Chapter 2 REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE Traditional Masculinity While there have been a lot of studies about feminism, masculinity as a field of study is relatively new. It was only during 1995, when R.W. Connell published her influential book entitled Masculinities that a solid theory of masculinity was established. Connell contended that there was no single and universal masculinity, but instead there were different types of masculinities. Out of the four types of masculinities that Connell put forth, the most dominant and most culturally valued form of masculinity in a society is what we call hegemonic masculinity. These are the traditional aspects of masculinity such as heterosexuality, physical strength, and suppression of emotions, among …show more content…
Among the new and interesting products that have emerged are the panoply of cosmetics and toiletries geared towards men. Before we go further, it is necessary to define what cosmetics and toiletries mean. Cosmetics, according to The New International Webster’s Dictionary & Thesaurus (2000), pertains to “(1) any preparation intended to be applied to any part of the human body for cleansing, beautifying, promoting attractiveness, or altering its appearance, including bath salts, face and hand creams, etc., but excluding soaps other than shampoos and shaving soaps, (2) any cologne or perfume”. Other products for vanity can be categorized into toiletries, which is defined as “any of the several articles used in making one’s toilet, as soap, comb, brush, etc.” The world ‘toilet’ in this definition means “the act or process of dressing one’s self, especially the hair.” Basically, cosmetics and toiletries are products that are applied to the human body for cleansing or improving physical appearance or attractiveness. Cosmetics and toiletries for men are usually put under the umbrella term “men’s grooming products”. For the sake of this study, we will refer to products for men under the cosmetics/toiletries category as men’s grooming