Trad men: the portrayal of dads in ads is stuck in the 1960s

In 2021 some rather startling data appeared. Where we had all been looking at Gen Z as another progression on the increasingly progressive politics of younger generations, we’d been treating them as generations that had come before them. That is to say, we’d made the (up until that point) fair assumption that they had congruent beliefs between them. But, a global phenomenon became apparent: a yawning ideological gap was emerging between young men and women. Where women were becoming more progressive, the views of young men were becoming increasingly conservative, with archaic views on gender roles becoming commonplace.

It’s easy to lay the blame on a select few–Andrew Tate, Donald Trump, pickup artists and Red Pill culture. But these agents and trends–while they’ve all had their role to play in radicalizing swathes of young men–are a symptom of a wider shift in culture–or lack thereof, with little to no evolution in our depictions of masculinity to keep up with modern times.

The last 40 years of advertising have been a story of slowly unshackling women from doing the dishes and washing the clothes and slowly allowing them into the boardroom, out in public, and maybe even speaking (gosh!). The depiction of masculinity hasn’t had the same evolution.

Ipsos data estimates that women (still, despite the progress) spend 22% of their advertising time in the kitchen and 50%+ in the home. Over half the time they’re in ads as a wife or mother. But where are all the role models for masculinity as a caring role, where are we seeing men in media outside of the boardroom, outside of career and financial success? It’s the other side of the same coin, while we’re slowly evolving female depictions to extend beyond the caring home role, we aren’t yet doing the inverse for men.

This lack of visibility means there remain societal taboos around what are and aren’t ‘masculine’ activities. Stay-at-home fathers remain unusual, and ads that show a more emotional side to men are unheard of. For advertising, much of male depictions remain very 1960s: man as an earner, man as success, man as chiseled and charmed and draped in a woman.

The data reflects this, as shown by BBD’s New Macho report. Where the priorities of young men in their internal worlds are one of connection - having great relationships and having strong mental health - they see society as wanting them to have success, to have money, to have material things. There was a great quote from one of the people who worked on the report: “In the same way that women were objectified for their looks, men are still objectified for success.”

And it is making things worse–two in three millennial men say advertising makes them feel less successful. Those same young men who said they felt society was telling them masculinity was success and money said advertising told them the same thing.

The roles we give men are a mirror to young men of what it means to be masculine and what it means to be a successful man. And right now, we’re telling them that that comes down to riches and unemotionalness. I mean, Johnny Depp, as the face of Sauvage Dior, says it all.

That’s why the A$AP Rocky x Bottega Veneta work is so powerful.

It’s an expression of a new mode of masculinity, a show of strength in vulnerability, an act of culture in caring. And its potential impact is radical: to give young men aspirational figures who are progressing what being masculine is.

So what can brands do?

The simple and quick solution is to use brand campaigns to expand how masculinity is depicted. To have an overarching view on gender depictions across males and females, and look at who gets to speak, who gets to care, who gets to be successful, and make it equal. And that alone should have impact, especially combined with measurement to benchmark and track representation.

The bigger thing would be to collaborate with voices who hold sway over young men, and work with them to show other sides to their masculinity. Look at Naomi Osaka and her post-birth collaboration with Bobbies. Look at Serena Williams’ This Mama campaign with Chase. Becoming a ‘mother’ is a moment in lives that brands speak to all the time. The challenges, the life-definingness of it. Where are the same moments in fatherhood that are given the same weight and importance? Where are the places for men to express their domestic life beyond financial success.

But the harder role is making it aspirational. It’s all too easy to look at this as “purpose”, creating something tonally moral, or overly caring. But to spark action you can’t preach. It needs to be approached with edge and aesthetic. To use the language, the platforms and the style that will resonate.

It’s not easy, but and all our futures - men and women - will be better for it.