The Space Between

This monograph considers the constructions of discourses of masculinities by contemporary South African men s lifestyle magazines, and examines the extent to which they are simply mainstream promulgators of old school patriarchy and soft porn, or the ways in which they offer new and complex models of modern masculinity. It further examines whether local men s lifestyle magazines perhaps represent a unique synthesis within masculine discourses? In answer to these questions, this work explores how a new understanding of the discourses of masculinity can help to explain the commonly held assumption that masculinity is in crisis .This study attempts to show how the discursive space created in the discourses of masculinity in men s magazines provides the reader with an intimate, yet emotionally elusive place where the reader can navigate these ambiguities of contemporary masculinity. The significance of this study lies in its re-theorisation of the masculinity crisis in terms of anxiety surrounding emergent masculinities and the possibilities these finding offer for future research.

Autorentext

Angie Knaggs completed her BA (Hons) and MA in Media Studies at the University of Cape Town, South Africa, before moving to the University Of Queensland to complete her PhD in Television.