Media and Modern Manhood: Testing Associations Between Media Consumption and Young Men’s Acceptance of Traditional Gender Ideologies

Abstract

Content analyses of popular media have consistently documented the narrow and stereotypical ways in which women and men are frequently depicted. Despite growing evidence that these media images impact viewers’ attitudes towards women and gender relations, less is known about how specifically media impact men’s beliefs about masculinity. Thus, the purpose of our paper was to explore the association between media use and beliefs about manhood among a sample of undergraduate men from a U.S. Midwestern university. In Study 1 (N = 488), we examine the relation between young men’s media consumption and their beliefs about the male role using the Adolescent Masculinity in Relationships Scale (AMIRS; Chu et al. 2005). As hypothesized, men’s media use was associated with more traditional beliefs about the male role, with reality TV and movie viewing emerging as significant predictors. Study 2 (N = 449) addresses the contribution of male-oriented media (e.g., sports programming, video games, men’s magazines) to men’s personal adherence to masculinity ideology as measured by the Conformity to Masculine Norm Inventory-46 (Parent and Moradi 2009). Here, sports TV viewing, reality TV viewing, and reading men’s magazines were predictive of stronger adherence to masculinity ideology. These findings suggest that media may contribute not only to beliefs about women and gender relations, but also to young men’s beliefs about manhood and personal enactment of masculinity.