Actors Tom Cruise and Michael B Jordan are featured on new magazine covers this week, sparking debate about masculinity. Cruise, 64, appears on the cover of GQ, marking his first time for the publication in two decades. He is pictured in an unbuttoned shirt, with one hand in his hair and the other on his belt buckle.
Meanwhile, 39-year-old Jordan is on the cover of Vogue, making his debut as the sixth man to receive a solo cover. He is shown lying on a bed of flowers, with his suit blazer unbuttoned.
The images have landed at a time when masculinity is a prominent topic in headlines. Dr Ashley Morgan, a masculinities scholar, noted that Cruise's cover sells the image of the white male patriarch, while Jordan's cover presents a wider range of masculinities, including Black masculinity, and is described as more universally attractive.
Andrew Groves, director of the menswear archive at the University of Westminster, highlighted a fashion distinction, stating that Cruise's image is constructed to appear sexy but uses clothes associated with work and labour. In contrast, Jordan's masculinity is constructed through a broader set of codes, including fashion, decoration, and softness.