1980's capitalist developments influenced the emerge of the New Man

The New Man arose as a primarily media-driven phenomenon in the 1980’s. It was said that, as a result of the impact of second-wave feminism in particular, men and masculinity were under attack, and a new form of masculinity that was more caring, nurturing and sensitive - or, alternatively, more narcissistic, passive and introspective - was developing. (Edwards, 1997)

In the 1980‘s women’s position advanced in the social sphere and also career wise. This meant that the circumstances changed in the society for men as well, which permanently reformed and constructed new dynamics between men and women. During this decade many aspects of the capitalist developments affected the emerge of the New Man, such as the rising economy, which endorsed the new consumer culture of the yuppie era. The increasing number of young men who entered the working life at the time had more money to spend on the emerging concept of ‘lifestyle’ and were eager to spend money on fashion, grooming products and also on the men’s press. As Edwards says, ”The New Man was not simply the product of the media, or even of responses to second-wave feminism; he was rather the crystallization of consequences in economics, marketing, political ideology, demography and, most widely, consumer society in the 1980’s.”

Discussions on the New Man were notable in the British press of the 1980‘s. Accroding to Frank Mort (The Men’s Fashion Reader, 2009) the figure of this new phenomenon was the topic for frequent debates and endless controversy. ”In journalism and in fashion, in commercial and manufacturing culture, as well as in the political and social arena, men were at the centre of wide-ranging debate. The forms which discussions took were as varied as their conclusions. Amidts all the energy, one motif occured repeatedly. This was the figure of the ‘new man’. A hybrid character, his aetiology could not be attributed to one single source. He was rather the condensation of multiple concerns which were temporarily run together.” This quote shows that the concept of the New Man was not easily accepted in such traditional publications as the English newspapers. Masculine consumer society was an advanced concept and foreign to many of the contemporaries. As Mort explains, for the adversiting and marketing industries, the appearance of such a personality was a symptom of growing commercial and cultural confusion... this new form of masculinity was principally defined by self-doubt. Confronted by the loss of traditional gender certainties, many men were now being forced to question their social roles.

This image illustrates the effect of Wall Street and the rising economy of the 1980's, which influenced the creation of the New Man.  Image is from the film Wall Street - Money Never Sleeps, 2010.