Skip to content
1981
Transforming Genitals in Culture and Media
  • ISSN: 1601-829X
  • E-ISSN: 2040-0586

Abstract

The society we live in is patriarchal, binary and hierarchically coded, evident from social and economic inequality and the stereotyping of men and women. Men are portrayed as active subjects and women as passive objects. Gender stereotyping extends to glorifying the male genitals as active, powerful, excellent and superior and objectifying the female genitals as passive, weak and corrupt. The social power of the media is essential in selecting information through agenda-setting and media framing. This article researches how the two most influential Croatian daily news portals, the progressive and the conservative , present female and male genitals in the media articles, mainly focusing on the genitals of celebrities. Famous people and celebrities are commodified into products created to influence the audience. The media presentation of their genitals can also affect the social perception of female and male sexuality. The research is based on a linguistic discourse analysis that includes language, context and interpretation on articles published in the digital extensions of and in the summer months of 2022 as units of analysis. The analytical matrix includes textual and visual ways of presenting the genitals of celebrities (attributes and connotations), their value and political orientation, and the valorization of sexuality along the axis of sex and gender. Research shows that digital extensions of Croatian daily newspapers (including the portal gloria.hr and sportski.jutarnji.hr), despite their different value orientations, are stereotypical and follow the accepted patriarchal binary dogma of male–female, positive–negative, active–passive, powerful–powerless, and that they depict male and female genitals with a visible cult-phallic media perspective.

© 2023 Intellect Ltd
Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1386/nl_00040_1
2023-10-16
2026-04-13

