Media, masculinity and the man in the mirror

Gender is a social construct. Who we are, how we feel and what we aspire to become, is often a reflection of the culture we exist within, and few things shape our culture like the modern media.

If we turn the clocks back to 1950, we can see this in full effect. The soaring popularity and availability of televisions helped shape gender roles in the post-WWII landscape. The nuclear family was born; the father as the patriarchal breadwinner, and the doting, domesticated house-wife.

As a result, men and women alike would judge themselves against these values. In the 50s, men who didn’t conform to these ideals of masculinity would be socially outcast and deem themselves as failures.

The nuclear family was born; the father as the patriarchal breadwinner, and the doting, domesticated house-wife.

Seventy years later, our understanding of gender has advanced considerably. However, the media’s depiction of the ‘successful man’ is, in reality, negatively impacting how successful men actually feel.

Above: Television helped shape gender roles and, in the 1950s, men were generally seen as patriarchal breadwinners.

A new report, The Price of Success, reveals that more than half of men (51%) say that the media is likely or very likely to negatively impact how successful they feel. The figure rises to 66% with millennials.

This shows that, for most men, personal ideas of success are in direct conflict with what is being publicly portrayed through media and advertising, and this has serious ramifications for mental health and how men connect with the world around them.

The success mismatch

Many men no longer recognise themselves and their values in today’s culture. There is a disconnect between what makes them happy and the outdated portrayals of a ‘successful’ man in the media.

There is a disconnect between what makes [men] happy and the outdated portrayals of a ‘successful’ man in the media.

The new report shows that men used to define success as making lots of money (23%), having material things (20%), a glamorous lifestyle (17%), and being famous (17%). Today, success is much less quantifiable in material terms. Modern men prioritise feeling happy day-to-day (23%), having good relationships with the people around them (23%), taking care of their health and wellbeing (22%) and having a life partner who loves and supports them (21%).

The report found that what advertising and the media emphasise as a depiction of success is rooted in the past, creating a clear gap between what men value and what the media is telling them to value. Whilst this is dangerous, the good news is it’s also unsustainable. Recognising this gap could be the start of necessary social change. History shows us that social transformations occur when there’s a growing mismatch between how people feel in private, and how the outside world represents them.

Above: Brands like Macallan are encouraging personal growth rather than material success. 

How change happens

Brands and advertisers have the capacity to turn men’s private feelings into public ones, as we have seen with the role of social media in positively shifting views on topics such as gay marriage and female empowerment in the workplace, and there is opportunity to gain market share while doing so. 

Men are gravitating towards content and brands with a more subtle understanding of their needs and values; ones which aren’t rooted in the old paradigm of success. When asked how a luxury brand they find aspirational makes them feel, 37% said it makes them feel happy, 36% motivated and 33% inspired, rather than respected (27%), powerful (24%), and rich (16%).

Men are gravitating towards content and brands with a more subtle understanding of their needs and values.

Brands like The Macallan are shifting their messaging to encourage men to “take a risk for the chance to fly” - encouraging personal growth without specifically telling them what to do. Zegna is opening doors for progressive conversations about modern masculinity, asking men what really makes a man, and sharing a wide variety of answers.

Finally, Belvedere Vodka cleverly juxtaposes the man Daniel Craig versus the character James Bond, by simply focusing on the real traits of Craig himself versus the exaggerated, masculine values of Bond.