Assessment

David Gauntlett has argued against the idea that masculinity is 'in crisis’. To what extent do you believe masculinity is 'in crisis'?

In your response you should refer to your Advertising and Marketing Close Study Products: the Score hair cream advert (1967) and the Maybelline ‘That Boss Life’ YouTube advert (2017).

[20 marks]


On one hand, the idea of masculinity in crisis could hold some weight in relation to the changing views of British society. 

The score advert, a relic of it's time, uses anchorage text to stroke the viewer's manliness. At the time it was printed, the UK was going through huge social and political change thanks to the decriminalization of homosexuality, threatening traditional masculinity as it was known. This meant advertising had to stroke the fragile egos of men in order to maintain the status quo. The tag line "get what you've always wanted" implies men want sexy women in a general, sweeping statement addressed to all men. In the 60s, there was a solid definition of what a man should be, protected by adverts such as Score Cream. The introduction to new liberal ideologies threatened their masculinity, perhaps suggesting a crisis. 

However, it can be argued, according to Gauntlett, that masculinity has simply evolved as a concept. This is exemplified in the Maybelline 'That Boss Life' advert. The lead actor to the advert is in sharp contrast to the traditional man presented in the Score Cream advert. The use of Manny Gutierrez shows how fluid the idea of masculinity has become in the modern age, going so far as to encouraging men to play with makeup and embrace their sexuality in mainstream media. This shift in ideology could be seen as a very good thing. Men are no longer forced into moulds and characters they must play. Butler discussed this concept in her book "Gender Trouble", describing gender as performance. This could further suggest the more advanced we become, the more evolved our view of gender becomes, the less we feel the need to create labels for ourselves. This goes against the idea that masculinity is in crisis as we are simply becoming more accepting of people not like ourselves. 

Therefore, masculinity was perhaps in crisis at one point in time, but not any more.