Before men's magazines became part of popular culture, this realm was dedicated to the female consumer, but in 1933 Esquire decided to change that stereotype. Kenon Breazeale's purpose in writing "In Spire of Women" is to make people understand that men's magazines, especially Esquire, promote a sexualized image of women solely for the satisfaction of a man. In this way Brezeale argues that Esquire has contributed to the growth of the male consumer by making women an object of the male fetish who only serves as a nuisance to society. Breazeale is able to argue that Esquire is a rejection of the power of femininity by explaining how Esquire fits into a consumer-based culture in which it emphasizes the difference between masculinity and femininity. These visual representations are known as pin-ups and described as “Prototypically blonde with large breasts, thin waist, small buttocks, and long, slender legs, she is a specifically Caucasian archetype of erotic allure” (Breazele 77). Focusing only on the female body in illustrations from Esquire, the magazine is moving away from the idea that women are in control of their bodies. Every woman featured in the magazine is depicted as described above, thus women are portrayed in an unrealistic sense and men expect them. real-life women resemble this distorted image of the female body. Because of this, women no longer feel confident in their bodies and feel the pressure of the male gaze to resemble images in magazines such as Esquire. It has also been said that these images were used to market to the heterosexual consumer in order to reject any interest women might have in the magazine or any homosexual male. Esquire attempted to make all readers of their magazine think the same and that included making everyone have the same idea of what made a woman attractive. This meant that women would no longer see the differences between them as something positive, but would instead strive for the unrealistic perfection depicted in Esquire's images. Pin-ups became a staple of Esquire magazines because they truly showcased a woman's best features, all combined into disproportionate sex.
tags