Zeitgeist in the Details (Men's Magazine)
- Drew Goodmanson
- Nov 6, 2004
- Series: Other
Discuss this article in the forum
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Definition: Zeitgeist - literally, spirit of the times, the outlook or general feeling characteristic of the art creations of a time or cultural period.
There seemed to be two categories of these men's magazines. The first aimed at developing the cultural & social side of the man. This category included GQ, Men's Health and Esquire. The features are often political commentary, fashion suggestions, fitness techniques and cultural articles. Of course, all of these included just enough scantily clad women and sexuality to keep the pages turning.
The second group makes no bones about their goals. The conspicuous covers boasted girls wearing next to nothing, Anna Kournikova or Carmen Electra in six square inches of material. Inside the magazine were pictorial spreads of women that we could safely call pornography with clothes on. The articles played with sexuality. Maxim Online defines the group with an article, Sexy Coeds Confess! In this column, girls are asked extremely provocative questions about personal hygiene, whether they have ever ‘made out with a girl', the type of underwear they wear and others questions I'll modestly leave to your imagination.
Which magazine would best provide a snapshot of the teen-to-thirty male today? (Place your mouse over the magazine's images above to read how each one presents itself.) I decided the magazine closest in the middle was Details. It flirtatiously sells with sexuality yet typically puts a more modest picture on the cover. Recent covers include Ben Affleck and Matt LeBlanc. Why would they frequently put men on the cover? Arguments have been made that Details is a metro sexual and a gay-friendly magazine. Nerve agrees, recently they ran an article titled, Is Details gay? This may be one option. The other option is Detail's cover-shots of men allow teenage boys the freedom to read the magazine in public. It becomes the PC Magazine outside with a porno folded inside the pages.
Regardless, I picked up the Details magazine, because it caused the least ‘blush factor' for this Pastor to buy . Details magazine also is fairly well-read, boasting a circulation of 400,000 and is stocked in stores across the nation. I selected the November 2004 issue, with Ben Affleck on the cover. Over the next few days, I read through the magazine, to capture the zeitgeist.
Here are a select group of articles, how they grab our attention, what they are saying and an observation:
Building the Perfect Home Bar: Round 9 – p. 46
Grabber: Cognac
Summary: Article helps the reader distinguish Courvoisier L'Espirt ($5,500) from a Leopold Gourmel Age des Fleurs ($80) amongst others.
Comments: I guess we missed the first 8 rounds.
 Beefcake Babes |
Beefcake Babes and the Men Who Love Them – p. 82
Grabber: “Once it was just fetishists who lusted after female brawn. Now normal guys are hot for ladies who lift.”
Summary: This telling article details the rise in men who desire women with more muscles than they poses. These men often like the idea that a woman could overpower them. The article makes the claim that men, “never asked for the role of the pursuer; it just evolved according to the caveman model”.
Comments: In a world were gender and roles are constantly being attacked, what should the church stand for? Is there any difference in gender other than the ‘plumbing'? These are issues that will continue to plague the church. The definition of marriage, stance on homosexuality and a host of others all stem from how we view gender.
Convincing Your Folks to Give You Your Inheritance Now - p. 86
Grabber: “Yesterday I wished my parents would die. Not in some painful or bizarre way that might land them in Yahoo! News' “Oddly Enough” section. I'm talking about nice, tidy aneurysms in the night, while they're dreaming about rabbits. You see, it's come to my attention lately that they're screwing me big-time.”
Summary: The article presents the author's case that he should receive his inheritance before he's too old to enjoy it.
Comments: This is like the secular version of the Prayer of Jabez. You have to love America , the richest people in the world who always want more.
Would you Have Sex with this Man? – p. 88
Grabber: “Adam Duritz, the pear-shaped singer of Counting Crows, is fast emerging as America 's most unlikely heartthrob.”
Summary: The article details the conquests of Duritz which include Jennifer Anniston and Courteney Cox.
Comments: For a men's magazine, are men supposed to think about the title's question?
Why Successful Young Men Commit Suicide – p. 92
Grabber: “Cancer and heart disease used to be our biggest fears. Turns out we're our own worst enemy. Every 17 minutes, someone in this country picks up a gun, a knife, a rope, a handful of pills, and takes his own life. White males make up the largest share – 73 percent – of the victims. Most alarming are the statistics on young men: For white males ages 21 to 39, suicide is the second-leading cause of death, after accidental injuries (for young black me it is the fifth-leading cause of death).”
