Rock the boat; Jewellery vs. Masculinity

This week in class we looked at males (in magazines). I was interested to observe the ratio of adverts to editorial in men's magazines in comparison to women's. Male magazines (from observation) have a significantly larger volume of editorial compared to adverts.
Also(in Mens Health) there were very few adverts for jewellery. The only male jewellery advertised was watches.

So, what is the issue behind men's jewellery? Is it to feminine? Are men afraid of not looking masculine?

In ancient times,men wore jewellery to signify power (Forger 2013). Men now wear jewellery to show their status, make a personal statement and "to signify their strength, wealth and style" (Forger 2013; Gemondo)

Johnson (2001), adds to this stating that body adornment is

"rarely purely utilitarian, and involves such factors as individual body state as resources for decoration, aesthetic expression, relative social standing and group norms of appropriate attire" (p.419)

Additionally, men wear jewellery to command respect (from those who can appreciate quality); they want pieces they wear to have personal meaning (Flintoff 2012; Forger 2013; Threadslike 2012)
In congruence with this view, the personal body is described as "a site for the externalisation of emotions connected to lived experience" (Johnson 2011, p.431)

Research indicates that men are seeking advice on how to wear jewellery. This suggests that men do want to wear jewellery but are afraid that they might not look masculine (TSBmen 2011).

Many sights offer advice for men on how to successfully wear jewellery, such as the link below from GQ. The link discusses what pieces are still masculine, in what order to approach wearing jewellery and what materials to go for.

 

Both GQ and TSBmen (2011) recommended anchors as pendants for the male.

 

Iron and gold anchor necklace by Philip Crangi

Handmade leather bracelet with silver anchor charm found online @ etsy

 

Unisex antiqued-brass anchor necklace. Found online @ etsy

 

 

 

Despite the support towards male jewellery, some religions believe that jewellery is for females only. This is the case in the following (rather humorous) clip from the Scandinavian Peace Conference 2011 on Islam in Modern Society. Here the speaker argues that men should be men and women should be women:

 







On on the contrary, architect and jeweller, Kosremelli argues that "men are becoming too homogeneous, many don’t wear jewelry because there is a taboo, but you can subtly play with those stereotypes,” (Massih 2012). Her pieces of jewellery aim to "take a punch at the formidable, solid figure of contemporary manliness"(Massih 2012). While some men are trying to retain their manliness, jewellery designers are instead taking the whole issue very lightheartedly.

 

In addition, Estrada (2010) states that 'real' men will have the courage to wear and put on what they choose. Despite the difficulty men have on finding jewellery that retains masculinity, the right combination of materials, design, texture and colour palette can make it possible (Threadslike 2012)

If worn in the right way, jewellery can compliment a mans clothing and can create an interesting
statement of individualism and contradiction to the norm (Threadslike 2012)

It is claimed that the increase in popularity of male jewellery is from the current celebrity cultures, creating fashion role models, shown wearing jewellery pieces (Gemondo). These sportsmen, film stars, rock stars and designers have helped to re-introduce the fashion on men's jewellery as a celebrations of masculinity (Gemondo). This refers back to jewellery being worn as a reflection of personal status and wealth (Gemondo)

Some male celebrities wear jewellery better...

 

 

 Than others...

Images found online at (McIntyre)

So, the question lies, do real men wear jewellery or not? Despite some clear faux pas's, growth in the market implies that they do (Gemondo)
So, men, why not rock the boat; wear an anchor, don a bracelet, be different.