Baumgarten 1

Maggie Baumgarten

Mrs. McKay

AP/IB Language and Composition

12/7/2021

The Media and Masculinity

The 21st century has widely been considered the digital age due to the mass proliferation

of media and entertainment. With the inventions of social media, streaming services, and

smartphones, media and entertainment have become instantly accessible from the tip of the

fingertips. As such, contemporary media and the stereotypes the media depicts have become

deeply ingrained into society and culture. Some of these stereotypes include stereotypes about

men and masculinity, which affects the way society views men. The media has a large impact on

our society’s view of men’s behavior and attitudes because it instills stereotypes about how they

look, how they behave, and what their personalities and attitudes should be.

The media today dictates the way society decides how men should look, and what men

should do to achieve that image. The idea of a ‘manly’ looking man has been influenced by

actors in television series and movies, video games, and especially social media, and the form it

takes today is well established in society. American society, through the media, says that a manly

man should be tough, muscular, tall, and should not show their emotions on their faces. The

epitome of masculinity according to American society is an actor like Chris Hemsworth or Chris

Evans, who both are tall, extraordinarily muscular, ‘tough’, and stoic. These classic ‘manly’ men

have inspired many to take up hard workout regimes, imitate their ‘manly’ fashion sense, and use

the same hygiene products so that they may appear more ‘manly’. An example of this was when

Chris Hemsworth launched his workout app Centr, which focuses on a muscle building workout
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regime and eating plan. This app has had a lot of success among men because of the publicity the

media has given it. These toxic ideas create an image that ordinary men cannot live up to, such as

Chris Hemsworth’s physique, and can cause negative body images among men. Thus, the

extended exposure the media gives on how men should look has generated how the ideal man’s

image in society.

The media has dictated how men should look since mass media has become widespread.

In 1955, the Phillip Morris Company (the producer of Marlboro cigarettes) decided to use

advertising media in the form of a photo to bring in more male customers. The company bought

a photo of Clarence Hailey Long, who became the first Marlboro Man. This Marlboro Man

portrays a rugged rancher who is staring into the distance beyond the viewer (Marlboro Man,

Leonard McCombe). The man is smoking a Marlboro cigarette, and gives the viewer the notion

that any man who wants to be ‘ideal’ should look exactly like the man in the image. After this

image was used to appeal to consumers, sales soared from 5 to 20 billion dollars because so

many men wanted to be like the Marlboro man. This peak in sales proves that the media has a

huge impact on how society views how men should look.

In American society, men are also expected to work out, conceal emotion when around

others, and not display creativity. The media has greatly influenced society’s take on male

behavior because of the portrayal of male protagonists and leaders and how male behavior

contributes to success in life. Paul Theroux, an advocate of masculinity reform, in his article

“Being a Man” says, “At an age when I wanted to meet girls—let's say the treacherous years of

thirteen to sixteen—I was told to take up a sport, get more fresh air, join the Boy Scouts, and I

was urged not to read so much.” In other words, men are encouraged by society and the media to

embody the male behavior stereotype, instead of expressing their individual interests. Men that
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embody ‘feminine’ behavior in society, such as writing or music, are often looked down on

because they don’t follow stereotypically masculine behavior. Theroux also says, “But indeed all

the creative arts are obnoxious to the manly ideal, because at their best the arts are pursued by

uncompetitive and essentially solitary people.” The media promotes the idea that creative arts are

more feminine and have lower status for men in movies such as High School Musical. In this

film, the main protagonist has to be a basketball player to accommodate for the fact that he also

chooses to be in the musical. Even so, he is still mocked of for trying out for the musical. This is

just one example of how the media dictates what is or isn’t acceptable in a man.

In most portrayals of men in the media, there is the expectation that men should be

strong, confident, self-reliant, great leaders, and ‘heroic’. In books and movies such as Harry

Potter, The Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, and Indiana Jones, the expectation is set that men

should be self-sacrificing for the ‘greater good’ and should be confident in achieving their goals.

Young boys in America grow up learning about heroes such as Luke Skywalker, Harry Potter,

and strive to emulate their characteristics and attributes. However, as part of the media

expectation set that men should be strong and confident comes the reality that most men suffer

pain alone. Just like the men in these movies suffer their pain stoically, men in society do the

same. Roberto A. Ferdman has studied men and their unwillingness to see doctors. In Ferdman’s

article, “The Perils of Being Manly '', Ferdman says, “Men are less likely to seek preventive care

than women and more likely to put off seeing a doctor when in need of medical care. They also

prefer to seek out male doctors but they tend to underreport pain and injuries to male doctors,

thereby compromising the chances of receiving optimal care.” In other words, the men that

conform to the male stereotypes of being ‘tough’ are less likely to receive the care they need

when injured. According to the article, “Working Men’s Constructions of Visiting the Doctor '',
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by James R. Mahalik, male avoidance of doctor care due to the desire to be self-reliant

contributes to men dying at higher rates than women. The male desire to be self-reliant and

always be seen as healthy and strong comes directly from mass media’s portrayal of how men

should be.

Some people may say that the media does not have a large impact on society’s view of

male behavior and attitudes. They argue that male stereotypes existed before the invention of

mass media, and that the media only reflects what already existed. While it is true that gender

roles existed before the production of mass media, the mass media has transformed what is

expected of men in their actions and attitudes. Before the mass media, in the 19th century,

wealthy men were expected to own a lot of property, be a ‘gentleman’, and be educated. Poor

men were expected to completely provide for their families and work hard at the field. Since

then, the mass media has promoted the societal ideals of how men should look, act, and how

their personalities should be, which did not occur in the 19th century.

The advent of the mass media has had a major impact on society’s views on masculinity.

To begin, the stereotypes present within the media have caused men to strive to achieve the

unattainable male image the media portrays. Additionally, media stereotypes have caused men to

work out, conceal emotion around others and not express creative interest. Finally, the media’s

representation of self-reliant, heroic men have made it socially unacceptable for men to even

visit doctors. Thus, the mass media have had a huge impact on America’s view on male behavior

and perception.
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Works Cited

"Build Muscle like Chris Hemsworth with Centr Power." Centr, Loup., centr.com/

article/show/11280/build-muscle-like-chris-hemsworth-with-centr-power-p. Accessed 7

Dec. 2021.

Ferdman, Roberto A. "The Perils of Being Manly." The Washington Post, Washington Post, 28

Mar. 2016, www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/03/28/what-happens-when-a-

manly-man-has-to-go-to-the-doctor/. Accessed 7 Dec. 2021.

Mahalik, James R. "Working Men's Constructions of Visiting the Doctor." U.S National Library

of Medicine, National Center for Biotechnology Information, U.S. National Library of

Medicine, 23 May 2018, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6142142/. Accessed 7

Dec. 2021.

McCombe, Leonard. Marlboro Man. 1949. Print.

Theroux, Paul. "Being a Man." The Language Composition. 3rd ed. Shea, Renée H. et al. New

York: Bedford/ St. Martin's, 2018. 952-954. Print.