In the context of globalization, commercialization, and the increasing presence of Western and Japanese male images in Chinese society, this study is an attempt to examine how local and global force interact and how masculinities are constructed in men's magazines in Taiwan. Methodologically, this study sees in-depth interviews, content analysis, and semiotic analysis as complementary methods in the study of construction of masculinity in Taiwan. Results of the interviews showed that multiple types of masculinity exist in Taiwan and traditional Chinese masculinity has evolved and changed in the contemporary Taiwanese society. Based on the male images (N=1,284) from a stratified sample of four months in 2009 in four men's magazines, results of the study showed that editorials and male images in Western and hybrid men's magazines were also different from those in the local men's magazine. Close examination of individual advertisements form semiotic analysis showed that advertisers try to relate muscle building to Wu masculinity; athleticism, male bonding, feminine masculinity are promoted by advertisers; metrosexuality seems the ideal masculinity in Taiwanese society. In conclusion, the study suggested that (1) international men's magazines, either from the West or Japan, can be seen as culture hybrid to construct masculinity in their contents. Although international men's magazines are all hybrid, hybridity in men's magazines that are from countries that are geographically close are much influential than hybrid magazines from geographically far away; (2) the Chinese masculinity should not be labeled as feminine masculinity because it is ordinary manhood from the Chinese Wen tradition.

Syftet med denna uppsats har varit att undersöka hur debatten kring maskuliniteten har sett ut i kinesiska media, om de maskulina och feminina männen presenterades olika samt om maskulinitetsdebatten reflekterar Kinas utmaningar. Det har främst diskuterats fem olika teman med ämnena: Jämställdhet, hälsa, nationalism, utbildning och populärkultur. De olika medierna som diskuterats är Xinhua: New China News Agency, Xinhua tongxunshe 新华通讯社 och Tencent: Tengxun 腾讯. Det finns några skillnader mellan de olika medierna men framförallt finns det många likheter. Slutsatserna är att maskulinitet är något som är befäst i samhället, där det maskulina kan förklaras vara positivt för hälsan, utbildningen och även jämställdheten. Maskulinitet är inte nödvändigtvis bara applicerbar på män, utan maskulinitet är tillämpad för ens individuella personlighet. De maskulina och feminina männen har därför en tydlig hierarkisk ordning där den maskuline är att föredra framför den feminine, vilket tydligt kan ses i debatten angående populärkulturen. Slutligen så är denna debatt väldigt kopplad till en debatt om nationens framtid där maskuliniteten anses vara det som ska lägga grunden till att förverkliga Kinas stora ambitioner. / The purpose of this essay has been to see how the debate about masculinity has taken place in Chinese media, if the masculine and feminine men were represented differently and if you could see Chinas different struggles discussed in the masculinity debate. There have been primarily five different themes that has been discussed: Equality, health, nationalism, education, and popular culture. The different media outlets discussed are Xinhua: New China News Agency, Xinhua tongxunshe 新华通讯社 and Tencent: Tengxun 腾讯. There has been found to be some differences between the two outlets but there are even more similarities. The results show masculinity is something that is woven into society and it is shown that it is positive for many different subjects such as health, education and even equality. It does not have to be applied on men to work; masculinity is mainly part of one’s personality. Therefore, the masculine man is preferred over the feminine since the masculine man have more positive traits, which is clearly shown in the debate about popular culture. Lastly this debate is closely tied to the nation’s future, where masculinity is seen as the driving force to achieve Chinas great ambitions.