S307: Comments on Magazine Papers

Note re written comments on the paper: The amount of written comments on a paper is not related to the grade. Due to the amount of grading, I use check marks to indicate when an important topic has been addressed and exclamation points for particularly good or interesting points. Before trying to decipher what handwritten comments I did make, it might help to read through the comments below.

Papers in general indicated fairly good reflection on the extent to which magazines, and the purchasing of them, are social acts. At a minimum it was important to identify through examples from the advertisements, style, and articles, how the magazines cater to particular social groups and reinforce attitudes and behaviors about sexuality for those social groups. Click here to see an example paper from a student.  Note that the example paper draws direct connection to the contents of the magazine in their analysis, this was missing in many papers.

It was also important for the papers to include the sorts of critical commentary on social images of sexuality, as are regularly used in the weekly discussions.  As mentioned by many students, these magazines are social vehicles that use various images that can reinforce social and sexual boundaries associated with race, class, age, gender, and sexual orientation. The photos, advertisements, articles, and overall style of the magazines implicitly reinforce standards of what it means to be successful (both sexually and otherwise) in America -- and as most noted, the standard for many of the magazines was fairly clearly male, white, about 30 years old, financially secure, and heterosexual. Many noted that this image was transmitted not only by the images, but even by the quality of the paper, the binding, and the typeset.  As one put it in a review of Playboy: "The apparent message [of the overall magazine] is that it's great to be a white, straight male and there doesn't seem to be a lot of room for anything or persons outside that particular realm."

More specifically to sexuality, many commented positively on the physical beauty of the women and handsomeness of the men portrayed in the magazines, and described the magazines as celebratory of sexuality and harmless for the individual reader.  (Some noted, however, that the act of purchasing the magazines frequently contradicted this sex-positive atmosphere through having to ask for copies, display areas that were unclean, etc.)  When viewing these magazines, it is important to realize that not only do the magazines provide relaxation for the viewer and models of the ideal body, but they also reinforce social norms about sexuality and beauty. In most of the magazines reviewed (even those for women), the image portrayed is of women as sex objects and men as users of those objects. Most of the women have absolutely perfect skin, stereotypically proportioned bodies (slim waists, larger than average breasts), are white and young, and serve men. When men are shown as sexual, they are predominantly athletic, white, young, stereotypically proportioned  and in control. (It was helpful to note that most articles that focused on women's sexuality also give an implicit image of what is the ideal male.)

Unfortunately, an important point was missed in many papers -- that, though the magazines may be celebratory of sexuality, they can also be quite detrimental by perpetuating notions of desirability that leave out large segments of the society. As some noted in their papers, these unrealistic portrayals of the world can easily convey an image of being a failure or less than perfect when one does not live up to them. They clearly reinforce the notion that older people and less attractive people are not sexually active.  Thus the magazines can be considered as supporting racism, ageism, sexism, and homophobia.

A note about female-female sexual activity. Many magazines designed for men show images of two or more women being sexually active with each other. It is frequently assumed that these magazines must thus also appeal to lesbians. While I have seen no research on this, it is very doubtful that such images in such magazines are of interest to lesbians since the images used are of women who fill the heterosexual male stereotype of sexual appeal. It would appear that these images suggest that a behavior that is typically stigmatized in our society, female-female sexuality, is okay as long as it is for men to watch.

When looking at the magazines as cultural artifacts ('data'), it is important to realize that culture (and thus cultural artifacts) serve at least three closely related functions in society. Culture provides images of what are the ideals to strive for in society, culture provides the channels for seeking entertainment and other forms of stress relief, and culture transmits the norms or rules of society. These three functions are closely related, but sometimes may have conflicting results. Sexually explicit material provides a particularly good example of how these might conflict. As 'entertainment' it may help relieve sexual stress, and as 'providing ideals' it may help define (and redefine) what the culture accepts as ideal bodies and relationships -- in both of these functions, many would consider sexually explicit material to be relatively harmless. However, as a provider of 'norms' for behavior and looks, it creates standards that are unattainable by the majority and thus contributes to social rankings.