Metrics

Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. Ah-King, Malin, Barron, Andrew B. and Herberstein, Marie E. (2014), ‘Genital evolution: Why are females still understudied?’, PLOS Biology, 12:5, n.pag.
     [Google Scholar]
  2. Alaupović, Ivan (2022), ‘Zvijezda američkog sporta i seksualni manijak u jednom: angažirao je više od 60 maserki’, Sportske Novosti, 24 June, https://sportske.jutarnji.hr/sn/sport-mix/ostali-sportovi/zvijezda-americkog-sporta-i-seksualni-manijak-u-jednom-angazirao-je-vise-od-60-maserki-15214450. Accessed 20 January 2023.
     [Google Scholar]
  3. Aston, Elaine (1999), Feminist Theatre Practice: A Handbook, London: Routledge.
     [Google Scholar]
  4. Beran, Katie (2012), ‘Revisiting the prostitution debate: Uniting liberal and radical feminism in pursuit of policy reform’, Minnesota Journal of Law & Inequality, 30:1, pp. 19–56.
     [Google Scholar]
  5. Bloom, Lisa (2011), Think: Straight Talk for Women to Stay Smart in a Dumbed-Down World, New York: Vanguard Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  6. Brautović, Mato (2011), Online novinarstvo, Zagreb: Školska knjiga.
     [Google Scholar]
  7. Butler, Judith (2000), Nevolje s rodom: Feminizam i subverzija identiteta, Zagreb: Ženska Infoteka.
     [Google Scholar]
  8. Devereux, Georges (1990), Bauba, mitska vulva, Zagreb: August Cesarec.
     [Google Scholar]
  9. Elbow, Peter (1993), ‘The uses of binary thinking’, Journal of Advanced Composition, Special Issue: ‘Philosophy and Composition Theory’, 13:1, pp. 51–78.
     [Google Scholar]
  10. Ensler, Eve (2001), The Vagina Monologues, New York: Villiard.
     [Google Scholar]
  11. Fahs, Breanne, Mann, Annika, Swank, Eric and Stage, Sarah (eds) (2018), Transforming Contagion: Risky Contacts among Bodies, Disciplines, and Nations, Ithaca, NY: Rutgers University Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  12. Fairclough, Norman (1989), Language and Power, London: Longman.
     [Google Scholar]
  13. Franjić, Tamara (2022), ‘CR7 penis: Svi o njemu pričaju, evo koliko košta, djeluje li na erekciju i koliko traje’, Gloria, 20 July, https://www.gloria.hr/gl/stil/ljepota/cr7-penis-svi-o-njemu-pricaju-evo-koliko-kosta-djeluje-li-na-erekciju-i-koliko-traje-15225043. Accessed 20 January 2023.
     [Google Scholar]
  14. Fürst, Petra (2022), ‘Probao je i celibat, nije išlo: Holivudski pastuh dobit će 9. i 10. dijete, jedno s bivšom, a drugo sa sadašnjom curom’, Jutarnji list, 25 August, https://www.jutarnji.hr/scena/strane-zvijezde/probao-je-i-celibat-nije-islo-holivudski-pastuh-dobit-ce-9-i-10-dijete-jedno-s-bivsom-a-drugo-sa-sadasnjom-curom-15239366. Accessed 20 January 2023.
     [Google Scholar]
  15. Gill, Rosalind (2006), Gender and the Media, Cambridge: Polity Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  16. Gohr, Michelle A. (2018), ‘10. Cult of the penis: Male fragility and phallic frenzy’, in B. Fahs, A. Mann, E. Swank and S. Stage (eds), Transforming Contagion: Risky Contacts among Bodies, Disciplines, and Nations, Ithaca, NY: Rutgers University Press, pp. 160–72.
     [Google Scholar]
  17. Gramsci, Antonio (1979), O državi, Beograd: Radnička štampa.
     [Google Scholar]
  18. Haenlein, Michael, Anadol, Ertan, Farnsworth, Tyler, Hugo, Harry, Hunichen, Jess and Welte, Diana (2020), ‘Navigating the new era of influencer marketing: How to be successful on Instagram, TikTok, & Co.’, California Management Review, 63:1, pp. 5–25.
     [Google Scholar]
  19. Hall, Kim Q. (2005), ‘Queerness, disability and The Vagina Monologues’, Hypatia, 20:1, pp. 99–115.
     [Google Scholar]
  20. Halmi, Aleksandar, Belušić, Renata and Ogresta, Jelena (2004), ‘Socijalnokonstruktivistički pristup analizi medijskog diskursa’, Medijska istraživanja, 10:2, pp. 35–50.
     [Google Scholar]
  21. Holy, Mirela (2007), Mitski aspekti ekofeminizma, Zagreb: TIMpress.
     [Google Scholar]
  22. Irigaray, Luce (1985), This Sex Which is No One, New York: Cornell University Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  23. Janich, Nina (2003), Werbesprache: Ein Arbeitsbuch, Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag.
     [Google Scholar]
  24. Jergović, Miljenko (2022), ‘Miljenko Jergović savjetuje: Kako izabrati knjigu za sebe, a kako za poklon’, Večernji list, 14 July, https://www.vecernji.hr/showbiz/miljenko-jergovic-savjetuje-kako-izabrati-knjigu-za-sebe-a-kako-za-poklon-1598517. Accessed 20 January 2023.
     [Google Scholar]
  25. Jones, Meredith (2017), ‘Expressive surfaces: The case of the designer vagina’, Theory, Culture & Society, 34:7&8, pp. 29–50.
     [Google Scholar]
  26. Jones, Meredith and Callahan, Evelyn (eds) (2023), Performing the Penis: Phalluses in 21st Century Cultures, Abingdon and New York: Routledge.
     [Google Scholar]
  27. Kibby, Marjorie and Costello, Brigid (1999), ‘Displaying the phallus: Masculinity and the performance of sexuality on the internet’, Men & Masculinities, 1:4, pp. 352–64.
