Magazine Article Evaluation - Collin

For my final analysis of the different men’s magazine such as: FHM, Maxim, Men’s Health, and Men’s Fitness, I have come to conclusion that there are only four categories in men’s magazines that repeat which are sex, food, gadgets, and creating the perfect body. But the two that stand out significantly are creating the perfect body and sex, and one thing that I noticed is that these two themes are linked to one another in the articles and the advertisements. In all the men’s magazines sex, although not always explicitly advertised, was shown with images of extremely attractive females sensually touching or holding very fit or buff handsome men. From the data I collected in my surveys the results show that these images of “perfect” people have an effect on the way the male readers and how they view their selves no matter how satisfied they might say they are with their appearance. It is these images that drive men and the readers of these magazines to want to be the men in the advertisements and in the media, and more specifically can reinforce the Adonis Complex. Most of the advertisements in men’s magazines take advantage of this by trying to sell the quickest and most effective new ways to bulk up with powders, drinks, and/or pills. The people selling these products in the advertisements are used to represent the end results/effectiveness of the product which also feeds the drive for male body perfection/the Adonis Complex. By the way things look in the media and from the results of my survey it seems that if the images in the media continue on its path of depicting a world of “idolized flawless beings,” then the issues of negative self image that are still somewhat deeply hidden within men might start to start to surface progressively. The Adonis Complex might just be the tip of the ice berg.