There is pressure for men and boys to measure up to media images, but, mostly, men face pressure to act in certain ways, rather than look a certain way. Physical ability is often used as a measure of manhood.
From films, sport and TV, men get the message that to be a real man, you must be the toughest. This stereotype can make it very hard for male victims of bullying or abuse to come forward. There is a fear of appearing weak.
Thousands of studies have looked at the negative impact of stereotyping women and minorities in
the media. There is very little research into the effect of media stereotypes on men and boys, perhaps because being portrayed as powerful and dominant has never been seen as negative. But in our culture, muscular build, physical aggression, competence at athletics and competitiveness are generally regarded as desirable for males, and this image is repeated in the media over and over again. Does this leave men with less freedom to be who they want to be?
Just because men don't suffer from anorexia as commonly as women doesn't mean that they don't suffer from low self-esteem. Men have higher suicide rates, drug dependency rates and criminal convictions than women.Does the media contribute to pressures on men, too?
One world, one image
Because so many people across the world are now receiving the same media images, our desire to imitate a few key media heroes is becoming a global phenomenon.
During the summer of 2002, Japan's mania for England football captain David Beckham saw Japanese men queuing up for the famous bleached mohican hairstyle.
"We call it 'the Beckham effect'. Every day, several men come to our salon asking for the Beckham style," said Daisuke Iida, a 25-year-old hairdresser at the YS Park hair salon in Tokyo's Roppongi district. "Roughly 30 per cent of all our male customers request Beckham's hairstyle," Iida said.
