Músculo, mérito e moral : a prescrição da masculinidade nas revistas da Men`s Health

Abstract

This study aimed to analyze the meanings attributed to health, the body, and masculinity in the 2015 editions of Men’s Health Brasil magazine. The research used a qualitative approach, based on a semiotic analysis of the magazine covers, in order to understand how visual and discursive representations construct normative ideals of male body and health. The empirical material consisted of twelve issues, analyzed through critical frameworks on body, biopolitics, and masculinities. The findings show that health is presented as an individual project of continuous improvement, and the body is portrayed as a performative showcase in which personal merit, discipline, and success are visually expressed. The covers reinforce a narrow bodily standard aligned with hegemonic masculinity and the logic of performance. It is concluded that the magazine operates as a cultural device that reinforces behavioral norms and legitimizes symbolic inequalities, naturalizing discourses that associate health with productivity, consumption, and self-management.