Maxim is sexist? Since when?

Hegemonic Masculinity as Represented in the Media
Hegemonic masculinity is a set of traits ascribed to male individuals that are seen as the proper way to behave. These traits are only found in a minority of males, yet they are seen as the “norm” and the only acceptable way to behave. This one form of masculinity has taken precedence over other traits and behaviors that occur in the human condition. Any individual who breaks outside of this norm is scorned and frowned upon. According to Sharon R. Bird, these traits are broken down into three categories. First, men are supposed to be emotionally detached. Any expression of emotion, especially strong emotion, is labeled as feminine or weak. Second, men are required to be competitive. Third, men are supposed to devalue women and sexually objectify them (Bird 124). Society in general has been conditioned to accept that “hegemonic masculinity meanings are the only mutually accepted and legitimate masculinity meaning” (Bird 122). This system is based on suppressing femininity as well as other forms of masculinity in order to maintain the dominance of hegemonic masculinity in society. This system is present in all facets of culture. However, one of its most prominent faces is in mass media, entertainment, and advertising.
Hegemonic masculinity is a system that requires individuals to participate in order to preserve its supremacy. This requires that men are indoctrinated with hegemonic ideals. This can occur in many forms, but one very important form is popular media. One example of a specific media that perpetuates hegemonic masculinity is the popular men’s magazine, Maxim. This magazine targets only men, and it targets those men who wish to embody hegemonic ideals. Any environment, or form of entertainment which is specifically aimed at only the male gender, is the perfect outlet with which to perpetuate hegemony. Bird argues this in her article, saying that “homosocial interaction, among heterosexual men, contributes to the maintenance of hegemonic masculinity norms by supporting meanings associated with identities that fit hegemonic ideals while suppressing meanings associated with nonhegemonic masculinity identities” (121). Within the context of Maxim magazine, one could apply the word “homosocial” to establish that men are the target demographic for the magazine, and thus it becomes a venue through which homosociality is perpetuated. According to the theory described in Bird’s paper, the fact that Maxim only targets men leads it to propagate male hegemony.
In the magazine, hegemonic masculinity is portrayed as the norm as well as a goal to aspire to. First and foremost, the magazine objectifies women, while at the same time suppressing femininity. The oppression of women is a key concept in male hegemony. Male hegemony requires “the sexual objectification of women” in order to facilitate “self- conceptualization as positively male by distancing the self from all that is associated with being female” (Bird 123). Male hegemony is entirely unfeminine and thus derives its power by suppressing all traits that are considered feminine and by suppressing female persons in general. The magazine does this by portraying women as sex objects. It does so in various ways, but a majority of time, it does so through its depiction of what women should look like. It contains numerous pictures of women who would be considered conventionally attractive and “sexy.” However, there is not a single image of a woman who is overweight, unattractive, or even average weight and attractiveness. The cover article features an attractive actress who appeared as the new “Bond Girl” in the most recent James Bond movie. Despite that the article is the feature article of the issue, the article lacks one of the key features of most magazine articles, and that is content. The article consists of only three-quarters of a page of actual words, and five and one-quarter pages of pictures in which the actress wears very few clothes. This was not an isolated incident, as most of the women featured in the magazine rarely were accompanied by wordy articles. They also were unlikely to have very many clothes on, as most of them wore little more than bra and panties. Also, not one of the featured women had a single photo that pictured only her face. All of the photos contained the scantily clad bodies of the women as well. One article entitled “The Next List! Out Fearless 2009 Preview” is an article that is supposed to be giving readers a sample of anticipated events in 2009. The events are mostly for movies, music, and cars, and yet the first page of the article has a full body shot of a woman wearing nothing but nylons and lace-up boots who apparently has no real relation to the articles content.
The magazine also seems to have an underlying message that women are not entities on their own, but instead objects by which men can attain what they need. Women are not regarded as feeling beings, even indirectly, by the magazine. Whereas in popular women’s magazines, the covers are often plastered with articles about “How to Please Your Man,” this magazine has absolutely no articles that have similar goals. When it mentions girlfriends at all (which is rare), the articles are usually regarding how to change said woman to fit the man’s ideals. One article claims to give men solid advice on how to properly break up with a girlfriend. The final aim of the article, however, the end that is meant to be achieved by “properly” breaking up with a girlfriend, is not so much to spare her feelings for their own sake. It is so that months later, she will still be available for “booty calls” (“Breaking Up is Easy to Do”).
Unlike the articles that feature women, the articles that feature men all have an abundance of words and lack pictures. The pictures that are shown are usually head shots and the men usually have stoic facial expressions. If the picture contains any of the men’s bodies, they are usually assuming aggressive poses. Certain males are also derided in the magazine. There are images of men who are conventionally unattractive, and they generally have feminine features, or are simply dressed up in a feminine fashion. The ads have one of two obvious aims. One of the goals of using unattractive men is to market a product that will supposedly compensate for the man’s unattractiveness. The other goal is to mock these men for their feminine appearance. In either case, men who are perceived as feminine are also perceived as less valuable or as more inferior than are hegemonic males.
Hegemonic masculinity is an outdated system that is patriarchal in nature and that smothers and degrades all other forms of behavior and other types of people. It is rooted in every aspect of society, from individual perceptions to mass media. It is available in both blatant and subtle forms and for the most part, it is allowed to exist without question. Mass media delivers it on an enormous scale and it is “consistently and continually recreated despite individual conceptualizations that contradict hegemonic meanings” (Bird 130). It is a system that is flawed in nature and sexist, racist, and homophobic, and yet it continues to be perpetuated regardless of these problems. The system will not change unless individuals change first, and it seems unlikely given the length to which this type of system is present in all aspects of society.