Susan Bordos The Male Body: A New Look at Men in Public and Private - Book Report/Review Example

A Reading Response to Susan Bordo’s Beauty (Re)Discovers The Male Body Introduction The text under discussion is a chapter from Susan Bordo’s book The Male Body: A New Look at Men in Public and Private (1999). The chapter focuses upon the cultural and psychological understanding of the male body in the post-modern world. It also provides a good deal of argument on the gender issues related to body exposure in a variety of media. “Sex sales” is one of thematic ideas which the author establishes through the analysis of some ads of certain famous clothing companies. “She expresses that these companies and more have paved the way for the use of male bodies as “sexual objects” on purpose. Her idea relies on the entire belief that sex sales, which it does. Her thoughts go in depth on this subject, as far as to say gay stylists helped the world along with this idea” (Spence, 2009). The author was previously famous for her writings about women and feminism; The Male Body, however, presents a shift of focus from the female body to the male body. Bordo states the reason for this shift in the beginning of the chapter saying that after writing a lot about the female body she considered it to be a “natural, logical and almost inevitable step” (p. 130) to write about the male body. Initially she wrote a review essay for Michigan Quarterly Review which was later converted into a book. We can say that “with The Male Body Bordo shifts her focus from looking specifically at female and feminized bodies to looking at the male body from a female perspective” (Wikipedia 2009). Style and Technique Bordo’s style is simple, friendly and frank. Her analytical and argumentative ability is remarkable. She establishes a view point and brings forward arguments both for and against a point in a skillful manner and ultimately takes her readers towards a conclusion. In the chapter under review, she starts the argument saying that the business community in the post-modern world has started using the male bodies in movies and advertisement both as objects of pleasure and source of income. Bordo’s analysis is bold and straightforward, her discussion regarding shame, the gaze, and the erotic appeal of the ads is frank and enlightening. She proves her erudition by using allusions from the realm of psychology, philosophy, cultural studies and media studies. She treats the subject of male representation in media from a poststructuralist point of view and endeavors to deconstruct the modern concept of male representation. Her argument is based on comparisons, contrasts and cause and effect theory. She has a knack of doing detailed and in-depth analysis which she attains through a vigilant and close analysis. Historical Development of Representation of Male Body Bordo statement sounds quite agreeable when she asserts that use of male body or manliness was introduced in the fifties by male clothing designers who broke the taboos against the explicit depiction of male organs and attaching of feminine attributes to the males. The Greeks also depicted the male body and its manliness in their sculptures and represented nakedness as a symbol of spirituality but in the post-modern world the concept was reintroduced by Hollywood movies, modern dress makers, and advertisers who broke certain social taboos reintroduce these motifs. DiLucchio (2009) presents this historical development, with reference to Bordo’s book, in an interesting way: “Its only been in the 90s, however, that the male image has gone so far as to reclaim its penis. From de facto censorship to near idolatry, has ever an organ made such a journey in one brief decade?” Bordo’s Personal Experience & Inspiration Bordo makes her argument friendly and realistic by revealing her personal emotional experience regarding the male body in a Calvin Klein ad. She asserts that she got the inspiration of writing about the male body from a sexually charging ad of Calvin Klein which she saw while browsing through The New York Times Magazine. The ad depicted a naked male body which provoked her into “erotic consciousness” (p. 168). This made her evolve her theory about the use of the male body using the contemporary media and literary theory. The experience made her think about the commercial and erotic value of such images not only for women but for gays, lesbians and straights. While tracing out the reasons as to why male body was not as erotic for women as the female body for men, she questions the assumption of certain psychologists that it is because “the circuit form eyes to brain to genitals is a quicker trip for men than for women” (p.133). She believes that both men and women can become sexually charged by looking at each others naked bodies. Bordo’s