Representation of masculinity in men's magazines: Construction of the male body in Men's Health and Men's Fitness magazines

As is the case with the other media channels, magazines have come to be the means of mass communication where dominant discourses continue their existence and certain ideologies are reproduced. We can also discern this in men's lifestyle magazines, which are platforms widely published especially in the modern era, idealizing male individuals and assigning specific social norms to them. Therefore, it is of vital importance to examine the discourse constructed by men's magazines in order to identify the individuals who are represented as "the others" and those who are represented as the ideal individuals. In this work, a total of six issues of Men's Health and Men's Fitness Magazines are examined as samples of this research to propound how the idealized concept of masculinity and male body are represented. Selected from the aforementioned magazines by the purposeful sampling technique, the news concerning fitness, self-care, style, health, and nutrition are scrutinized in the light of Teun A. Van Dijk's critical discourse analysis model. According to the findings of this research, these magazines convey messages regarding the way men should dress, shop, and have a body to their readers through discourses, just like their counterparts aiming at women. Both of the said magazines present idealized versions of the male body, and marginalize male individuals via discourses.