THEn means of dozens of boys who perform in a Capitol Hill park, Marcus Jernigan sthe recognizes from the writing on the white shirt: “Girl Power”. Wear elephant jeans, boots, a tote bag, and moves with a portable turntable. He is 24 years old, he is a musician of the band Good enough And it is also the most prepared of the contest. That’s why he won the Bad performing Contest, Seattle competition that encourages men to drive away the toxic masculinity To become more attractive in the eyes of Progressive girls.
That interpretation earned him the First prize: a pearl necklace, a Labubu doll and a copy of The Will To Change of Bell Hooks (The will to changein Italy published by Il Saggiatore).
To win he had to prove he was the most boyfriend performative: «A sweet man, who wears feminism And listen to a certain music »to use the words of Lanna Rain, one of the organizers of the competition. «A friend of mine sent me the flyer telling me that I would probably have won, I thought it would be a fun experience “ Jernigan says to Io Donna. Then he tells the race: «I competitors they were presented to the public and if they were appreciated the crowd applauded.
After a first direct elimination tour, there was one series of questions who ranged from what was one menstrual cup until the year when women have obtained the right to vote. In the final we arrived in two. I had to conquer listeners With a speech ». We ask him who his is male model. He replies without hesitation: «My father. Without him I would not be what they are And I wouldn’t be where I’m in life ».
Larghi and real men
Competitions similar to that of Seattle were also held in New York, Sydney, Melbourne, Julian. On Tiktok the hashtags #performativemale collect millions of views And they describe a reality at the antipodes of the #tradwife, the girls who want to be Traditional wives. In the videos you can see boys with wide pants, headphones with wire, tote bags, vinyl discs, feminist readings. Michael Andor Brodeur writes in a comment on Washington Post which, however, behind these very young people collectors of feminist accessories they could sometimes hide too deceptive guys.
Building a “male new” is an ambitious goal (Getty Images).
Certainly these males detach themselves from the “manosphere”, the heterogeneous movement that claims rights of men Following Andrew Tate’s thought. The former Kickboxer champion, over 10 million followers on X, offending the United Kingdom with 10 charges, dispenses advice to become “A true man”. He defines himself as “absolutely misogynist”, “sexist” and considers that women “must take their responsibilities” after a sexual aggression. Think that feminism has discriminated against males.
Between these two opposite representations, we wondered how the Italian guys. Research on the new masculinity models created by Ipsos for the Corriere della Sera and the Interuniversity Research Center “Gender cultures”, reveals how they are changes the imaginary of the new generation.
The study interviewed 800 young people aged 16 to 24. Almost half of the Italian boys still find the expression “real men” while 63 percent of the girls is overcome for 63 percent. «True man is one of those Terms of catchphrases But they do not have a defined semantics. Many people in using this word do not know What does it really want to say. He becomes a kind of word refuge, “says sociolinguista Vera Gheno.
In our country stands a large gap between how the boys are heard And how they are seen by the girls. One of the questions of the research-the first that brings together all the universities of Milan and which will be presented on September 12 at the time of women 2025, the feast-Festival of Corriere della Sera – asked the males to imagine What characteristics should a man have.
The females were then asked how much actually see Those elements in the boys. 49 percent of males declare to knowing how to listen and understand, But only the 8 of the females confirms that he noticed this quality in the other sex. Another asymmetry: 43 percent of the boys say about take care of othersonly the 8th of the girls agree.
New pressures and fragility of young males
Males want to be self -confident, ambitious and assertive. More than females enhance sport and technology. Many of them consider important express their emotions: «We have new ones males characteristics we should talk about, including their fragility.
There is all one relational affective plot Like empathy, the ability to Knowing how to face feelings and the ability to manage conflicts in a peaceful way they bode well »says Matteo Lancini, psychologist, psychotherapist and president of the MINOTAURO Foundation.
According to Lancini, whose most recent book Call me adult (Raffaello Cortina Editore) it is precisely the relationships of teenagers, there are many signs of the male fragility. He explains: «How the eating disorder reported that the girls were below new pressures, Even males are now under new pressures and find themselves building an identity according to the social and cultural expectations. It does not depend only on the fact that the women have emancipated And men struggle to tolerate him, depends on what it means today build a youth identity.
The “male crisis” leads men to have to question what it really means to be a man and go beyond the conception of the “real man” (Getty images).
Males cannot use old models that do not work, But they must still have happenedbe popular and assert themselves. The complex society asks for one reorganization deep of the meaning of the male figure. The most impactful phenomenon of recent years is the social retreat of the boys ». THE’ voluntary insulation and prolonged at home is growing among teenagers: in 2023 54 thousand counted, reported a study by the CNR clinical physiology institute.
Real gheno is not surprising that we speak so much about the “Male crisis”. He underlines: «For the first time the male comes urged by society and female emancipation, To question what it means to be a member of the male gender. To be caged in this niche of the true man, what does not cry and must always be strongit is a rip -off because it means having few and restricted masculinity models available ».
Dad is the ideal reference
The models to which the boys are often inspired are in the family. 41 percent of the Ipsos sample see in grandfather his reference ideal male. The father is instead the model for almost 60 percent of males, the percentage drops to 42 for females. The sociologist Chiara Saraceno distances himself from the idea that The boys are now more fragile: «Even the famous hard men of the past were then unable to create relationships, so they were fragile. Not surprisingly, when the saying was ended: “The woman is sick, the man dies”. Man is unable to face because he has not been trained to the care of emotions».
The sociologist believes that i young people are more uncertain. They no longer have as the only strong model that of dominant male. Specifies: «For them it was a loss, in return it is not clear what the gain was, so they can live a certain nostalgiamaybe they feel out of place because they consider that what has arrived is alone a weakening And not a new form of realization ».
For Lancini it is complex to define who are the Adults-Adults of reference: “We will have an increasingly fluid definition of these figures”.
The time of women
The research on new masculinity models, edited by Eva Sacchi and created by Ipsos for Corriere della Sera and the Interuniversity Study Center “Gender cultures ”, will be presented on September 12th at 10 am at the time of women, the Feast-Festival of the Corriere della Sera which takes place from 12 to 14 September in Triennale milan. The key word of the new edition, the twelfth, is all at the plural: Powers. Money. Love. Over 100 free meetings in which we talk about relationships, work, rights, technologies. Info and registration: https://eventi.corriere.it/tempo-delle-donne/