BONUS DISCUSSIONS AND INTERVIEWS

These items accompany the new second edition...

Role models in pop music
To prepare the second edition, I had to make difficult decisions about what to do with material which still seemed quite interesting, but which relates to examples which are now rather old. The Spice Girls are no longer the inspiration to young women they once were, despite the popularity of their nostalgic reunion tour in 2007–08, and the career and public image of Britney Spears has changed dramatically. The solution to my dilemma, of course, has been to park this stuff here on the website. The examples may be rather dated, then, but I think the basic principles – about the role which music and pop stars can play in people’s everyday lives – remain meaningful. (PDF file).

Examples of talk about ‘role models’,
and six types of role model
In the second edition, I give some examples from 2007 of people talking about ‘role models’. In the first edition of the book (2002), I offered a longer list of examples, which now appear here. These examples are somewhat dated now, of course, but are a perfectly good selection of ways in which people evoke the notion of ‘role models’. This is followed by the six ‘types’ of role model that I identified. (PDF file).

Self-Help Books and the Pursuit of a Happy Identity
The book includes a discussion of self-help books, but this is a longer article about them (by David Gauntlett). What do bestselling self-help books tell us about how people see gender, and their capacity for personal transformation? (PDF file).

Men's magazines
In the second edition, I discussed some of the most prominent themes in today’s men’s lifestyle magazines, rather than going through particular magazine titles one by one. But, for those who want it - although it is now necessarily dated - the more detailed discussion of particular men’s magazines from the first edition appears here. (PDF file).

These exclusive articles and interviews were originally posted here to complement the material in the first edition...

The Bad Thing About Men's Magazines: Amy Jankowicz and David Gauntlett in Conversation
Amy Jankowicz, who dislikes men's magazines, discusses them with David Gauntlett.

On Men's Magazines and New Gender Identities: Derrick Cameron and David Gauntlett in Conversation
Playwright and critic Derrick Cameron discusses changing masculinities with David Gauntlett.

More about More!: The sexual language of young women's magazines
Discusses whether the sexual freedom and assertiveness encouraged by magazines for young women is a good thing - and then we see what some actual teenagers think about this, via the results of some brand new research.

On Media, Gender and Identity: Kirsten Pullen and David Gauntlett in Conversation
Academic and popular culture specialist Kirsten Pullen discusses the themes of the book with David Gauntlett.

Psychology loves the status quo
Extended discussion of the conservative tendency in psychology studies of gender.

Men's Magazines in Germany
An overview of the emergence of men's magazines in Germany, by Meike Werkmeister, a graduate of Hochschule Bremen.