Most men don't live at the extremes, so why does every headline pretend they do?

Every few weeks another headline, ad campaign, or political flashpoint asks us to pick a side on masculinity: toxic or fluid, fragile or bulletproof. We've just published a report that explains how thinking of men in this way is, well, nonsense, and that the gap between them is exactly where most men actually live.

The reality of masculinity is richer and more contradictory than the public conversation tends to allow. The extremes get the airtime; the myriads of masculinity don't.

That's not an accident. For years, media, advertising and politics have found it easier to sell the extremes than describe the middle, and lately, those extremes have curdled into something more harmful than lazy. Into the gap has stepped a new wave of creators and podcasters, claiming the territory mainstream brands vacated. They were able to because it's the only place claiming to speak to men as they actually are, rather than as brands and media want them to be. Say what you like about the podcast bro scene, but it built an audience mainstream media walked away from.

Masculinity isn't in crisis, it's in transition. The blueprint's gone, and men are building something in its place. Jon Suarez, Head of Behaviour and Culture at Truth Consulting, has mapped eight distinct, overlapping expressions of masculinity, the real, lived territory in between the extremes, where actual men recognise themselves.

So what does a well-rounded, honest picture of masculinity actually look like, and where's the opportunity for brands in it? That's what our new report, Masculinity: Expressions Beyond the Extremes, sets out to answer.

Read the full report here: https://www.linkedin.com/smart-links/AQFBsjQPfdAzOw