Blog Post 9 Paper #1 Draft

Jeremiah Rivera
Miss. B
English 101

Research Paper #1

In the year 2009 a certain theme was being followed. Maxim magazine helped promote the
theme of traditional masculinity to men. The traditional definition of masculinity includes
attributes such as independence, pride, resiliency, self control and physical strength. I personally think that this definition has a double bind meaning that a person is required to follow two contradicting requirements.

In Maxim magazine I found an article called "What Happens??" which was about a man named
Christian asking Maxim what will happen if he took steriods but didn't work out? Maxim
magazine encouraged him not to take steriods and explained to him that if he wanted a fit body
he should get it "the old fashion way" by working out. It also tells him the consquences on taking
steriods such as acne, and liver failure.This article shows that Maxim is encouraging traditional
masculinity because its telling men to work out and be a strong men like what a traditional man
would be like and to not take the easy route.

I found an article on Maxim's website that I thought related well to my thesis on the theme of
traditional masculinity. The article entitled Maxim's Style Guide: to Shave Properly by William Buckley teaches men how to simply use a razor to
shave instead of the extra use of creams and oils. Within the article i caught the phrase "How real
men use to do it" refering to an old fashion way of living. It goes on to explain to me that simply
wetting the beard and a fresh blade will do the trick for a fresh clean shave.

According to traditional masculinity men were seen as the provider and hunters of the family.
After, reading a special January issue of Maxim I discovered an article entitled "Kill Your Way
To Happiness" where Ted Nugget tells Maxim about his time as a U.S. Marine and how to helps
him hunt for food. He goes on to explain that being a former marine helps him get use to
weather conditions and how it makes it easier to hunt for food. "The family loves the fresh Boar"
he tells Maxim. That quote supports the theme of traditional masculinity.

In history men have been stereotyped as alcoholics and apparently being "best friends with the
bottle". In an article I found called "The 99 Best Bottles(and Cans) On Earth" it list the best beers
a man should drink. This type of exposure does not help removes people's mentality that men
are simply hunters and alcoholics. The article goes on by saying that men do not drink beers with
feminine names or a feminine like appearance.

To further my research on traditional masculinity i discovered an article describing how
ethnicity affects masculinity. I believe this aspect is true considering that different ethnicities
have different beliefs that can conflict within itself similar to that of the definition of traditional
masculinity. According to Ethnic Belonging dominance is a key trait within the different
ethnicities.

I also found an article for my secondary source and it was based on how masculinity impacts
adolescent males in heterosexual relationships. I believe this goes along greatly with my research
because it proves the idea that traditional masculinity brings about ideas to adolescent males and
how the conflicting definition can confuse them.

Maxim Magazine has been using traditional masculinity as their theme in the year 2009. They
have tried to influence men into traditional masculinity by using the encouragement of alcohol,
and telling them to hunt like a predator. I don’t think men should follow this traditional way of
life because I feel like we live in a new era and men should express themselves in their own way
as suppose to following someone else’s life style
.

Work Cited
1.Buckey,William. “Maxim’s Style Guide: Learn To Shave Properly” Maxim Magazine.com 6 Nov. 2009. New York, New York

2. Nugnet. Ted. “Kill Your Way To Happiness”. Maxim Magazine January 2009:133. New York, New York

3. Rebaldo. Christian” What Happens”. Maxim Magazine January 2009:133. New York, New York

4. Satoshi. “The 99 Best Bottles(and Cans) On Earth”. Maxim Magazine January 2009:133. New York, New York