As sociologists, we frequently focus on how cultural artifacts perform this last function and we thus have an overall critical perspective on these magazines and the norms they convey. However, my perspective is that any actions that would limit their availability are harmful since censorship, and related actions, set a dangerous precedent in the free flow of information within a society. The better solution is to find ways, such as through this class, to encourage alternative ways of thinking about sexuality, gender, race, age, and class.

Following are comments on specific magazines that were reviewed in multiple papers (not all magazines reviewed are covered) -- in a rough order rated by 'quality'. 'Male' magazines are covered first, for political/critical reasons.  At the end are explanations of other comments.

Magazine comments

Hustler: (not used by anyone this semester) Hustler does not have the feel of being as high quality a magazine as the other male magazines below. The paper is not as heavy, the fonts used are not as 'classy' looking, the pictures do not seem composed as well, it contains relatively fewer articles and all of the advertisements are explicitly sexual. Almost all of the women portrayed in photographs (and all of those in the larger photo spreads) are white, young, and stereotypically proportioned, as are most of the males who are photographed nude. The images of women and of sexual behavior are also explicit.  One of the more disturbing factors about Hustler is the amount of jokes that perpetuate racial stereotypes. As is true in every issue of Hustler that has been reviewed, there is a set of photos of two women having sex.

There are a very large number of phone sex ads in Hustler, seemingly more than used to be in it.  Though ads clearly aimed at heterosexual men are the most common, there are a number of ads aiming at gay or bisexual men, and a number of ads for transvestites or transsexuals.

Penthouse: (not used by anyone this semester) As many noted, this comes across as a high quality magazine (and should, at $7). The paper is of good quality, photos are well composed, the formatting suggests a quality publication, and it contains non-sexual articles on political and social issues. Despite this sense of quality, it typically does not have the advertisements for expensive items that are found in Playboy or Men’s Health. The women portrayed in the magazine are predominantly white and young (and of course perfect in body), though there is frequently a series on woman who are darker in complexion. Like Hustler, the images of women and of sexual behavior are also explicit. There are very few images of men, and only a couple of those are non-white. One thing that was not picked up on by most reviewers of this was the fact that there are a number of cartoons that stereotypically describe gays as effeminate.

Despite the sense of quality conveyed by the magazine, there are a surprising number of phone sex ads (including some aimed at male-male sexual behavior). The number of ads, and the 'sleaziness' of them, appears to have increased since I last taught this course -- though still less than Hustler.

Playboy: If the style of Penthouse is considered as suggesting quality, Playboy could be considered to be suggesting luxury or elegance. Like Penthouse, the format, typeset, paper quality, composition, and content all suggest high quality. With even more feature length, non-sexual articles, Playboy comes across as a serious magazine. This is reinforced by the number of advertisements for expensive liquors and merchandise (see next paragraph). As in the other magazine, the images of female perfection continue to be as white and young.  The sexual explicitness of photos in Playboy is about on par with Penthouse, though this is a change from years in the past where it was less explicit.  However, unlike the magazines reviewed above, there are no photographic depictions of sexual activity, no homophobic jokes, and no phone-sex ads.

It is interesting to note the changes in Playboy since the beginning of this course.  Like Penthouse,  the magazine has changed in the past few years and begun to be more similar in appearance to the magazines described above in terms of explicitness of photos.  Also, within the past 2 years, the number of ads in Playboy for high-priced items has reduced by quite a bit, suggesting that Playboy is losing its appeal to high-end advertisers.

