Man Up: Masculinities In Advertising Of Female Cosmetic Products
Is soft masculinity being seen as appealing in Asian countries? The image displays Soong Joong Ki, a famous Korean actor advertising 7 days silk sheet mask set by forencos. Soong Jong Ki, an actor with world-wide recognition and huge popularity in Asia, risen to fame after his performance in the TV drama “Descendants of the Sun”. The mask claims that it is an intensive skin treatment program with each mask tackling different skin problems every day. This product is targeted mainly at female users as female users are more keen to improve their skin problems using beauty products.
In the photo, Soong Joong Ki looks radiant with his perfect porcelain skin. He has softer features when compared to men in advertisements in the West. He was posing with a white rose in one of the mask packaging, accentuating the ‘feminine’ side that he has. It is unpopular, if not rare for a man to pose with a flower. Flower are often symbolism of the gentle and romantic side of female. The posing with a flower indicates that now flower or other item that are deemed feminine in the past is no longer restricted to female.
Soong Joong Ki use of flower in his Soong Joong Ki appears as if he was wearing makeup with his perfect skin. The overall presentation and the outlook of Soong Joong Ki highlighted the idea of soft masculinity; which is a kind of masculinity that allows men to express themselves as being more feminine, in a way that they may be regarded as queer man previously. The trend of soft masculinity is slowly changing the concept of men’s image and behaviour and is slowly affecting the world. The blooming beauty industry also fuels changes to men’s attention on their appearance, they begun to realise that their appearance is also becoming as important as women’s appearance nowadays. The cosmetic culture further suggests that men are paying more attention on cosmetics. However, in the past, men using beauty products will be labelled as being ‘queer’.
Xiao Xian Rou, a representation of soft masculinity is seen as being more and more appealing in Asia. There is a trend where men or more specifically in the entertainment industry appears to be young, fresh, gentle and good looking — xiao xian rou are what we called them. Being compared side by side with fresh meat, this is a stark example of objectifying man as palatable and to be consume, catering to the appetite of females in Asia. More and more companies are trying to use male entertainers with the image of xiao xian rou to advertise their products. In 1996, Kimura Takuya was the first man to ever endorse lipsticks. In fact, it was the first time for any man to endorse cosmetics for female in the history. The advertisement achieves great success and the company sold 3, 000, 000 lipsticks In 2 months. Since then, man advertising female cosmetic products and skin care products have become more and more popular widely in Asia. With gaining popularity, male entertainers are using soft masculinity as a tool for advertisement, proving that soft masculinity is more and more appealing in Asia.
