Romero, Nicole (2025) Hybrid Masculinities? A Thematic Analysis of Make-Up Advertisements for Men. Masters thesis, Concordia University.
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Abstract
In contemporary society, men are exposed to a variety of conflicting narratives pertaining to masculinity (Lafrance & Hoebanx, 2025). These narratives are prevalent in advertisements that are regularly accessible through popular and ever-expanding social media platforms (Leiss et al., 2018; Schwemmer & Ziewiecki, 2018). To better understand the nature of these narratives, this qualitative study seeks to analyze representations of masculinity and the norms that underlie them evident in contemporary men’s makeup advertisements. The study consists of five key parts. First, it includes a literature review that provides an overview of scholarship on men’s body modification practices, particularly as they relate to the skin and the face, highlighting the gaps in said scholarship and, by extension, the originality of my study. Second, the study presents a synthesis of the three most widely used theoretical frameworks in critical studies of men and masculinity, namely Connell’s (1987,1995, 2005) framework of ‘hegemonic masculinity’, Bridges and Pascoe’s (2014, 2018) framework of ‘hybrid masculinity’, and Anderson’s (2012) framework of ‘inclusive masculinity.’ Third, I outline my method of choice which is reflexive thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006, 2019, 2021), and how I apply it to the study of 15 sample advertisements collected from YouTube and published between 2013 and 2023. Fourth, I present an analysis and discussion of my sample of men’s makeup advertisements and how they both reinforce and redefine contemporary masculinity. And finally, I propose directions for future research on men’s makeup advertisements in the context of current scholarly debates.
| Divisions: | Concordia University > Faculty of Arts and Science > Sociology and Anthropology |
|---|---|
| Item Type: | Thesis (Masters) |
| Authors: | Romero, Nicole |
| Institution: | Concordia University |
| Degree Name: | M.A. |
| Program: | Sociology |
| Date: | 11 August 2025 |
| Thesis Supervisor(s): | Lafrance, Marc |
| ID Code: | 996191 |
| Deposited By: | Nicole Romero |
| Deposited On: | 04 Nov 2025 17:46 |
| Last Modified: | 04 Nov 2025 17:46 |
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