The Man and HVG (ʻWeekly World Economy’)

Abstract

Today – as a result of feminist research since the 1990s neither femininity, nor masculinity can be interpreted as a monolithical, stable category of identity.– hence, we cannot argue for an obvious causal relationship between manhood, masculinity and patriarchy, but for a flexible and contradictory masculinity at any particular moment and place. My choice of topic was motivated by the recognition that in this uneven space of (male) identity I can choose among various contradictory sites of (self)representation. My article examines the issues of the past two years of the Hungarian periodical, HVG (Heti Világgazdaság/ʻWeekly World Economy’) and comes to the conclusion that those articles in these issues which deal with.. various aspects of manhood, can be read as an attempt at interpreting “the crisis of masculinity,” mainly attempting to legitimize their claim to the existence of such a crisis by drawing on natural scientific and medical discourses, which seek to stress the “exact nature” of the relevant science. Against this discursive background, I look at the representation of the successful upper middle-class man in the “Portrait” column. The particular media product I have selected – seen as the weekly periodical preferred by the middle class – can justify my claim on a pars pro toto basis that any claim made about men will be considered “serious” (mainly by the majority male readers) if it sounds “exact and scientific”. Therefore the publication of these articles reflects a certain stance, viewpoint of the editorial board that seems to be shared by the targeted readers.