How Media Is Failing Young Men

Are young men … OK? That’s a question that seems to be on many a mind these days as conversations about gender, sexuality, and what it means to be a “man” reach a fever pitch in the media and beyond. A large part of that discourse revolves around an apparent dearth of relatable, inspiring, and adequate male role models (fictional and otherwise) for young men to aspire to. But what even is an adequate male role model? According to the National Research Group—an international strategy firm that conducts studies relating to the entertainment and technology industries—we’re facing a “masculinity crisis” in which “today’s boys and young men are being fed contradictory cultural signals about masculinity.” NRG raises and explores this cultural siren in a recent study titled “Hero Complex,” for which the organization polled 1,250 young men, ages 8 to 30, on where they look for male role models and how they feel about what they find there. One finding? Only 52 percent of the young men polled claimed to have real people in their lives to act as their role models, while 26 percent said they found role models in fictional characters, and 21 percent in public figures and celebrities. This is just one sign that media plays a massive role in the coming-of-age of young men—an insight that 84 percent of parents polled agreed with.