Pamela Church-Gibson: Masculinity in the new millennium: Spectacle, performance, dress and identity
Reader in cultural and historical studies, London College of Fashion, UK
The 'crisis of masculinity ' first identified in the eighties is still the subject of endless discussion in both media and the academy. There have been significant - and worrying development over the last few years. Within fashion imagery, the young slender boy beloved of photographers and stylists is still a constant - but the models used are younger and slimmer than ever, often just post-pubertal in build and posed so as to look unhappy, isolated and lonely. Meanwhile the clothes worn on the streets - as opposed to those modelled on the catwalk and in magazines - are self-consciously edgy and supposedly tough; a fear of 'hoodies' led to their attempted banning from shopping centres and the Tory leader's exhortation to 'hug a hoody.' And on the cinema screen the images are complex and troubling. The return of the epic heralded by GLADIATOR (1999) led to a number of such film, most notably TROY (2003) which was principally remarkable for its showcasing of finely-honed male bodies. The new digitally- worked film 300 is another perturbing twist. Here, Leonidas and his warriors have the most perfect torsos yet seen on screen, and wear outfits redolent of gay pornography while acting out an almost hysterical affirmation of white male heterosexuality. This paper will explore and theorise these recent developments, and suggest ways in which they can be understood - to counteract their more disturbing implications is, sadly, beyond the powers of a keynote speaker.