The Category of Masculinity in the Polish Media Discourse on Robert Lewandowski

The fundamental objective of the studies was to reconstruct and analyze the category of masculinity in the media discourse that refers to Robert Lewandowski as well as to describe and interpret the most important discursive strategies used in creating the image of the footballer. The research material includes almost 120 Polish-language media messages: mainly Internet articles, commercial spots, and interviews, all of which appeared in the years 2013-2019. This article presents the results of the critical analysis of the discourse, including proposals of the discourse-historical approach. The prime theoretical framework of the studies is made up of the theory of hegemonic masculinity on the one hand and the theory of inclusive masculinity on the other, as well as the concept of caring masculinities. The discourse on Lewandowski is not homogeneous; it includes elements derived from different versions of masculinity. The discourse is divided into two parts: one connected with the professional sphere and the other referring to the private. The strategies describing the footballer’s professional life are quite conservative. The elements of the highest importance within this part of the discourse include hard work, success, rivalry, and the mesomorph body type. The part of the discourse referring to the footballer’s family life is dominated by the strategies connected with the concept of caring masculinities and the notion of egalitarian relationship even though it is not completely free from the traditional gender roles. Krzysztof Arcimowicz is an associate professor in the Institute of Cultural Studies at the University of Bialystok. He is the author of Obraz mężczyzny w polskich mediach (2003) and Dyskursy o płci i rodzinie w polskich telesagach (2013), as well as numerous academic articles on masculinities in contemporary culture. His current research interests include: new generation of TV series, critical discourse analysis, critical studies on men and masculinities, and

R esearchers locating their interests in the area of gender studies maintain that the categories of masculinity and femininity are socially and culturally constructed, and a very important element of the construction is media coverage (Connell 1987;2013;Kimmel 1992;Renzetti and Curran 2005). Television, the Internet, and the press shape images of gender roles and the relations between men and women.
According to Michael Kimmel, the media reflect the existent gender differences and inequalities, construct the differences, and bring about the situation where they seem natural and not socially produced (Kimmel 2015:384-385). The fundamental aim of the studies was to reconstruct and to analyze the category of masculinity in the Polish media discourse concerning Robert Lewandowski, as well as to describe and interpret the most important discourse strategies used in the creation of the sportsman's image. The category of masculinity appears in the media coverages describing the footballer in relation to other categories, such as 'femininity,' 'family,' 'body,' and 'gender.' Therefore, wherever it is necessary, the article includes these categories.

Masculinities, Sport, and Media
Following the assumptions of feminist criticism initiated in the 1970s, Michael Messner, who is one of the most prominent researchers analyzing the area of sport from the gender perspective, points out that sport makes up a field of the confirmation of the traditional male power, force, and violence (Messner 1987:54).
Organized sport establishes an order that reflects the concepts of masculinity and femininity dominating in society, and it performs it through "masculinizing" bodies and psyche of men (Messner 1995:112). There is a connection between construing a masculine identity and boys' participation in organized sport (Messner 1995:102). As Messner writes, "Sports world is an important cultural arena that serves partly to socialize boys and young men to hierarchical, competitive, and aggressive values" (Messner 1987:66). Sport has been accepted as a masculine domain, underscoring the importance of competition and hierarchy between men.
As a result of the fear of feminization, sport disciplines -particularly contact and/or brutal sports -have been spread and appreciated (Messner 1987:65-66). According to Messner, sport became one of the "last bastion" of masculine power, the way of transforming boys into men (Messner 1987:54).
In the 20 th century and at the beginning of the 21st century, the importance of sport in public life and media has increased considerably. In the introduction to the book Media -eros -przemoc [Media -Eros -Violence], Andrzej Gwóźdź writes that "there is no sport today without the media, but also there are no media without sport" (Gwóźdź 2003:7). Currently, a huge role in creating images of masculinity and constructing male identity is played by sport and media coverages showing well-known athletes (Messner 1995:102-114;2007:6). The media change the status of sportspeople, who are becoming icons of pop-culture, idols of mass imagination, and celebrities (compare : Jakubowska 2008:115).
In spite of the fact that sport competitions with women's participation now enjoy a more considerable interest on the part of the media than they used to, the attention paid to them is disproportionately lower in comparison with men's sport disciplines (Messner 2007:3;Kluczyńska 2011a:387, 390). Moreover, television commentaries on sportswomen are quite often infantilized and trivialized. It is often the case that sports commentators concentrate on sportswomen's appearance, referring to them as "pretty," "shapely," or "sexy," whereby they belittle the athletic struggle of women. Remarks of this type are not made in relation to male athletes; on the contrary, they are frequently referred to as "modern gladiators" (Sabo and Jansen 1999:176-177).
In the last decades, the number of women doing team sports has increased (Messner 2007:2). However, studies into media messages -carried out in various countries -indicate a considerable disproportion in the way and frequency of presenting team sports played by women and men (Messner 2007:3-4;Kluczyńska 2011a:391). Team sports, particularly contact sports, are defined as men's sports, i.e. suitable for men, because during rivalry the players may immediately feel and confirm their strength, power, and domination (Kluczyńska 2011a:387).
The media still make a distinction between "men's sports" and "women's sports." They treat the former one seriously, while the latter one is merely an addition to the 'true' masculine rivalry. Present-day media spectacles show who has the power, who is de-prived of the power, who may apply force, and who may not. Sport, particularly football -being the most popular sport in the world -is an important field of socializing and acquiring by boys and young men qualities characteristic of the hegemonic-masculinity model. Media images of athletes and representations of men's sports rivalry usually serve to construct and maintain men's domination in society (compare: Messner 2007:3-7; Kluczyńska 2011b:69-82). However, a certain change has recently occurred in the images of athletes, for some athletes exhibit elements associated with inclusive and caring masculinities.

