* Hwm« fe^j.) IU*t e Cfm fcA'a . Advertising and the Construction of Violent White Masculinity JACKSON KAT2 Violence is one of the most pervasive and senous problems we face in the United States. Increasingly, academics, community activists and politicians have been paying attention to the role of the mass media in producing, reproducing and legitimating this violence.1 LTn tort una tely, however, much of the mainstream debate about the effects of media violence on violence in the "real" world tads to include an analysis of gender. Although, according to the Federal Bureau ot Investigation (1992), approximately 90% of violent crime is committed by males, magazine headline writers talk about "youth" violence and "kids'" love .ufair with guns. It is unusual even to hear mention ol "masculinity" or "manhood" in these discussions, much less a thorough deconstructionol the gender order and the way that cultural definitions ot masculinity and leminimtv might be implicated. Under these conditions, a class-conscious discussion of masculine gender construction is even less likely. There is a glaring absence ol a thorough body ot research into the power * of cultural images of masculinity. But this is not surprising. It is in fact consistent with the lack ot attention paid to other dominant groups. Discussions about racial representation in media, for example, tend to locus on African Americans, Asians or llispanics, and not on Anglo Whites.3 Writing about the representation ol Whiteness as an ethnic category in mainstream tilm, Richard Dyer 0988. cited in Hanke. 1993) tip** lhat "white power secures its dominance by seeming not to be anything in particular:"' "White- 133 134 ADVERTISING ness" is constructed as the norm against which nondominam groups are defined as "other." Robert Hanke (1992), in an article about hegemonic masculinity in transition, argues that masculinity, like Whiteness, "does not appear to be a cultural/historical category at all, thus rendering invisible the privileged position from which (white) men in general are able to articulate their interests to the exclusion of the interests of women, men and women of color, and children" (p. 186), There has been some discussion, since the mid-1970s, of the ways in which cultural definitions of White manhood have been shaped by stereotypical representations in advertising. One area of research has looked at the creation of modern masculine archetypes such as the Marlboro Man. But there has been little attention, in scholarship or antiviolence activism, paid to the relationship between the construction of violent masculinity in what Sut Jhally (1990) refers to as the "commodity image-system" of advertising and the pandemic of violence committed by boys and men in the homes and streets of the United States. This chapter is an attempt to sketch out some of the ways in which hegemonic constructions of masculinity in mainstream magazine advertising normalize male violence. Theorists and researchers in profeminist sociology and men's studies in recent years have developed the concept of masculinities, as opposed to masculinity, to more adequately describe the complexities of male social position, identity and experience. At any given time, the class structure and gender order produce numerous masculinities stratified by socioeconomic class, racial and ethnic difference and sexual orientation. The central delineation is between the hegemonic, or dominant, masculinity (generally. White and middle-class) and the subordinated masculinities. But although there are significant differences between the various masculinities, in patriarchal culture, violent behavior is typically gendered male. This doesn't mean that all men are violent but thai violent behavior is considered masculine (as opposed to feminine) behavior. This masculine gendering of violence in part explains why the movie Theima mid Lauise touched such a chord: Women had appropriated, however briefly, the male prerogative for, and identification with, violence. One need not look very closely to see how pervasive is the cultural imagery linking various masculinities to the potential for violence. One key source of constructions of dominant masculinity is the movie industry, which has introduced into the culture a seemingly endless stream of violent male icons. Tens of millions of people, disproportionately mate and young, flock to theaters and rent videocassettes of the "action-adventure' (a Hollywood euphemism tor violent) iilms of Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis, et al. These cultural heroes rose to prominence in an era, the mid-to-late 1970s into the 1980s, in which workinR-class White males had to contend with increasing economic instability and dislocation, the perception ot gains by people of color ai (he expense of the White working class, and a women's movement thai overtlv challenged male hegemony. In the face of these pressures, then, it is not surprising that White men (especially but not ex- Advertising and Violent Whtte Masculinity 135 clusively working -class) would latch onto big. muscular, violent men as cinematic heroes. For many males who were experiencing unsettling changes, one area of masculine power remained attainable: physical size and siren gth and the ability to use violence successfully. Harry Brod M*W7) and other theorists have argued that macro changes in postindustrial capitalism have created deep tensions in the various masculinities. For example, according to Brod. Persisting images of masculinity hold that "real men" are physically strong, aggressive, and in control of their work. Vet the structural dichotomy between manual and mental labor under capitalism means that no one's work fulfills all these conditions-Manual laborers work for others ai the low end of the class spectrum, while management sits at a desk. Consequently, while the