How far does the representation of a particular social group change over time ? Refer to at least two media in your answer. [50]

It is my belief that the male gender has changed as time has moved on. If we compare two different time periods and looked at what society expects from the male gender i think we will get two very different perceptions of what they are expected to come across as. In this essay i am going to analyse various case studies which i have found which suggest that what we view the male gander as as changed over time. 

The First type of media where the representation on the male gender has changed is British spy films and TV drama’s. It seem that Spy films are something that the British are best at and very much a part of the British culture but are they seem as the same thing as they used to ? For example if we look at James Bond “Diamonds aren't forever” we are shown a very different representation of male compared to “Kingman” A Contemporary spy film. If we analyse the characteristics of the main crater in this film we some conventions which will see may be deemed old fashion. The First aspect is the wealth and class that James bond was given , we have given the impression that James was born into a high wealth and high status. In this social economic class the male gender is very much dominant gender. We can relate this to marxism and how it is challenging the basic beliefs of communism. Where as in the film Kingsman we are shown a much more contemporary representation of the male gender which can relate more to the marxism theory. Going into greater detail the spy character that we are shown is a lower class low wealth very average character. This could show a communist theme through the fact that everything that “Eggsy” the main character achieves is through the work that they put in. This is one point that shows how the perception of the male gender has changed as time has moved on. 

Another example of how the representation of the male gender has changed over time is through the rising popularity of mens health magazines. The change that we have seen is how the male  gender care about their appearance and the kind of media content they choose to consume. Nowadays it seems much more of a popular and important for the male gender to care about how they look, this has lead to a rise in mens health magazines. In these magazines men are swamped with all kinds of tips and way to look after take care of appearance and health something that would not have happened prior to this new found representation of the male gender. This new found representation of the male gender is challenging the old conventions and stereotypes of past representations of the male genders. The stereotype of a “Normal Man” in past is a heterosexual male who gets married and has a family and that is what people strive towards as this is what was painted into people minds to do. But nowadays the representation of the male gender is much broader than that, the male gender is perceived to be much more accommodating to people branching out from the old fashioned representation of the male gender.