Selection of Research Material
I concentrated on essential focal points of the media discourse, which is the periods when Robert Le-

The Theoretical and Methodological Assumptions Behind the Studies
In my studies, I used primarily theoretical concepts developed within the framework of critical studies on men and masculinities (CSMM). 1 One of the best known and influential theories referring to gender, namely the so-called concept of 'hegemonic masculinity' -often used for analyzing media coverages -was developed by Raewyn Connell in the 1980s.
The sociologist defines the hegemonic masculinity as the "configuration of gender practice which embodies the currently accepted answer to the problem of legitimacy of patriarchy, which guarantees (or is 1 Critical studies on men and masculinities arose from a number of critiques -primarily from women's and gender studies, but also from queer scholarship, as well as from men's responses, particularly men's pro-feminist responses to feminism (see: Due to the restricted framework of this article, I present only these strategies that are the most important and/or appear in the discourse most frequently.

Discursive Strategies Used in Making The Category of Masculinity
Researchers dealing with the category of gender maintain that masculinity is constructed in a relative way through showing the difference between 'real' men and those who do not deserve the name, as well as the difference between men and women (Connell 1987:186-187;Kimmel 1987:12-13;Bourdieu 2004:33-36). In the collected research material there appear pieces of news, often illustrated with photos, stating that the man likes playing with the child and taking her out for a walk. The footballer claims that whenever he has an opportunity he spends time with his daughter as well as he suffers whenever she is sick: "The child's pain, Klara's tears -that's something most difficult that can be. When it hurts Klara, it hurts me, and I suffer too" (Lewandowski 2017). An important element of the discourse used in constructing the category of masculinity is the strategy of masculine symbolism. The role of a symbol is played by things, mainly cars, but also the body, which in media coverages is a basic instrument of making a gender distinction with many meanings (Goffman 1979: passim;Connell 2013:94-97). In the Western culture, a model that is valid for the vast majority of men is a mesomorph body type, 3 while 3 A mesomorph body type is one of three basic types of body structure described by Harvard psychologist William Sheldon. It refers to a proportional silhouette, yet a well-muscled body devoid of visible fat tissue.
in the case of women it is a slender body (Mishkind et al. 1987:38-45;Grogan 1999, passim;Kimmel 2015:447-453;Majer 2016:194-196). Lewandowski takes part in marketing campaigns of well-known brands, but his body is not exposed as boldly as it happens in the case of other renowned football players. For example, the commercial of the Head&Shoulders shampoo, made in 2017, showed the footballer's naked torso. In modern commercials, the male body, like the female body, has become an object to look at (Bordo 1999, passim). However, in advertising coverages athletes who represent the type of mesomorph body often appear in the company of slender or very slim women. Thus, we can state that the images of spornosexual men serve more to consolidate the gender differences than to efface them. A considerable part of society still associates a muscular silhouette with strong mentality and courage. The ideal of a slender or very slim woman's body represents the other side of the phenomenon; a slim woman's body connotes traits such as weakness, tenderness, and submission, which are contrasted with male power and strength. According to some analysts of the modern culture, the image of a mesomorph body was made a model to follow due to the fact that there occurred a growth in women's participation in the public sphere as well as the differences between male and female roles began to blur, which is why the exposition of male musculature is supposed to show that the differences between women and men still exist (Mishkind et al. 1987:39) In Internet articles about the footballer and in interviews with Lewandowski there appears the strategy of fit body and physical shape. The discourse underscores that for a professional athlete -especially at the very high level that the Polish 5 Mesomorph body as a canon of beauty appeared in the art of the Ancient Greece as early as 5th century BCE (Clark 1998:30-39). However, currently the number of images of the mesomorph body of a person living in the Western culture is incomparably higher than before.  There are a number of statements from the footballer himself as well as his wife, which refer to caring masculinity, but cracks in this discourse appear. The strategy of indetermination is visible; in truth, we do not know to what extent the Lewandowskis implement the assumptions of egalitarian relationship into their life. Nevertheless, it is important that, at least at the level of declaration, they both highlight the father's involvement in childcare as well as distance themselves from the patriarchal model of family.
In the dialectical concept of discourse it is assumed that discourse is not only subject to the socio-cultural forming, but also plays a role in the forming