This article explores gender inequities and sexual double standards in teens’ digital image exchange, drawing on a UK qualitative research project on youth ‘sexting’ We develop a critique of ‘postfeminist’ media cultures, suggesting teen ‘sexting’ presents specific age and gender related contradictions: teen girls are called upon to produce particular forms of ‘sexy’ self display, yet face legal repercussions, moral condemnation and ‘slut shaming’ when they do so We examine the production/circulation of gendered value and sexual morality via teens’ discussions of activities on Facebook and Blackberry For instance, some boys accumulated ‘ratings’ by possessing and exchanging images of girls’ breasts, which operated as a form of currency and value Girls, in contrast, largely discussed the taking, sharing or posting of such images as risky, potentially inciting blame and shame around sexual reputation (eg being called ‘slut’, ‘slag’ or ‘sket’) The daily negotiations of these new digitally mediated, heterosexualised, classed and raced norms of performing teen feminine and masculine desirability are considered

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Teen girls, sexual double standards and ‘sexting’: Gendered value in digital image exchange:

What is sexting? Sexting has been defined as the “exchange of sexual messages or images” and “creating, sharing and forwarding sexually suggestive nude or nearly nude images” (see report for references). Aim of the study In this study, the researchers listened to young people's views and experiences to gain an understanding of how sexually explicit texts and images are produced, circulated and used through mobile phones and the internet and how these practices shape the offline lives of young people. Methodology The researchers conducted focus groups with 35 young people aged 12 to 14 years from inner city London schools. Participants were asked to become friends with the research team on Facebook so their activities online could be mapped. Follow-up interviews were conducted with 22 of the focus group participants as well as with 4 teachers and 4 school support staff. Key messages The findings reveal that sexting does not refer to a single activity but covers a range of activities experienced by young people. The top messages from the research are: •the primary technology-related threat comes from peers, not 'stranger danger' •sexting is often coercive •girls are the most adversely affected •technology amplifies the problem by facilitating the objectification of girls •sexting reveals wider sexual pressures •ever younger children are affected •sexting practices are culturally specific •more support and resources are vital to redress the gendered sexual pressures on young people. The research also sets out recommendations for schools, parents, internet service and site providers, child welfare professionals and future research.

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A qualitative study of children, young people and'sexting': A report prepared for the NSPCC

'Real men don't diet': an analysis of contemporary newspaper representations of men, food and health.

A content analysis of eight different men’s lifestyle magazines sold in Canada between November 2004 and August 2006 was conducted to explore how masculinities are currently being portrayed in regards to the body, aesthetics and grooming, and fashion. Findings suggest that different men’s magazines represent different forms of masculinity but elements of hegemonic masculinity (culturally normative ideals of masculinity within a structure of social relations where some men are subordinated) are woven throughout. Although the marketed look varies by the magazine, these magazines not only convey the message that appearance can be manipulated—but it should also be enhanced, and that men should engage in bodywork in order to attain the lifestyle they desire.

Investigating Hegemonic Masculinity: Portrayals of Masculinity in Men's Lifestyle Magazines

In recent years, academics have shown interest in the phenomenon of intensive parenting, which has predominantly focused on mothers as primary caregivers. In this article we seek to move beyond approaches which invoke a maternal lens in order to consider fathers’ experience of intensive parenting in relation to their lives with partners. Drawing on data from a qualitative longitudinal study of men over the transition to fatherhood we explore men’s experiences of the benefits and challenges of an intensive parenting approach. Despite increased involvement in childcare, men appear to be relatively insulated against the demands of intensive parenting, describing the importance of autonomous decision-making over following expert advice. However, this article considers the way in which other aspects of contemporary parenting may be experienced more intensively by men, pointing to gender differentiation in risks related to a moral parenthood identity.

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Meeting the challenges of intensive parenting culture: gender, risk management and the moral parent

Drawing on interviews with 140 young British males, this paper explores the ways in which men talk about their own bodies and bodily practices, and those of other men. The specific focus of interest is a variety of body modification practices, including working out (at a gym) tattooing, piercing and cosmetic surgery. We want to argue, however, that the significance of this analysis extends beyond the topic of body modification to a broader set of issues concerned with the nature of men’s embodied identities. In discussing the appearance of their bodies, the men we interviewed talked less about muscle and skin than about their own selves located within particular social, cultural and moral universes. The surfaces of their bodies were, as Mike Featherstone (1991) has argued, charged primarily with ‘identity functions’, allowing men to establish a place for themselves in contemporary society. Using a social psychological approach which can be characterised as a discursive analysis (Henwood, Gill & McLean, 1999; Lupton, 1998), this paper makes connections between men’s private feelings and bodily practices, and broader social and cultural trends and relations. It shows that in talking about seemingly trivial questions such as whether to have one’s nose pierced or whether to join a gym, men are actively engaged in constructing and policing appropriate masculine behaviours and identities; above all, in regulating normative masculinity. We identify five key discourses or ‘interpretive repertoires’ (Wetherell & Potter, 1992) which together construct the meanings for these men of attempts to modify the appearance of the body. The five discourses or repertoires were focused on the themes of individualism and ‘being different’; libertarianism and the autonomous body; unselfconsciousness and the rejection of vanity; a notion of the ‘well-balanced’ and unobsessional self; and self-respect and the morally accountable body. Our analysis lends support to the claim that the body has become a new (identity) project in high/late/postmodernity (e.g. Shilling, 1993; Featherstone, 1991), but shows how fraught with difficulties this project is for young men who must simultaneously work on and discipline their bodies while disavowing any (inappropriate) interest in their own appearance. The analysis highlights the pervasive individualism of young men’s discourses, and the absence of alternative ways of making sense of embodied experiences.

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Body Projects and the Regulation of Normative Masculinity

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Karen Henwood

Papers

Body Projects and the Regulation of Normative Masculinity

A Genealogical Approach to Idealized Male Body Imagery