TY - JOUR
T1 - "Appearance potent"? A content analysis of UK gay and straight men's magazines
AU - Jankowski, Glen
AU - Fawkner, Helen
AU - Slater, Amy
AU - Tiggemann, Marika
PY - 2014/9/1
Y1 - 2014/9/1
N2 - With little actual appraisal, a more 'appearance potent' (i.e., a reverence for appearance ideals) subculture has been used to explain gay men's greater body dissatisfaction in comparison to straight men's. This study sought to assess the respective appearance potency of each subculture by a content analysis of 32 issues of the most read gay (Attitude, Gay Times) and straight men's magazines (Men's Health, FHM) in the UK. Images of men and women were coded for their physical characteristics, objectification and nudity, as were the number of appearance adverts and articles. The gay men's magazines featured more images of men that were appearance ideal, nude and sexualized than the straight men's magazines. The converse was true for the images of women and appearance adverts. Although more research is needed to understand the effect of this content on the viewer, the findings are consistent with a more appearance potent gay male subculture.
AB - With little actual appraisal, a more 'appearance potent' (i.e., a reverence for appearance ideals) subculture has been used to explain gay men's greater body dissatisfaction in comparison to straight men's. This study sought to assess the respective appearance potency of each subculture by a content analysis of 32 issues of the most read gay (Attitude, Gay Times) and straight men's magazines (Men's Health, FHM) in the UK. Images of men and women were coded for their physical characteristics, objectification and nudity, as were the number of appearance adverts and articles. The gay men's magazines featured more images of men that were appearance ideal, nude and sexualized than the straight men's magazines. The converse was true for the images of women and appearance adverts. Although more research is needed to understand the effect of this content on the viewer, the findings are consistent with a more appearance potent gay male subculture.
KW - Body dissatisfaction
KW - Body image
KW - Gay men
KW - Magazines
KW - Media
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84908122163&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.bodyim.2014.07.010
DO - 10.1016/j.bodyim.2014.07.010
M3 - Article
VL - 11
SP - 474
EP - 481
JO - Body Image
JF - Body Image
SN - 1740-1445
IS - 4
ER -