"Hey, we're males; we're different from females" : exploring how men incorporate cosmetic and skincare products into masculine identities : a dissertation presented in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Social Anthropology at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand
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Date
2015
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Massey University
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Abstract
Spending on male grooming and beauty products in the West has increased exponentially
over the last decade and shows no sign of slowing. Building upon emergent literature that
investigates men’s corporeal practices, this study seeks to understand how young men
conceptualise, perceive, and construct masculine identities while simultaneously engaging in
traditionally feminised beauty practices. Such practices refer to cosmetic use and skincare
routines. Utilising a postmodernist perspective, I explored how men are expressing ideas of
gender, class, and sexuality within their bodily practices. To achieve this, social media was
used as the primary methodological tool. Three online beauty and skincare forums were
used—Makeup Obsessives, Makeup Addiction and Skincare Addiction. The data corpus
consists of observations of posts written by the participants within these online communities
and a number of private conversations carried-out via computer-mediated messengers. I
spoke to retail assistants at cosmetic and skincare counters, observed male-targeted products,
and analysed a number of men’s lifestyle magazines. The data revealed that men are
ultimately responding to the demands of a postmodern society that has a strong emphasis on
consumption. I use the concept the double-bind of masculinity to explore the way men are
experiencing the struggle of two conflicting discourses—that of modern consumerism and
traditional notions of masculinity. I argue that the construction of “new” masculinities since
the 1980s is most strongly connected to advertising which encourages male consumption of
appearance related goods and services, rather than to a true reconstruction of masculine
ideals. The research suggests that the characteristics of traditional masculinity remain largely
unchanged from conventional notions of what it means “to be a man”.