insecurities generated by these contradictions are personally dissatisfying to men, these insecurities also impel them to cling all the more tightly to sources of masculine identity validation offered by the system, (p. 14) One way that the system allows working class men (of various races) the opportunity for what Brod refers to as "masculine identity validation" is through the use of their body as an instrument of power, dominance and control. For working-class males, who have less access to more abstract forms of masculinity-validating power (economic power, workplace authority), the physical body and its potential for violence provide a concrete means of achieving and asserting "manhood." At any given time, individual as well as groups of men an? engaged in an ongoing process of creating and maintaining their own masculine identities. Advertising, in a commodity-driven consumer culture, is an omnipresent and rich source of gender ideology. Contemporary ads are filled with images of "dangerous"-looking men. Men's magazines and mainstream newsweeklies are rife with ads featuring violent male icons, such as uniformed football players, big-fisted boxers and leather-clad bikers. Sports magazines aimed at men, and televised sporting events, carry millions of dollars worth of military ads. In the past decade, there have been hundreds of ads for products designed to help men develop muscular physiques. su$h as weight training machines and nutritional supplements. Historically, use of gender in advertising has stressed difference, implicitly and even explicitly reaffirming the "natural" dissimilarity of males and females. In late 20th century U.S. culture, advertising that targets young White males I with the exception of fashion advertising, which often features more of an androgynous male look) has the difficult task of stressing gender difference in an era characterized by a loosening of rigid gender distinctions. Stressing gender difference in this context means defining masculinity in opposition to femininity. This requires constantly reasserting what is masculine and what is feminine. One of the ways this is accomplished, in the image system, is to equate masculinity with violence (and femininity with passivity). ADVERTISING The need to differentiate from the feminine by asserting masculinity in the form of power and aggression might at least partially account for the degree of male violence in contemporary advertising, as well as in video games, children's toys, cartoons. Hollywood lilm and the sports culture. By helping to differentiate masculinity from femininity, images of masculine aggression and violence—including violence against women—afford young males across class a degree of self-respect and security (however illusory) within the more socially valued masculine role. VIOLENT WHITE MASCULINITY IN ADVERTISING The appeal of violent behavior for men. including its rewards, is coded into mainstream advertising in numerous ways; from violent male icons (such as particularly aggressive athletes or superheroes) overtly threatening consumers to buy products, to ads thai exploit men's leelings of not being big, strong or violent enough by promising to provide them with products that will enhance those qualities. These codes are present in television and radio commercials as well, but this chapter focuses on mainstream American magazine ads (Netixwcek, People, Sports Illustrated, etc.). from the early 1990s. Several recurring themes in magazine advertising targeting men help support the equation of White masculinity and violence. Among them are violence as genetically programmed male behavior, the use of military and sports symbolism to enhance the masculine appeal and identification of products, the association of muscularity with ideal masculinity, and the equation of heroic masculinity with violent masculinity. Let us now consider, briefly, each of these themes. Violence as Genetically Programmed Male Behavior. One way that advertisers demonstrate the "masculinity" of a product or service is through the use of violent male icons or types from popular history. This helps to associate the product with manly needs and pursuits that presumably have existed from time immemorial. It also furthers the ideological premise, disguised as common sense, that men have always bevn aggressive .in.I brutal, and lhat their dominance over women is biologically based. "Historical" proof for this is shown in a multitude of ways. An ad tor the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, an elite financial institution, depicts a medieval battlefield where muscle-bound toy figurines, accompanied by paradoxically muscular skeleton men. prepare to engage in a sword tight. They might wear lormal suits and sit behind desks, the ad implies, but the men in high linance 'and those whose money thev manage) are actually rugged .,Vlirnor8i Beneath (he veneer ot wealth and class privilege, all men are really brutes. The text reads: "I low the Masters of the Universe Overcame the Attack ot the Deutschmarks." Advertising ana Violent Wrvr© Masculinity 137 An ad lor Troian condoms features a giant-sized Roman centurion, in full uililOlin* muscles rippling, holding a package ol condoms as he towers over the buildings of a modem city. Condom manufacturers know that the purchase and use ot condoms by men can be stressful, partiallv because pent* size, in popular Western folklore, is supposedly linked to virility. One w.iy to assuage the anxieties of male consumers is to link the producf with a recognizably violent (read: masculine) male archetype. It is no coincidence thai the two leading brands of condoms in the United States are named for ancient warriors and kings (Troian and Ramses). Sometimes products with no immediately apparent connection to gender or violence nonetheless make the leap. An ad for Dell computers, for example, shows