own ideal of a male body, however, is an ordinary man; while quoting John Travolta’s example, she concludes that she would love to spend time or have sex with “dancing man with love handles than a Greek statue who gets in a nasty mood if he misses a workout.” (p. 176). The Concept of Ideal Male Body Bordo’s comparison of the male bodies represented through post-modern ads and the traditionally acceptable massive bodies is appealing and convincing. While discussing the gay sexual aesthetics, Bordo argues that the massive Schwarzenegger body is less erotic than “lean, taut”, “very very male”, yet “feminized” body of the Calvin Klein models because its extruding penis seems more real and alive. There are psychological reasons for this sexual attraction, these models don’t look straight into the gazers’ eyes and offers a kind of “willing subordination” rather than “aggressiveness” which makes them more available and vulnerable before the gazers (Bordo, 1999: p. 113). The Gaze and the Primordial Shame Her psychological insight seems at its best when she discusses the concepts of `gaze’ and `primordial Shame’ is an extremely interesting and convincing manner. Her argument about the social, cultural and psychological aspects of the use of male body is rather philosophical too. Bordo seems to agree with existentialist philosopher Simone de Beauvoir who believes that absence of a male gazer is disturbing for a woman while men seem to be indifferent to the female gazes. Men in the post-modern era, however, have started taking their clothes off and can feel the amount of shame felt by the women before. Their gorgeous naked bodies with “bitable” and “dimpled behinds” have now been brought “out of the closet and into mainstream culture, where we can enjoy them without a trip to a specialty store” (Bordo p. 137) by the ads of Calvin Klein, Gucci, Versace, and Dockers. The intended audience for such ads are not just women; gays, lesbians and even straight men and women all find something appealing in the images of the naked male body presented by these ads. Decorativeness among the Males Bordo successfully shatters the traditional views about non-existence of decorativeness among the males. The role of gay male aesthetics and gay photographers during the current century has also played a vital role in “eroticizing the male body, male sensuousness, and male potency, including penises” (p. 139). Some researchers believe that gender difference can be observed in the ads of post-modern era. Women’s appearance, in the current western cultures, matters a lot more than men’s appearance; women’s narcissism is highlighted in movies and ads while men are represented as indifferent to the gazes of others, busy in the display of power. The ads are consumer-centred and present young men, like Leonardo DeCaprio as the objects of sexual appeal, whereas, the mature males are still presented as authoritative and commanding figures. Bordo, however, establishes through historical evidence that the “decorativeness” and consciousness about physical appearance had been present both in men and women. The post-modern white males are becoming more and more conscious about their decoration, fashion and their sensual presentation. Bordo quite convincingly asserts that clothe making companies have been trying to convince men, through their ads, that just like women their looks also need improvement. The notions of makeup, cosmetic-surgery and weight consciousness are now getting roots among men and over a quarter of cosmetic-surgery patients today are men (Bordo, 1999: p. 172). Conclusion The author’s ideas about the commercialization and eroticization of the male body in the post-modern media are compelling and forceful which can inspire other researchers to analyse and conceptualize the idea from certain other dimensions. Bordo, however, could not arrive at a decisive conclusion regarding use of male body in present day media. After a thorough discussion about how the “male form, both clothed and unclothed, is being made so widely available for sexual fantasy and aesthetic admiration”, Bordo still finds herself “decidedly ambivalent about consumer culture’s inroads into the male body” (Bordo, 1999: p. 168). The notion of sex-sales (i.e. use of erotic male images in order to enhance sales), however, has been quite convincingly established by the author through valid references and apt argument. Works Cited DiLucchio, Patrizia. (2009). Review of The Male Body: A New Look at Men in Public and in Private. 14 Mar 2009. Bordo, Susan. (1999). The Male Body: A New Look at Men in Public and in Private. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Spence, C. (2009). “Susan Bordo: Beauty (Re)discovers the Male Body." 15 Mar 2009. “Susan Bordo.” 2008. Wikipedia. 13 Dec 2008. 14 Mar 2009. . Read More