Brotherhood of the Media : Male homosocial culture in Playboy

Men’s magazines is a form of media that has been present and popular among men for decades and even centuries. In the beginning of 1990 the popularity for men’s magazines boosted as the new ideal man was presented. The new lad represented a new masculinity that was more honest about its ideals and point of views. Media is being consumed in order to find an identity of self and be able to partake in a group culture. The purpose of this study is to analyze the content of men’s magazines and put that in relation to the male consumer’s homosocial quest for male identity and fellowship. The study analyzes American Playboy magazines of three decades being 1990s, 2000 and 2010. The method of the study is discourse theory and semiotic theory. Discourses describe how people discuss and comprehend their surrounding world through cultures within social group formations. The semiotic theory refers to the study of the meaning that is being created by people in different contexts. The theory being used in the analysis of the content in Playboy is the homosocial theory. Homosocial theory is based on the notion that men have a need of identification and to be a part of a group consisting of other men in a joint male culture. Through the analysis of the content of Playboy the study has come to the conclusion that there is a common pattern in Playboy that presents a homosocial male culture. By consuming the magazine, the man partakes in the male fantasy world that is presented in Playboy. The study also showa that Playboy preserves an ideal man that is a sophisticated gentleman. This culture has flourished over 60 years and shows no signs of dying off