a painting ol a group of White cowboys on horseback shooting at mounted Indians who are chasing them. The copy reads "Being Able to Run Faster Could Come in Real Handy." The cowboys arc foregrounded and the viewers are positioned to identify with them against fhe Indian "other." The cowboys' violence is depicted as defensive, a construction that was historically used to justify genocide. The ad explains that "you never know when somebody (read: Indians. Japanese business competitors) is going to come around the comer and surprise you." It thus masculinizes the White middle-class world of the computer business by using the violent historical metaphor of cowboys versus Indians. An even more sinister use of historical representations involves portraying violence that would not be acceptable if shown in contemporary settings, Norwegian Cruise Line, for example, in an ad thai ran in major news weekly magazines, depicted a colorful painting of a scene on a ship's deck, set sometime in the pirate era, where men, swords drawn, appear simultaneously to be fighting each other while a couple of them are carrying off women. The headline informs us that Norwegian is the "first cruise line whose entertainment doesn't revolve around the bar" It is highly doubtful that the cruise line could have set what is clearly a rape or gang rape scenario on a modem ship. It would no doubt have prompted feminist protests about the company's glorification of the rape of women. Controversy is avoided by depicting the scene as historical.3 But Norwegian Cruise Line, which calls itself "The Pleasure Ships," in this ad reinforces the idea that rape is a desirable male pastime. Whether intentional or not, the underlying message is that real men (pirates, swashbucklers! have always enjoyed it The Use of Military and Sport* Sumlntlism to Lnhance the Masculine Identification and Appeal of Products. Advertisers who want to demonstrate the unquestioned manliness of their products can do so by using one of the two key subsets in the symbolic image system of violent masculinity the military and sports. Uniformed soldiers and players, as well as their weapons and gear, appear frequently in ads of all sorts. Many of the Camel Smooth Character cartoon ads. for example, display submarines surfacing or fighter jets streaking by as Joe Camel stands confidently in the foreground. One ad features |oe Camel himself wearing an air force bomber pilot's iacket. The ADVERTISING message to the young boys and adolescent males targeted by the campaign is obvious: Violence (as signified by the military vehicles) is cool and suave. The sexy blond woman gazing provocatively at the James Bond-like camel provides female ratification of Joe's masculinity. Ads for the military itself also show the linkage between masculinity and force. The U.S. military spends more than $100 million annually on advertising. Not surprisingly, armed services advertisements appear disproportionately on televised sporting events and in sports and so-called men's magazines. Military ads are characterized by exciting outdoor action scenes with accompanying text replete with references to "leadership." "respect." and "pride." Although these ads sometimes promote the educational and financial benefits of military service, what they're really selling to young working-class males is a vision of masculinity—adventurous, aggressive and violent—that provides men of all classes with a standard of "real manhood" against which to judge themselves. Boxers and football players appear in ads regularly, promoting products from underwear to deodorants. Sometimes the players are positioned simply to sanction the masculinity of a product. For t-xample, on ad for Bugle Boy clothing depicts a clean-cut young White man, dressed in Bugle Boy jeans and posed in a crouching position, kneeling on a football. Standing behind him, inexplicably, is a large, uniformed football player flexing his muscles. The only copy says, in bold letters, "Bugle Boy Men." It seems reasonable to infer that the goal of this ad was to shore up the masculine image of a product whose name (Bugle Boy) subverts its macho image. The uniformed football player, a signifier of violent masculinity, achieves this task by visually transmitting the message: Real men wear Bugle Boy. Advertisers know that using high-profile violent male athletes can help to sell products, such as yogurt and light beer, that have historically been gendered female. Because violence establishes masculinity, if these guys (athletes) use traditionally "female" products, they don't lose their masculinity. Rather, the masculinity of the product—and hence the size of the potential market—increases. Miller Brewing Company proved the efficacy of this approach in their long-running television ad campaign for Lite beer. The Miller Lite campaign, which first appeared in the early 1970s, helped bring Miller to the lop of the burgeoning light beer market and is often referred to as the most successful TV ad campaign in history. Tlte Association of Muscularity With Ideal Masculinity. Men across socioeconomic class and race might feel insecure in their masculinity, relatively powerless or vulnerable in the economic sphere and uncertain about how to respond to the challenges of women in many areas of social relations. But. in general, males continue to have an advantage1 over females in the area 01 physical size and strength. Because one function ot the image system is to legitimate and reinforce existing power relations, representations that equate mascuiinitv with the ijuaiities of size, strength and violence thus become more prevalent. The anthropologist Alan Klein (1993)* has looked at how the rise in popularity of bodybuilding is linked to male insecunty. "Muscles.'' he Advertising and Violent wnite Masculinity 139 argues, "arc about more than just the functional ability