Masculinity Values in Bobo Magazine: A Semiotic Reading of Indonesian Children’s Stories

Abstract

This article examines the masculinity values constructed in Bobo, Indonesia’s longest-running children’s magazine. Earlier research described Bobo as broadly patriarchal. It did not, however, separate the different forms of masculinity the magazine offers or show how they change over time. The study reads three issues published in 1986, 1996, and 2019. The corpus contains fourteen texts: short stories, fairy tales, serial comics, reader contributions, and advertisements addressed to boys. The analysis combines Barthes’s semiotics of connotation and myth with narrative analysis of characterisation, agency, and resolution. Findings are interpreted through Connell’s theory of hegemonic and plural masculinities. Six masculine positions emerge: the father as calm moral judge; the prince or hero as sovereign protector; the strong boy’s body as a commercial project; the industrious boy as future provider; the comic adult man as a figure of ridicule; and the responsible brother who confesses and cares. Across the three issues, the authoritative father moves to the margins, maternal authority becomes more visible, and male protagonists are allowed fear and dependence. Yet two hegemonic markers persist: men still end their stories as providers, protectors, or husbands, and domestic incompetence remains a source of male comedy. The study concludes that Bobo does not simply reproduce patriarchy. It softens the style of masculinity while keeping much of its structure.