Since the early years of perfume advertising, advertisers have explored and exploited men by using masculinity values under maintained hegemonic masculinity. However, in the 21st century, a new portrayal of men in perfume advertising appears. The proliferation of eroticized and sexualized men’s images pose new notion on masculinity and raise questions about male body. Thus, this research is conducted to show and explain male body
sexualization and disclose the reason why.
This research is a descriptive qualitative research. The data are four men’s perfume advertisement (i.e., Marcs Jacob “Bang” (2010), Yves Saint Laurent “Kouros” (2011), Versace “Eros” (2012) and Jean Paul Gaultier “Le Beau Male” (2013)). The primary data consist of all the photographic elements in the advertisements while the secondary data are the results of research and study collected from books, journals and other related references. This research applies semiotics theory, body politics theory, objectification theory, gaze theory and socio-cultural approach.
The research reveals that male’s body is sexualized through (1) nudity (2) ambiguous sexuality (3) narrative tales and concepts and the motive behind male body’s sexualization is to extend the market into (1) heterosexual men (2) homosexual men and (3) heterosexual women. Regarding the objectified images of men, a new portrayal of masculinity is born –i.e., metrosexuality.
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