How the Media Defines Masculinity

Gender Representation
Stereotyping

“When I speak to adult audiences I usually start my talk by asking … if they have ever told their daughter that she can do anything that a boy can do. Most people proudly keep their hands raised. When I ask who has told their son that he can do anything that a girl can do, the room goes silent because almost every single hand goes down.” Liz Plank, For the Love of Men

Families, friends, teachers and community leaders all play a role in helping boys define what it means to be a man. Mainstream media representations also play a role in reinforcing ideas about what it means to be a “real” man in our society. In most media portrayals, male characters are rewarded for self-control and the control of others, aggression and violence, financial independence and physical desirability: “for boys, violence and dominance are aligned with norms of masculinity.”[1]

The 2020 report If He Can See It, Will He Be It? analyzed TV programs aimed at boys, finding that male characters were:

  • less likely to show emotions than female characters, including stereotypically feminine emotions such as empathy, stereotypically masculine ones such as anger, or even happiness
  • more likely to be shown taking risks
  • less likely to have onscreen parents
  • more likely to be both perpetrators and victims of violence[2]

Similarly, non-human characters in kids’ TV, such as monsters or zombies, are twice as likely to be male.[3]

Media definitions of masculinity also frequently intersect with other aspects of characters’ identities. The If He Can See It, Will He Be It? study also found that:

  • 2SLGBTQ+ characters were underrepresented in boys’ TV compared to the US or Canadian population
  • characters with disabilities were underrepresented by a factor of more than ten
  • non-White male characters were even less likely to show emotions than White ones.[4] According to psychologist Noelle Hurd, “It’s not just being Black but being male that has been hyper-stereotyped in this negative way.”[5]

Stereotyped views start early and can last a lifetime: according to Dr. Rebecca Martin, interim head of psychology at South Dakota State University, “children are developing stereotypes by age 2. By 3 or 4 they have a lot and begin to start expressing them.”[6] In Media and the Make-Believe Worlds of Boys and Girls, Maya Götz and Dafna Lemish note that girls generally pick and choose what media content to integrate into their imaginary worlds – an approach the authors summarize as “leave something out, take something in and dissociate from it.” Boys, on the other hand, tend to incorporate media content into their own imaginations wholesale, “taking it in, assimilating it, and then taking the story further.” According to Götz and Lemish, “boys… dream themselves into the position of their heroes and experience a story similar to the one in the original medium.”[7]

“Media reinforce the idea that masculine traits and behaviors are more valued than feminine traits and behaviors, and boys who consume these media messages are more likely to exhibit masculine behaviors and beliefs.”[8]

Children’s media habits have a clear effect on their views about gender. Kids who watch more TV are more likely to hold stereotyped views about gender.[9] Boys who feel strongly defined by male stereotypes are up to seven times more likely to have been more violent and six times more likely to have sexually harassed someone than those who don’t.[10] Boys are hurt by these stereotypes, as well, with those who subscribe to male stereotypes being twice as likely to have had suicidal thoughts,[11] half as likely to get preventative health care[12] and more likely to engage in binge drinking.[13] Similarly, a survey of over a thousand boys aged 10-19 found that a third felt society expected them to hide or suppress their feelings and almost half felt that society expected them to be aggressive or violent when angry.[14]

While media images of men are becoming somewhat more varied, research has found that violence – even if it’s now more often used to protect others, as with The Witcher and The Mandalorian – remains an essential part of how media defines masculinity.[15] The association between masculinity and violence is reflected in men’s behaviour, as well. Believing in narrow definitions of masculinity – what is sometimes called the ”Man Box” – is a predictor of whether or not a man will actually be violent towards others.[16]

Beyond the mass media, hate groups use networked media to reach vulnerable boys and men with messages that “cite real-world problems men are dealing with, such as workplace injuries, cancer, mental health and suicide” but, as anti-sexism educator Laura Bates puts it, reinforce “the stereotypes that are actually causing them … [and] double down on the idea that men have to be tough and manly, that they have to be strong, not vulnerable, that they shouldn't share emotions, that exerting power and control over women and over societies is what it means to be a real man."[17]

