Commodified Strategic Masculinity: A Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis of Gender Identity in Japanese Men's Beauty Advertisements

Abstract

Abstract

In the context of globalized consumer culture where commercial discourse reconfigures gender, this study's objective is to examine the visual construction of masculine identities in Japanese men's beauty advertising. Utilizing a Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis guided by Kress and van Leeuwen's Visual Grammar, the study analyzes 2025 video advertisements from three major Japanese brands (Biore, Decorté, and Mentholatum Men) distributed via YouTube and Instagram within the Japanese and broader East Asian geographical scope. The findings reveal that these advertisements construct seemingly progressive masculinities that are soft, caring, and hybrid through carefully orchestrated visual strategies. Self-care practices are discursively reframed as markers of masculine self-discipline, confidence, and success, rather than as feminine traits. This study concludes that these representations do not fundamentally challenge patriarchal relations, as self-care is semiotically recontextualized as a tool for professional competitiveness and domestic power hierarchies remain reinforced through the visual positioning of women as subordinate facilitators. Ultimately, these findings are conceptualized as Commodified Strategic Masculinity (CSM), a specific modality of alternative masculinity that illustrates how non-hegemonic traits are strategically integrated into commercial logic to expand market reach while preserving the underlying patriarchal dividend.