of men to defend home and hearth or perform heavy labor. Muscles are markers thai separate men from each other and, most important perhaps, from women. And while he may not realize it. every man—every accountant, science nerd, clergyman, or cop—is engaged in a dialogue with muscles" (p. 16). Advertising is one area of the popular culture that helps feed this "dialogue." Sports and other magazines with a large male readership are filled with ads offering men products and sen-ices to enhance their muscles. Often these ads explicitly equate muscles with violent power, as in an ad for a Marcy weight machine that tells men to "Arm Yourself" under a black and white photograph of a toned, muscular White man, biceps and forearms straining, in the middle of a weight lifting workout. The military, too, offers to help men enhance their bodily prowess. An ad for the Army National Guard shows three slender young men. Black and White, working out, over copy that reads "Get a Part-Time lob in Our Body Shop." The discourse around muscles as signifiers ot masculine power involves not only working-class men but also middle- and upper-class males. This is apparent in the male sports subculture, where size and strength are valued by men across class and racial boundaries. But muscularity as masculinity is also a theme in advertisements aimed at upper-income males. Many advertisers use images of physically rugged or muscular male bodies to masculinize products and services geared to elite male consumers. An ad for the business insurance firm Brewer and Lord uses a powerful male body as l metaphor for the more abstract form of (financial) power. The ad shows the torso of a muscular man curling a barbell, accompanied by a headline that reads "the benefits of muscle defined." The text states that "the slow building of strength and definition is no small feat. In fact, that training has shaped the authority that others see in you. as well." Saab, targeting an upscale, educated market, bills itself as "the most intelligent car ever built." But in one ad. they call their AFC Turbo "the muscle car with a social conscience"—which signals to wealthy men that by driving a Saab they can appropriate the working-class lough guy imnge associated with the concept of a 'muscle car" while making clear their more privileged class position. TJic Equation of Heroic Masculinity With Violent Masculinity. The cultural power of Hollywood film in the construction of violent masculinity is not limited to the movies themselves. In fact, many more people see the advertising (or a given film than see the film itself. Advertising budgets for major Hollywood releases typically run in the millions of dollars I argoi-than-life billboards enhance the heroic stature of the icons. Movie ads appear frequently on prime time TV and daily in newspapers and magazines. Not surprisingly, these ads highlight the movies' most violent and sexually titillating scenes. Violence on-screen, like that in real life, is perpetrated overwhelmingly bv moles. Males constitute the majority of the audience for violent films- as well as violent sports such as football and hockey. It is important to note. 140 ADVERTISING then, that what is being sold is nol just "violence." but rather a glamorized form of violenl masculinity. Guns are an important signifier at virility and power and hence are an important part of the way violent masculinity is constructed and then sold to audiences. In fact, the presence of guns in magazine and newspaper ads is crucial in communicating the extent of a movie's violent content. Because so many films contain explicit violence, images of gun-toting macho males (police detectives, old west guns lingers, futuristic killing machines) pervade the visual landscape. CONCLUSION Recent research in sociology, media and cultural studies strongly suggests that we need to develop a much more sophisticated approach to understanding cultural constructions of masculinity. Feminists, who have been at the forefront in studying the social construction of gender, have, historically, focused on images and representations of women. Clearly we need a similarly intensive examination of the representation of men—particularly in light of the crisis ol men's violence in our society. This chapter focuses attention on constructions of violent White masculinity in mainstream magazine advertising. But we need also to examine critically a number of other areas where violent masculinities are produced and legitimated: comic books, toys, the sports culture, comedy, interactive video, music video, pornography. This will help us to understand more fully the links between the construction of gender and the prevalence of violence, which might then lead to effective antiviolence interventions. NOTES 1. Vtoltnit ret er» lo immediate or chronic Mtuaiioni Üui result m injury t o ihr pkvehotogt-col, ■ ■ ..il or phrwal well-tvmg ol individual* •* K",UP* For Ihr purpose ot rhu chapter. I will uv the Amrnun . :■.■!utfical ■ ■ - - .-.r ;. ■■ \; \ mute »pearic detlnilion »I intrrper-«orul violvncv. Although acknowledgint; the mullidimennonal nature ot violence. lh» APA Ľommmion on Violence and Youth drtinei inlrrpewortal violence as "behavior bv perwins .i|iam»l piTMins that threatens, attempts, or complete* intentional inilklion of physical or p»ycholonicjl harm" f APA. 1W3. p, 1), 2. Although hegemonic m rru •■ tf masculinity alien men ot at| race*, there ate important variables due to racial diHerencei Because il ■ not practical lo Jo (uilicr to ihrw ■■arables in a chapter ot t hi* length, and because the vast maturity ot images of men in maimlrram ma^anne advrru*emenl* areot White men. lor the purpose ot this chapter. I will iocus on Ihr cnmlmciions ol vjnous White ma*cultnitir* 3. Stmt trminot poppa did protest the ad. tuen a* the tlamhndgr. Mas -: ■■; J group ■ ■ .i: . ,;inij Mrdu Imago