While many of the issues around gender representation are the same for girls and boys, the effects can be different. As writer and researcher Peggy Orenstein puts it, "the kind of core issue with girls was that they were being cut off from their bodies and not understanding their bodies' response and their needs and their limits and their desires. With boys, it felt like they were being cut off from their hearts."[18]

[1] Fyles N. (2018) What about the boys? Educating boys for gender justice. Brookings. https://www.brookings.edu/blog/education-plus-development/2018/06/01/what-about-the-boys-educating-boys-for-gender-justice/

[2] If He Can See It, Will He Be It? Representations of Masculinity in Boys' Television (Rep.). (2020). Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media.

[3] Meyer, M & Conroy M. (2022) #SeeItBeIt: What Children Are Seeing on TV. The Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media.

[4] If He Can See It, Will He Be It? Representations of Masculinity in Boys' Television (Rep.). (2020). Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media.

[5] Badger, E., et al. (2018) Extensive Data Shows Punishing Reach of Racism for Black Boys. The New York Times.

[6] Campbell, O. (2017) Why Gender Stereotypes in Kids’ shows are a REALLY big deal. Refinery29. Retrieved from https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/kids-shows-gender-roles-stereotypes

[7] Gotz, M., Lemish, D., Moon, H., & Aidman, A. (2014). Media and The Make-Believe Worlds of Children: When Harry Potter Meets Pokémon In Disneyland. Routledge.

[8] Common Sense Media (2017) Watching Gender: How stereotypes in Movies and on TV Impact Kids’ Development. Retrieved from https://www.commonsensemedia.org/research/watching-gender-how-stereotypes-in-movies-and-on-tv-impact-kids-development

[9] Ward, L. M., & Grower, P. (2020). Media and the development of gender role stereotypes. Annual Review of Developmental Psychology, 2, 177-199.

[10] Heilman, B., Guerrero-López, C. M., Ragonese, C., Kelberg, M., and Barker, G. (2019). The Cost of the Man Box: A study on the economic impacts of harmful masculine stereotypes in the US, UK, and Mexico - Executive Summary. Washington, DC, and London: Promundo-US and Unilever.

[11] Heilman, B., Guerrero-López, C. M., Ragonese, C., Kelberg, M., and Barker, G. (2019). The Cost of the Man Box: A study on the economic impacts of harmful masculine stereotypes in the US, UK, and Mexico - Executive Summary. Washington, DC, and London: Promundo-US and Unilever.

[12] Springer, Kristen W, and Dawne M Mouzon. “"Macho men" and preventive health care: implications for older men in different social classes.” Journal of health and social behavior vol. 52,2 (2011): 212-27. doi:10.1177/0022146510393972

[13] Flood, M. (2020). Unpacking the Man Box: What is the impact of the Man Box attitudes on young Australian men’s behaviours and well-being?.

[14] 10 Research-Based Insights to Evolve On-Screen Male Representation. (n.d.) Center for Scholars & Storytellers.

[15] Cuklanz, L., & Erol, A. (2021). The shifting image of hegemonic masculinity in contemporary television series. International Journal of Communication, 15, 18.

[16] The Men’s Project & Flood, M (2020), Unpacking the Man Box: What is the impact of the Man Box attitudes on young Australian men’s behaviours and wellbeing? Jesuit Social Services: Melbourne

[17] Kelsy-Sugg, A., & Zajac B. (2021) Misogynistic ‘radicalisation’ of boys online has these experts calling for change. Abc News. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-04-03/misogyny-anti-women-terrorism-extremist-groups-online/100031678

[18] Gross, Terry. “‘Boys & Sex’ Reveals That Young Men Feel ‘Cut Off From Their Hearts.’” NPR, January 7, 2020. Retrieved from < https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/01/07/794182826/boys-sex-reveals-that-young-men-feel-cut-off-from-their-hearts>