men are shadows of real objects, being the models without the absurd editing.
This cover format has become a media text, which is "a set of signs related to each other insofar as their meaning all contribute to the same set of effects or functions", by Barry Brummett (2006). TI will focus on two categories of the rhetorical structure: cluster and form. A cluster is the way individual signs are associated with each other. In this case of Andy Roddick, fitness goes with big biceps and large chest. A form is a part that leads the reader or consumer to anticipate another part. For this example, the clusters of a fit person will lead to being successful. Also worth noting that the side of many covers imply that getting fit like the model will get people sexually active, or increase sexual performance. A genre is that individual media messages can be categorized into groups, according to structural elements.
Now isn't this just simply harmless editing, and its purpose is to follow their specific theme of muscular men?
I believe that this inaccurate representation of a celebrate such as Andy Roddick has a negative influence towards consumers. As mentioned earlier, self-esteem is a big issue in terms of photoshopping, as young people are often unaware of Photoshopping antics by the media. In those cases, they are tricked into believing a even higher standard to become a 'man'. This also tricks consumers to believe that to be fit, it is a must to have huge biceps, large chest, and eight-pack abs. A simple Google image search of Men's Fitness covers will show that their cover theme is almost those three features. While being fit is partially culturally defined, I believe this is a manipulative way to make people think that this is the definition of being fit. In my opinion, there are plenty of other features that define one as being fit. It is also worth mentioning that some sports depend on a lean and non-muscular body to perform well (e.g. some types of gymnastics), and some sports that depend on a heavy build to perform (e.g. sumo-wrestling). The fact that Men's Fitness photoshopped Roddick's body so drastically is an aggressive and manipulative move on how consumers will view men.
For this cover, I will go over the rhetorical analysis of Critical Media Studies: An Introduction, by Ott and Mack (2009). I have briefly discussed on how consumers will absorb the information of these magazine covers as a representation of the world. I believe this relates to the theory of Plato's Allegory of the Cave. This is a story of prisoners stuck in a cave facing a wall, only seeing shadows shown from the wall all their life, and thus concluding the shadows as real objects. The similarities of Plato's Cave and our society with media are not much different. Everyday people are stuck in this society filled with advertisements all around their environment. Advertisements are the figurative shadows, as they implicitly control what the society and culture is like. For this case, these Men's Fitness covers of three-featured (abs/chest/arms) represent what a fit man should looks like. Thus, these Photoshopped model men are shadows of real objects, being the models without the absurd editing.
This cover format has become a media text, which is "a set of signs related to each other insofar as their meaning all contribute to the same set of effects or functions", by Barry Brummett (2006). TI will focus on two categories of the rhetorical structure: cluster and form. A cluster is the way individual signs are associated with each other. In this case of Andy Roddick, fitness goes with big biceps and large chest. A form is a part that leads the reader or consumer to anticipate another part. For this example, the clusters of a fit person will lead to being successful. Also worth noting that the side of many covers imply that getting fit like the model will get people sexually active, or increase sexual performance. A genre is that individual media messages can be categorized into groups, according to structural elements.
Male Model with "giant-headded, tiny-hipped, insectoid monster with a million abs and some kind of radioactive hip bones that illuminate from within", from The Gloss (click picture for link)
Before we move into the cultural analysis from Ott and Mack's book, here is another example of Men's Fitness magazine cover, working full-gear with Photoshop to produce this monstrosity that is suppose to represent a healthy fit male. From The Gloss Network, Elizabeth Licata satirically points out the abnormal body manipulations made by the Photoshop team for Men's Fitness. While this picture does not have a comparison photo like Roddick's, A quick analysis of the picture can conclude for heavy editing to achieve this cover picture model. While technology is making it easier to follow proportions to make the culturally perfect fit male, there are still mishaps such as this that goes through the editors.
Now we'll look at the cultural analysis by Ott and Mack in Critical Media Studies: An Introduction (2009). Ideology is defined as the set of beliefs underlying the customs, habits, and practices common to a given culture. It is important to know that ideologies limits and naturalizes views. In the case of this model here, the ideology of a fit man is important for how this cover can influence others. Those that are consumers of this magazine will have an ideology surrounding this topic, and will be heavily influenced by this product. An example would be a consumer limiting their views of what it means to be fit (again, the three-features highlighted in almost all of Men's Fitness cover models), and naturalizes the idea that those with those features are fit.
There are three interrelated concepts for the ideological process: myth, doxa, and hegemony. Myth is a type of speech that reaffirms ideology in relation to the object. In this case, it is that having a 'fit' body like the model will lead to being attractive, healthy, and 'manly'. A doxa represents knowledge that is not challenged in the culture, similar to cultural common sense. In this case, the doxa here is that skinny and muscular is attractive and healthy, fat and no muscles is unattractive and unhealthy. Lastly, hegemony is the process that one ideology subverts and thus dominates other existing ideologies. In this case, skinny muscular men are dominant over fat men.
The problem with this ideology is that it is rarely obtained, even by the models of the covers themselves. As Roddick was an example, I'm sure there are plenty of other models that Men's Fitness magazine used were just as different, if not more, than their own cover picture as well. With this Photoshopping, Men's Fitness creates an ideology that is hard to achieve, if not impossible (like the second cover picture with complete a disproportionate body).
While the differences of female models and their Photoshopped covers are much more drastic, we should not exclude how much impact the Photoshopping on male models has on the society, setting absurd standards for the 'real' men in our society.
Brummett, B. (2006). Rhetoric in Popular Culture. Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, CA.
Ott, B. L., & Mack, R. L. (2009). Critical media studies: an introduction. Wiley. com.
Now we'll look at the cultural analysis by Ott and Mack in Critical Media Studies: An Introduction (2009). Ideology is defined as the set of beliefs underlying the customs, habits, and practices common to a given culture. It is important to know that ideologies limits and naturalizes views. In the case of this model here, the ideology of a fit man is important for how this cover can influence others. Those that are consumers of this magazine will have an ideology surrounding this topic, and will be heavily influenced by this product. An example would be a consumer limiting their views of what it means to be fit (again, the three-features highlighted in almost all of Men's Fitness cover models), and naturalizes the idea that those with those features are fit.
There are three interrelated concepts for the ideological process: myth, doxa, and hegemony. Myth is a type of speech that reaffirms ideology in relation to the object. In this case, it is that having a 'fit' body like the model will lead to being attractive, healthy, and 'manly'. A doxa represents knowledge that is not challenged in the culture, similar to cultural common sense. In this case, the doxa here is that skinny and muscular is attractive and healthy, fat and no muscles is unattractive and unhealthy. Lastly, hegemony is the process that one ideology subverts and thus dominates other existing ideologies. In this case, skinny muscular men are dominant over fat men.
The problem with this ideology is that it is rarely obtained, even by the models of the covers themselves. As Roddick was an example, I'm sure there are plenty of other models that Men's Fitness magazine used were just as different, if not more, than their own cover picture as well. With this Photoshopping, Men's Fitness creates an ideology that is hard to achieve, if not impossible (like the second cover picture with complete a disproportionate body).
While the differences of female models and their Photoshopped covers are much more drastic, we should not exclude how much impact the Photoshopping on male models has on the society, setting absurd standards for the 'real' men in our society.
Brummett, B. (2006). Rhetoric in Popular Culture. Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, CA.
Ott, B. L., & Mack, R. L. (2009). Critical media studies: an introduction. Wiley. com.
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