Action Steps for Content Creators

We all have a role to play in creating a gender equal, nonviolent future, and we know the media plays a huge role in young people's perceptions of themselves. We need content creators to join us in challenging stereotypes by portraying vulnerability, connection, and respectful relationships, on screen and on social media.

Boys receive—and absorb—harmful stereotypical messages about what it takes to "be a man" from an early age. 72% of young men in the US say they’ve been told that a real man behaves a "certain way"—they are self-sufficient, tough, stoic, attractive without effort, a risk-taker, and straight. If boys embrace these ideas, it can have long- term impacts: they may be less likely to have close, emotionally connected relationships; and more likely to have poorer mental health and to use violence later in life.