But this week the two stars went head-to-head, or more accurately chest-to-chest, on magazine stands. In one corner there’s 64-year-old Cruise on the cover of GQ, his first for the magazine in 20 years. Posing in an unbuttoned shirt, one hand running through his tousled hair, the other gripping his belt buckle, this is Cruise playing the role of sexy Cruise.
Despite his efforts, and Cruise previous having been crowned the sexiest man alive, the internet, usually a place of deep division, has unanimously agreed that the resulting image is deeply unsexy. Others have nicknamed him “unc” – internet slang for someone out of touch. Meanwhile, 39-year-old Jordan makes his Vogue debut (the sixth man to be given a solo cover) lying down and laughing on a bed of flowers, the blazer of his suit unbuttoned to showcase his many, many abs and a flash of his right nipple.
Most of the comments are NSFW (not suitable for work). An example from the tamer offerings: “I aspire to be a flower.” The covers land at a time when masculinity is increasingly dominating headlines. From toxic masculinity to looksmaxxing and performative males, the conversation is being driven by increasing concerns over the manosphere and what exactly being a man means and looks like today.
Both have added further fuel to the masculinity fire. Dr Ashley Morgan, a masculinities scholar at Cardiff Metropolitan University, says despite there being “a massive range of masculinities”, people tend to focus on one type: the white male patriarch. In contrast, “Jordan presents a range of masculinities including ideas around Black masculinity.
He’s wearing a suit but it’s very suggestive. His cover is more universally attractive to men, women and others.” For Andrew Groves, director of the menswear archive at the University of Westminster, there is a clear fashion distinction. The worn shirt and old Levi’s belong to a masculine language of work and labour.
Jordan is allowed fashion, decoration, jewellery, and softness. His masculinity is constructed through a much wider set of codes.” When Adam Baidawi was named the new editor of GQ last year, he said he wanted to restore the magazine to “its rightful place as the North Star of masculinity”, and that GQ would be “a magazine for and about men”. His debut cover in September featured the actor Jeremy Strong wearing a hoodie and holding a steel archery bow.
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