Summary: It goes on to comment about “a growing phenomenon called success depression”. “People have this notion that ‘If I only make CEO, if I only become the top talent agent, if I make my first million, that will do it, all my insecurities will go poof,'” says Dr. Steven Berglas, a UCLA psychologist who counsels successful executives on burn-out.
Later the article states that suicide is a “psychiatric illness”. What does Details offer as the cure? The article states, “the most effective treatment for would-be suicides is antidepressant drugs.”
Comments: Our Church is preaching through Ecclesiastes. This article deals with a tragic reality Solomon spoke of thousands of years ago: Without God there is no meaning to life. All the more we, as a church, need to bring a message of hope and redemption through Jesus Christ.
 Cheating Fathers |
Why So Many New Dads Cheat on Their Wives – p. 101
Grabber: “His daughter was five months old when a man I'll call Philip started having sex with a co-worker 10 years younger than his spouse. Philip still loves his wife and child and claims he embraces fatherhood without reservation, but his home, sadly, had become a complicated place…Since childbirth had left his wife “physically ruined, not in the mood, let alone capable of sex, ‘he was also newly celibate. In the office, on the other hand, fatherhood conferred greatness upon him'. At work he was ‘a hero: a responsible adult, with an obviously functioning penis'. A good catch.”
Our “fondness for the female breast, we may find that what used to be our amusement park is now a chapped and bleeding battlefield – or, at the very least, a no-fly zone dedicated to baby's exclusive use. 'The affair is a way to return to something stupid and youthful,' says a new dad who hooked up with the office hottie. ‘It's just sex. Sex with someone not talking about poo-poo.'”
Summary: Article explains (justifies?) why married men, who have a baby born, have affairs.
Comments: In the secular view of evolution this makes total sense. Marriage, as a Holy Covenant, is sacred only if God tells us it is. God gave us marriage as a covenant to understand His nature. Suggest you read the article: Hollow Vows .
Beyond Beluga: 50 of the World's Greatest Indulgences – p. 112
Grabber/Summary: The article lists fifty ways to indulge yourself. Items include Stan-Craft wooden boat ($90,000), a safari ($6,000/day), Italian scooter ($5,000), alcohol, a Bentley Continental GT ($155,990), a Patek Philippe 1940s-Era Moon-Phase Gold Watch ($295,000), clothes, hiring Jessica Simpson to sing at your birthday party (price negotiated), black truffles (market price) and a host of others.
Comments: Self explanatory in our consumeristic culture.
Why Guys in Committed Relationships Prefer Cuddle to Coital - p. 126
Grabber: “They say men are afraid of intimacy. But some are even afraid to have sex with the one they love.” The article describes men that can “(whoop) it up with some trollop they've picked up on the train” but “they have trouble having sex with the one they love”. The result is the men “gives up and breaks up, or his partner beats him to it”
The Lost Boys: Kicked out of America 's Creepiest Religion – p. 174
Grabber: “In the polygamist compound of Colorado City , Arizona , men have a sacred duty to take three wives or more. But there aren't enough women to go around. That's why hundreds of younger men recently found themselves excommunicated – thrown kicking and screaming into the real world.”
Summary: Article follows a number of teens and twenty-something's kicked out of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. “For some kids, the first taste of freedom meant alcohol and drugs. Pot, coke, crystal meth, X, ‘shrooms. Finding a party was just a matter of making a phone call or tow. Richard Gilbert saw the boys going off the deep end: They weren't aware that stopping was even a necessity.”
Comments: We could point our finger at the wrongs of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter days Saints, but it's humbling to know that we, who know the gospel, also ‘excommunicate' others by our actions.
The Dirt Every Family Dishes – p. 194
Grabber: “Everyone loves a little nasty gossip.”
Summary: The article discusses gossip in the family. The three children enjoy gossiping as they watch their mom move to re-marrying. “Gossiping about Mom enables us to be part of her new life. Also, we kids get to bond with one another, which makes my mom very happy.”
Comments: It's so good seeing a family brought together through gossiping. The ends justifies the actions, right?
Gay or Hairstylist? – p. 202
Grabber: Gay or Hairstylist
Summary: Part of a series asking the reader to determine who is gay.
Comments: Anthropology? Sexuality is no longer a distinction but a bluring of the lines. Maybe the next feature should be titled Androgyny, guess if the person is a male or female.
These are just a few of the main articles in Details November issue. The bottom line is, this is what our culture is reading. As believers certainly none of us should be surprised. We need to examine what our culture is reading, thinking, feeling and questioning so that we are able to speak to them in love. Through these bridges we hope to share with them the good news of Jesus Christ.
0 Comments | Login to Post Comments