Maxim, Stuff, FHM: These are all 'over the counter' magazines that are readily available in grocery stores, newsstands, etc. They are very high quality in production and formatting, contain numerous non-sexual articles on current topics of interest, gadgets, and on men's fashion. Like Playboy they have many ads for liquor and cigarettes, but these have more ads than Playboy for high-end merchandise (e.g., electronics, cars). They contain many pictures of women very scantily dressed, though none of the pictures would be legally considered to be pornographic. They also contain articles related to sexual health.  Maxim seems to be targeted at a youngish (30’s?), 'hip', audience, while Stuff and FHM seem to be targeted to a somewhat younger and more ‘edge’ audience.  

Many argued that these magazines are not sexist but just simply reflective of the culture.  However, it is exactly through social artifacts such as these magazines that sexism is portrayed, and thus to consider them to be not sexist seems to be a misunderstanding of sexism.  It is also important to think about the effect that these magazines have on men's own sexuality:  some would argue that these magazines perpetuate, even set a standard, than sexual activity should be a central component of young men's lives and that men should be relatively cavalier about the women involved.  This is perpetuating sexism.  Also remember that sexism works with other men as well, since it sets a standard that something is wrong with men who aren't "succeeding" sexually.  

Men’s Health:  Men’s Health is probably best described as more of a magazine about health, which happens to address sexuality – in many ways, similar to Cosmopolitan or Glamour.  It is very high quality in production and formatting, and contains numerous articles on current topics of interest, gadgets, and on men's fashion. Like the other magazines, it has many ads for liquor and cigarettes and a good number of ads for high-end merchandise (e.g., electronics, cars). Men’s Health has articles on sexuality, but no pictures that would be considered pornographic in pose or dress.  Though the content of Men’s Health makes it clear that its target audience is heterosexual males, the magazine is popular with gay males – probably due to its strong focus on health. 

Playgirl: Of the magazines typically reviewed that are for women (though see below), this is the only one that is specifically sexual. Judging its quality based on paper stock, fonts used, composition of pictures, advertisements, etc., it is most similar to Hustler. The paper is lighter in weight than in Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Penthouse or Playboy and the page formatting does not have the same sense of quality of these magazines. There are a number of articles, though like Hustler, they are all sexual in nature. All of the ads are either for sex sites on the web or for phone sex; there are no ads for liquor, cigarettes, or non-sexual merchandise. Similar to the pictures of women in the men's magazines, the men portrayed sexually are predominantly white, young, muscular, and stereotypically proportioned. There are, however, frequently pictures of Latino and African-American men. Also, it is of interest that unlike the men's magazines that are explicitly sexual, there are no cartoons. Note that Playgirl, for many years, has had a reputation as a magazine that serves two distinct groups of buyers: women and gay men. That many of the phone-sex ads are identical to phone-sex ads seen in newspapers and magazines catering to gay males would suggest that this is true.

Glamour / Cosmopolitan: Both of these 'over the counter' magazines appear to be high quality publications, using a relatively heavy paper with quality formatting of pages and pictures. The advertisements are generally for quality merchandise with most ads being for cosmetics. Reflecting the economic differences between men and women, there are fewer ads for expensive electronics, cars, etc. In many ways these two are most comparable to Men’s Health in terms of pictures and articles -- no sexually explicit pictures (erotic, but not sexual), many articles on health and lifestyle, and articles on sexuality. As has been pointed out by many students, articles on sexuality in women's magazines focus on pleasing men and on finding the 'right man', while articles in men's magazines are not relationship oriented. And, of course, the majority of the women portrayed in women's magazines are white, young, and thin.

Other comments

Grammar:  A high level of grammatical problems in a paper resulted in a reduced grade.  Words that are circled are typically incorrect or unclear in their use, underlining typically means that a sentence is unclear.  'Paragraphing' means that the section would read better if broken into multiple paragraphs.

Sexuality not Gender:  Some papers contain a comment from me that the class is about sexuality, not gender.   Clearly sexuality and gender are closely intertwined, but for this class the focus needs to be on sexuality.   Papers with this comment were too close to reading like a paper for a class on gender, and needed closer connection to sexuality (as a gendered behavior).