Lifestyle

Queensland, Rigid norms of manhood, based in manly confidence and toughness, emotional stoicism, disdain for femininity, and dog-eat-dog banter, are influential among boys and young men in Australia.

Between one quarter and one half of boys and young men endorse these norms. Over half feel pressure from others to live up to them, believing most people expect them always to be confident, strong and tough.

These are some of the findings from a new Australian survey of adolescents aged 14-18 years, conducted by The Men’s Project at Jesuit Social Services.

In a climate of heightened concern about boys and young men and so-called “toxic masculinity”, this study provides invaluable data on boys’ and young men’s own views. This includes the pressures they feel to live up to stereotypical masculine norms and the profound impact of those beliefs.

There are six key findings from this research.

1. Pressure to be manly remains strong

The pressure on males to be “manly” remains strong in Australian society, even in adolescence. Societal pressures on teenage boys to be “a real man” were equally observed by both boys and girls: between 60 per cent and 63 per cent of boys and girls believe most people expect teenage boys to be manly, confident, and strong at all times.

2. Most boys are open-minded about what it means to be a man

Despite this, most boys and young men themselves do not subscribe to stereotypical masculine norms. Like young adult men aged 18-30, most boys endorse more open-ended, inclusive models of manhood. Of the 27 “adolescent man box” rules – the rigid ideas of manliness – there was majority endorsement among boys for only three of them.

These findings should steer us away from two extremes in views of boys and young men. In one, all boys are painted as the flag-bearers for a rigid, sexist masculinity. In the other, the harms some boys and young men perpetrate against others are described as the problem of only a very small number of mad, bad males.

Neither is true.

In contradiction to the first, boys’ support for rigid masculine norms is weaker and more uneven. In contradiction to the second, between one in five and one in ten boys personally endorse attitudes that condone or support violence and control in sex and relationships. In addition, one in five boys reported engaging in some form of bullying, physical violence or sexual harassment in the previous month.

3. Boys are more likely than girls to believe in masculine norms

There is a large gender gap in adolescents’ support for stereotypical norms of manhood. Although boys and girls agree on the extent of societal pressure, boys are far more likely than girls to endorse these norms.

For example, the seven adolescent man box statements reflecting a constant effort to be manly receive support from 25 per cent to 44 per cent of boys, while the seven statements reflecting emotional restriction receive support from 7 per cent to 34 per cent of boys.

Far smaller proportions of girls endorse these statements: 8 per cent to 15 per cent for constant efforts to act manly, and 2 per cent to 14 per cent for emotional restriction.

What impact will this gender gap have on young people’s relationships and friendships, when twice as many boys as girls feel that boys have to act manly, confident, and strong, avoid activities usually done by girls, and hide their feelings and fears?

4. More boys think boys have it harder than girls

While adolescents in general support gender equality, there is also ambivalence and backlash, particularly among boys. Nearly all adolescents agree it is “important for teenage boys to treat girls and women as equals in all areas of life”. However, 42 per cent of boys also agree that “in Australia today, boys have it harder than girls”.

This simultaneous support for gender equality as a general ideal while agreeing that men or boys are now disadvantaged relative to women or girls is visible in other Australian data too. It can be found, for example, in surveys conducted in 2018, 2020, 2021, and 2025.

Young men’s views of boys as disadvantaged may reflect recognition of genuine forms of male disadvantage such as in schooling outcomes, defensive backlash to shifts in gender relations, or the influence of the “manosphere”, the online network of anti-feminist groups.

5. Parents’ and peers’ views have a large effect

Parents and peers play influential roles in shaping boys’ and young men’s attitudes towards masculinity. Although this comes from males’ own reports, other data corroborate this, finding for example that fathers’ adherence to traditional masculine ideology is correlated with their sons’ adherence.

6. The stronger the masculine norms, the more harmful

Boys’ and young men’s endorsement of rigid masculine norms feeds into harm to boys and young men, and to the people around them. The more strongly adolescent boys hold rigid views about masculinity, the less likely they are to seek help for a personal problem or to report that anyone knows them well.

For example, under one quarter of boys with the highest levels of support for the “man box” agreed that no one really knows them well, compared to 46 per cent of boys with the lowest levels of support.

The stronger their personal endorsement of masculine norms, the more likely they are to blame victims of domestic violence, consume violent pornography, and cause harm to others.

For example, 39 per cent of boys with the highest level of support for the man box had used bullying, physical violence or sexual harassment in the past month, more than five times as many as the 7 per cent of boys with the lowest level of support.

Although a range of valuable initiatives engaging boys and young men have sprung up around Australia, we are not doing anywhere near enough to shift entrenched masculine cultures of sexism and stoicism.

We must build gender-equitable approaches to masculinity into school curriculums, parenting programmes, and initiatives in sports, workplaces and online media.

We must craft messages that encourage boys and men to resist harmful masculine norms. And we need to build on the positive, such as boys’ already substantial rejection of rigid norms of manhood. This will strengthen the protective factors that feed into healthier, more equitable ways of being.

We must balance attention to pain and privilege, addressing both how boys and young men suffer harm and how some do harm – to women and girls, gender-diverse people, and each other. Sexism is baked into the “man box”, particularly in the disdain and hostility for girls and femininity. It must be confronted head-on.

Above all, we must take the work to scale, moving from a handful of programmes among boys in schools to systematic efforts across settings and communities. GRS GRS

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