Masculine body ideologies as a non-gynocentric framework for the psychological study of the male body

Consumer masculinity ideology: Conceptualization and initial findings on men’s emerging body concerns.

“…Thus, the practical function of the male body and its physical ability to impose men's dominance (Mishkind et al, 1986;E. H. Thompson & Pleck, 1995) is being increasingly replaced by a body aesthetic, sought after irrespective of actual bodily prowess (Rosenmann & Kaplan, 2014).The preliminary nature of our findings notwithstanding, the proposed construct of consumer masculinity could pave the way for new empirical investigations and clinical application. Such future research could focus, for instance, on the discomfort many men express when confronted with the opposing pulls of traditional and consumer masculinity ideologies with regard to the way they should engage with their bodies (see e.g., Elliott & Elliott, 2005;Gill et al, 2005;Pompper, 2010).…”

“…These variables were thus subjected to PROCESS bootstrap mediation analyses (v. 2.13; 5000 bootstrap samples, 95% CI; Hayes, 2013), specifying the pertinent MRNS subscale as the predictor, and CMI as the mediator (controlling for all other variables as they appear in Hyp (3) In summary, while this study failed to replicate findings linking CMI with body shape ideals or discrepancy, it did yield converging evidence for the predictive utility of this variable with regard to men's emerging body concerns. Firstly, CMI scores, but none of traditional masculinity's facets, predicted greater self-objectification -arguably the core of men's emerging forms of engagement with their bodies (Rosenmann & Kaplan, 2014).…”

“…To address this caveat, we introduce the concept of consumer masculinity as an emergent form of masculinity ideology, in line with the consumerist turn of contemporary culture (Rosenmann & Kaplan, 2014). Because of the wider shift in post-industrial societies 1 from production to consumption, earlier gendered divisions of production as masculine and consumption as feminine have diminished (Alexander, 2003).…”

“…In summary, while this study failed to replicate findings linking CMI with body shape ideals or discrepancy, it did yield converging evidence for the predictive utility of this variable with regard to men's emerging body concerns. Firstly, CMI scores, but none of traditional masculinity's facets, predicted greater self-objectification -arguably the core of men's emerging forms of engagement with their bodies (Rosenmann & Kaplan, 2014).Moreover, whenever measures of traditional masculinity contributed significantly to predictions of men's body concerns, these effects were mediated, at least partially, by the CMI. Replicating previous findings (e.g., Smolak & Murnen, 2008), the more men endorsed traditional masculinity, the greater was their drive for leanness.…”

“…In this vein, the so-called traditional masculinity ideology "was the dominant view before the emergence of second wave feminism in the late 1960s and 1970s and remains to some extent the dominant form today" (Levant & Wong , 2013, p. 329). By treating traditional masculinity as 3 the only available form of masculinity ideology, much of the psychological research on the male body has disregarded its inherent dependency on macro social structures, which have changed considerably since the 1970s.To address this caveat, we introduce the concept of consumer masculinity as an emergent form of masculinity ideology, in line with the consumerist turn of contemporary culture (Rosenmann & Kaplan, 2014). Because of the wider shift in post-industrial societies 1 from production to consumption, earlier gendered divisions of production as masculine and consumption as feminine have diminished (Alexander, 2003).…”