Hyper-masculinity may be fueled by ads

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WINNIPEG, Manitoba, Feb. 28 (UPI) -- Hyper-masculinity, an extreme form of masculine gender ideology, may be fueled by magazine advertisements specifically aimed at men, Canadian researchers say.

Megan Vokey, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Manitoba, and colleagues said hyper-masculinity is an extreme form of masculine gender ideology comprised of four main components: toughness, violence, dangerousness and calloused attitudes toward women and sex.

Vokey and colleagues examined a range of eight, high-circulation magazines marketed to men of different ages, levels of education and income ranging from Golf Digest to Game Informer.

The researchers analyzed the ads and categorized them using the four components that constitute hyper-masculinity.

The study, published in the journal Sex Roles, found at least one of these hyper-masculine attitudes was depicted in 56 percent of the total sample of 527 advertisements, but in some magazines, this percentage was as high as 90 percent.

Vokey's results were consistent with considerable prior research showing a positive association between hyper-masculine beliefs and a host of social and health problems, such as dangerous driving, drug use and violence towards women.

"The widespread depiction of hyper-masculinity in men's magazine advertising may be detrimental to both men and society at large," Vokey said in a statement. "Although theoretically, men as a group can resist the harmful aspects of hyper-masculine images, the effects of such images cannot be escaped completely."