[AnonymousBosch]

(10-18-2015 09:02 AM)glugger Wrote:  

My conclusion from looking through it is that it's just a coincidence, there doesn't seem to be any real increase of 'shirted' covers compared to past years (unless you are comparing it to greater than 5 years ago, in which case I can't comment).

Is it possible there's online and in-store versions of the covers?

Here's what I see when I search for Men's Health Australia covers 2015, blocking out doubles and wrong results.



Still some shirtless, showing off the physique, but a fair number are clothed. I find this really weird for a fitness magazine.

However, same search for Men's Fitness:





Even more interesting are the pictures inside the magazines based on the cover stars. The famous men are more likely to be dressed than not.









I'd suggest these magazines are now really being marketed towards sexually-awkward millennial females, not men who are seeking aspirational fitness. These girls want to swoon over celebrity men, but don't want to feel sexually-threatened by him. So, cover him up. Get a soap star in there.

I'd tie this into both the Anti-Sex Feminist Brigade targeting supermarkets, and the fact that any Writer for these magazines is likely to be a male feminist. It's possible it's also about desexualisation in the aid of allow viral sharing of content, as Playboy is doing. It's fascinating. I'll keep observing.