17 Examples Of How Men Are Problematically Portrayed By The Media
On Friday, Reddit user u/RowBowBooty asked men, "What bothers you about the way men are portrayed in the media?" Guys came through with some pretty accurate examples of how men are problematically portrayed in media.
Here's what people said:
1."In advertising, men are incompetent, idiots, or silly. Mom always saves the day."
2."Maybe it’s only in older TV shows and movies, but men portrayed as completely useless when it comes to raising children or doing jobs around the house bothers me. Or even worse, men simply not looking after their children, especially babies."
3."Male TV characters always lack body hair."
NBC
4."The way a man getting hit by a woman is played for laughs."
5."I hate how in sitcoms all the husbands are always idiots that barely manage to do even basic things without messing up and need their loving wife to be the only intelligent one."
AMC+
6."That they can only cry in an overly dramatic way or if someone dies. No, I'm sad. I'm going to cry. No one needs to die. Sometimes it can just be a real shitty day."
7."The way men (straight men, anyway) are depicted as being completely clueless about things like women’s clothing and beauty, no matter how long they might have been married or involved with more than one woman in their lives. This is just so the women can make them look like dolts, explaining these things in a way that if men were shown treating women the same way, it would be called out as sexist mansplaining."
ABC
8."It makes me sick when in shows or movies, a man can’t be at the playground or in public with his kid or a friend's kid without someone being suspicious of his intentions."
9."Most shows involving male teenagers have adults acting as teens with fucking bodies the size of Greek gods."
CW
10."If a man is going to be lovable, he also needs to be childish and incompetent and non-threatening. The competent men need to be damaged somehow — addicted to something, psychologically tortured, or just plain assholes."
11."I am not an idiot. I am not a fool. I am not useless. I am not ignorant. I am not incompetent. I am not sexist, racist, or homophobic."
12."The media makes it seem like men are way more secure than they are."
13."We're not sex-hungry maniacs. I'm not horny all the time — I just wanna play my PS5."
NBC
14."Half the time, especially in romances, men exhibit behavior that would result in restraining orders, or a few nights in jail, but are shown to be the romantic hero."
15."I hate the trope that it's always men who fail women, who are perfect. It’s always the woman who’s in the right, no matter what. It would be nice to see the woman mess up and have to make things up to the man more often."
16."I hate how men are always the ones who cheat on the girls or are 'players.' That’s not all of us, you know. Girls do it too — it goes both ways."
17."Too much macho beefcake or loner introvert. I think those are the big two archetypes. In contrast, there are some interesting guys with quirks, emotional intelligence, and redeeming qualities, but some faults also. Interesting and unique — I like that as a gender portrayal for guys. Give us a combination of traits we haven’t seen before."
Did they miss anything? What bothers YOU about how men are portrayed in the media? Let me know in the comments below!
Note: Responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.
