Rogers (2008), "Meat and the Crisis of Masculinity in Contemporary Television Advertisements"

Rogers (2008) study examines the "crisis of masculinity" in terms of three similar food advertisements. In these commercials, masculinity is understood as opposite feminized food choices and the environment.

1. The crisis in masculinity involves pitting masculinity against femininity, physical strength against intellectual development, sexual virility against restraint, and working class versus white collar jobs.

Rogers (2008) argues that these commercial represent men reclaiming the masculine element of each of these dichotomies through their food choices. Though the commercials do not explicitly address a threat to masculinity, they signal this threat by overemphasizing the importance of masculinity in areas like food, vehicles, and environments.

2. These commercials signal women as the cause of the crisis of masculinity.

In his analysis, Rogers (2008) argues that women are often positioned as the cause of men's loss of masculinity. Women in the ads try to influence their partners to eat "chick food," drive minivans, and assemble fancy furniture.

3. These commercials indicate that reclamation of masculinity can only happen through disregard to the environment and animals.

Rogers (2008) argues that the absent referent in these commercials is the process of obtaining red meat: suffering, exploitation, and the slaughter of animals, as well as the degradation of the environment.

McRobbie (2009), "Post-feminism and Popular Culture"

McRobbie (2009) describes post-feminism as a "double entanglement." Post-feminism contains both neo-conservative ideas about gender, sexuality, and the family, as well as liberal ideas about choice as it relates to kinship and domestic sphere issues. On one hand, this involves many of feminism's ideas being understood as "common sense." On the other, post-feminism tends to lash out against feminist ideas with intense hatred. McRobbie describes this as "feminism taken into account" (p. 259).

McRobbie (2009) identifies a number of advertising and entertainment media programs in which feminism is "taken into account." For example, she describes overtly sexist advertisements for the WonderBra and a Citreon car in which women flaunt their nearly naked bodies. The assumption is that these women are empowered to make their own choice; they are not being exploited. Exploitation is nodded to, but dismissed, as though it is no longer relevant today.

This same theme can also be found in television narratives about young women choosing partners. Shows like Bridget Jones and Sex and the City, for example, are programs about women who choose conservative choices. The women in these narratives choose to focus their lives on finding men, despite the constant narrative reminder that they could choose otherwise. The choices granted by feminist struggle of past generations is thus taken into account only to be rejected. Feminist choices cause these women insecurity and uncertainty.

Jenkins (2004), "The Cultural Logic of Media Convergence"

For Jenkins (2004), convergence culture is marked by contradiction. Simultaneously, convergence contains increased diversity of programming and decreased diversity of media ownership. Media convergence is a process marked by a shift in patterns of media ownership and the relationship between technologies, industries, markets, genres, and audiences. Jenkins (2004) argues that this shift impacts the way we interact with media.

This shift is marked by both positives and negatives. Convergence culture can benefit audiences, since it decreases production and distribution costs and expands the range of delivery channels. Unfortunately, there are also problems with this process, including a concentration of media ownership and privileging of affluent and technologically savvy.

Along with convergence culture's shift in media production, Jenkins (2004) identifies changes in consumption practices. He argues that new audiences are active, migratory, socially connected, and take media into their own hands.

Newman and Levine (2012), Legitimating Television

Newman and Levine (2012) ask how and why television's former status as a denigrated, low-brow medium has been overturned. Once associated with mindless consumption, television programming is now said to be experiencing a cultural renaissance, as evidenced by the increased cultural capital of "quality" television as well as the increasingly expensive investments consumers make in cable, DVR devices, and high-tech television sets.

For Newman and Levine (2012) this renaissance has happened in concert with convergence culture primarily because media convergence allows television to become connected with more respected media and audiences. Specifically, they argue that television becomes legitimized through the denegration of "old" television media, which has historically been understood as feminized. Contemporary "quality" television is distanced from the past and reassociated with the masculine through programming themes, viewership, and television technologies. This shift is accompanied by increased costs, which further distances television's past as a populist medium from contemporary television's association with elite audiences.

Newman and Levine (2012) urge scholars to move beyond quality distinctions, and instead refocus on television studies' contextual elements of culture, politics, and economics.

Mazzarella (2008), "Men, Media, and Machines"

Mazzarella (2008) uses American Chopper to explore the role of hegemonic masculinity in reality shows about working class men.

1. American Chopper demonstrates three forms of masculinity proposed by Connell.

Her primary framework is drawn from Connell's (1995) categories of masculine performance including hegemonic masculinity, subordinate/resistant masculinity, and complicit masculinity. Mazzarella (2008) notes that these categories are not static. Instead, hegemonic masculinity shifts based on situational context, a move that allows the dominant male to retain control. In American Chopper, for example, Paul Sr. is the dominant male. Though he often takes charge of situations, he is also depicted as gentle or emotional at times, which allows him to retain control across shifting situations and contexts.

The show also balances Paul Sr. hegemonic masculinity with other forms of masculinity through Paul Sr.'s sons. Paulie's subordinate resistant masculinity is often challenged and delegitimized, while Mikey's complicit masculinity is rewarded as loyalty to the family patriarch.

2. American Chopper also represents the genre of the docusoap.

Mazzarella (2008) argues that the series relies heavily on conventions of both soap operas and documentaries. This leads to heightened emotional displays from the characters as well as the appearance of the show as based in the real.

3. Mazzarella (2008) sees American Chopper's use of masculine emotional displays as indicative of a cultural movement towards more feminized hegemonic masculinity.

Becker (2009), "Guy love: A queer straight masculinity for a post-closet era?"

Becker (2009) offers the concept of a queer straight masculinity. He bases this idea on the what he argues are increasingly common performances of queer masculinity among straight characters. For Becker (2009), these performances offer a way of renegotiating hegemonic masculinity in culture.

As examples, Becker (2009) offers instances of popular cultural "bromances." These homosocial performances of "guy love" generally end in a reiteration of the characters heterosexuality. Though this could be read as a homophobic response, Becker (2009) argues that in the current cultural climate, these performances are instead meant to indicate straight men who are comfortable in their sexuality.

It is somewhat problematic that queer straight masculinity is often set in a comedic context. For Becker (2009) the tongue-in-cheek context used in queer straight masculine portrayals on shows like Scrubs and 30 Rock can work against the complexity  of queer straight masculine identities. However, Becker (2009) sees these portrayals as ultimately positive, as they help to blur the false dichotomy between heterosexual and homosexual.

Williams (1974), "Programming: Distribution and Flow"

1. Previous cultural communication forms were discrete. Meetings and plays, for example, have set beginnings and endings.

2. Television introduces fluidity into this process. Television programs are interspersed with advertisements and promos for other programs and films. These are all structured similarly, so that they flow into one another.

3. This creates a confusing structure in which communications flow into one another without boundaries and without regular intervals. Williams (1974) believed that this would contribute to restructuring of all cultural communication.