What is it about?

Contemporary ideas of masculinity are shaped through both language (e.g., talk) and visual imagery found in everyday spaces—like social media or films. We introduce a research approach designed to analyze how masculinities are constructed through what people say and display. Drawing on two case studies—one examining celebrity Instagram posts and another analyzing a historical romance film—we offer practical guidance for researchers interested in exploring how masculinity is portrayed and circulated in today’s media landscape.

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Why is it important?

Images on social media and in film powerfully shape how we see masculinity, yet few research methods fully capture this. This paper introduces a new approach to studying how masculinity is visually and verbally constructed in media—offering timely tools and guidance for researchers in our increasingly image-driven world.

Perspectives

I was excited to see a call for papers in Psychology of Men and Masculinities highlighting new and evolving research methods. I’ve long been passionate about discourse analysis—especially discursive psychology—and have been exploring how to apply it to visual data, such as images in social media and film. While my previous work in this area has been fairly technical, the call’s emphasis on accessibility for applied researchers—not just methodological experts—encouraged me to reframe my writing for a broader audience. My goal with this article was to introduce this method in a more accessible way, making it useful not only for established researchers, but also for those newer to this approach, like my doctoral students.

Keiko McCullough
University of Denver

Read the Original

This page is a summary of: Using critical discursive psychology to study masculinities in media: Pitfalls and best practices., Psychology of Men & Masculinity, June 2025, American Psychological Association (APA),
DOI: 10.1037/men0000530.
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