     [Google Scholar]
  28. Kramer, Hannah J., Goldfarb, Deborah, Tashjiana, Sarah M. and Hansen Lagattuta, Kristin (2021), ‘Dichotomous thinking about social groups: Learning about one group can activate opposite beliefs about another group’, Cognitive Psychology, 129, n.pag.
     [Google Scholar]
  29. Kreps, David and Ruddell, Caroline (2023), ‘The phallus: Power and vulnerability’, in M. Jones and E. Callahan (eds), Performing the Penis: Phalluses in 21st Century Cultures, Abingdon and New York: Routledge, pp. 7–25.
     [Google Scholar]
  30. Kukec, Tomislav (2022a), ‘Muskova tvrtka stjuardesi će isplatiti 250.000 $; “Pokazao mi je penis i rekao: Potrudi se, kupit ću ti konja”’, Jutarnji list, 20 May, https://www.jutarnji.hr/vijesti/svijet/muskova-tvrtka-stjuardesi-ce-isplatiti-250-000-pokazao-mi-je-penis-i-rekao-potrudi-se-kupit-cu-ti-konja-15199859. Accessed 20 January 2022.
     [Google Scholar]
  31. Kukec, Tomislav (2022b), ‘Šajeta napao medije i stao u obranu Alena Vitasovića: “Pao je jer mu je utrnula noga od dugog sjedenja!”’, Jutarnji list, 22 August, https://www.jutarnji.hr/scena/domace-zvijezde/sajeta-napao-medije-i-stao-u-obranu-alena-vitasovica-pao-je-jer-mu-je-utrnula-noga-od-dugog-sjedenja-15237879. Accessed 20 January 2022.
     [Google Scholar]
  32. McCombs, Maxwell E. and Shaw, Donald L. (1972), ‘The agenda-setting function of mass media’, Public Opinion Quarterly, 36:2, pp. 176–87.
     [Google Scholar]
  33. Muggleton, Naomi K., Tarran, Sarah R. and Fincher, Corey L. (2019), ‘Who punishes promiscuous women?: Both women and men are prejudiced towards sexually-accessible women, but only women inflict costly punishment’, Evolution and Human Behavior, 40:3, pp. 259–68.
     [Google Scholar]
  34. Ombudsman for Gender Equality (2023), Izvješće o radu Pravobraniteljice za ravnopravnost spolova za 2022: godinu, Zagreb: Pravobraniteljica za ravnopravnost spolova, https://www.sabor.hr/sites/default/files/uploads/sabor/2023-04-03/151002/IZVJ_PRAVOBRANITELJICA_RAVNOPR_SPOLOVA_2022.pdf. Accessed 27 April 2023.
     [Google Scholar]
  35. ‘personification’ (2023), Merriam-Webster Dictionary, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/personification. Accessed 26 June 2023.
     [Google Scholar]
  36. Reiser, Alyssa (2006), ‘Our vagina’s, not ourselves: A critical analysis of The Vagina Monologues’, MP: An Online Feminist Journal, 1:4, n.pag.
     [Google Scholar]
  37. Rožman, Klara (2022), ‘Robbieja Williamsa pitali je li ikad bio s Kidman i Minoque, on je citirao slavnu rečenicu Billa Clintona’, Jutarnji list, 18 September, https://www.jutarnji.hr/scena/strane-zvijezde/robbieja-williamsa-pitali-je-li-ikad-bio-s-kidman-i-minoque-on-je-citirao-slavnu-recenicu-billa-clintona-15249126. Accessed 20 January 2022.
     [Google Scholar]
  38. SN (2022), ‘Bila sam u totalnom šoku! Skinuo je bokserice i držao penis blizu mene, stalno je govorio – ništa se ne brini’, Sportske novosti, 18 August, https://sportske.jutarnji.hr/sn/nogomet/nogomet-mix/bila-sam-u-totalnom-soku-skinuo-je-bokserice-i-drzao-penis-blizu-mene-stalno-je-govorio-nista-se-ne-brini-15236429. Accessed 20 January 2022.
     [Google Scholar]
  39. Stipetić, Ines (2022), ‘Nakon gubitka petomjesečnog sinčića, voditelj najavio rođenje osmog djeteta, a možda stiže još i dvoje’, Gloria, 8 June, https://www.gloria.hr/gl/scena/zvjezdane-staze/nakon-gubitka-petomjesecnog-sincica-voditelj-najavio-rodenje-osmog-djeteta-a-mozda-stize-jos-i-dvoje-15208014. Accessed 20 January 2022.
     [Google Scholar]
  40. Valdes, Francisco (1996), ‘Unpacking hetero-patriarchy: Tracing the conflation of sex, gender & sexual orientation to its origins’, Yale Journal of Law & the Humanities, 8:161, pp. 161–211.
     [Google Scholar]
  41. Vecernji.hr (2022), ‘Cristiano Ronaldo ubrizgava botoks u penis: Otkriveno zašto, a i Georgina je zadovoljna’, Večernji list, 19 July, https://www.vecernji.hr/sport/cristiano-ronaldo-ubrizgava-botoks-u-penis-otrkiveno-zasto-a-i-georgina-je-zadovoljna-1603105. Accessed 20 January 2022.
     [Google Scholar]
  42. Williamson, Milly (2016), Celebrity: Capitalism and the Making of Fame, Cambridge: Polity Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  43. Wolf, Naomi (2008), Mit o ljepoti, Zagreb: Naklada Jesenski i Turk.
     [Google Scholar]
  44. Zeman, Zdenko and Geiger Zeman, Marija (2012), ‘“Brže bolje u formu”: mitologija ljepote, komercijalizacija i discipliniranje tijela’, Metodički ogledi, 19:1, pp. 59–75.
     [Google Scholar]
/content/journals/10.1386/nl_00040_1
Loading
  • Article Type: Article
Keyword(s): celebrities; Croatia; daily news portals; gender stereotypes; penis; vagina

Most Cited Most Cited RSS feed

This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a success
Invalid data
An error occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error
Please enter a valid_number test