Masculinity in flux: why rushing the conversation is not the answer
People are rushing to show their 'insights' on the hot topic of masculinity, but The Mix Global is looking for brands who want to take a more measured approach
Masculinity is under the microscope. Everyone is rushing to provide their take, to show they’ve got insight, to show that everyone else has missed something, that they’ve got the answers to dissolve “toxic masculinity”.
It makes sense. The subject is hard to avoid at the moment, and rife with different ways of understanding it. Donald Trump’s first presidency ushered in many debates about what it was to be a male in the modern world, and as he fights for a second term against a woman, Kamala Harris, the discussions have taken on new veracity.
At the same, data shows a growing divide between the genders in Gen Z. According to Gallup data, US women aged 18 to 29 are 30 percentage points more liberal than men of the same age. The Financial Times notes that this pattern is playing out similarly across the world, from Poland to South Korea, and is distinctly more pronounced than in other generations. The rise of Andrew Tate serves as evidence of the tensions bubbling in society.
Even governments are weighing in on what it means to “be a man” in the modern world: in 2021 China’s Education Ministry published plans aimed at tackling the nation’s “masculinity crisis”. While in the UK, misogyny has finally become an official hate crime.
While brands have largely shied away since the storm of controversy around Gillette’s 2019 The Best Men Can Be campaign – which faced severe backlash from some quarters and high praise from others – in the last six months it seems that everyone and their gran are tackling their subject.
At The Mix Global, of course we want to take on a such an important subject.
But we’ve decided to wait.
We don’t want to be just another voice. We want to get under its skin, to explore it in a myriad of ways.
Today’s world lets everyone push out thoughts, opinions, content as soon as an its clear a subject has hit the zeitgeist. For us, slower is more meaningful.
Over the course of the next 6 months, we will be researching and monitoring developments. What happen in the US election will have a profound effect on the subject, but the outcome isn’t know yet.
We know masculinity is being discussed and analysed around the world, but country specific context is important. We want to understand that.
During this time, we are looking for brands who are as an interested and passionate about the subject as we are to partner with us on our work.
If that sounds like you, get in touch