How to define the man of the 21st century? Are we witnessing a “decline of the male empire”? To “a crisis of masculinity”, as some argue? Or rather at the end of a single model?
It is difficult to measure the phenomenon as the findings are changing and contradictory. A certain disinvestment of boys in school does not mean that their professional careers are penalized. The spectacular commitment of some “new fathers” does not always augur a decrease in the mental load of mothers or a transformation of relationships in the couple. The adhesion of a part of the new generations of men to the equality of sex does not prevent the appearance of certain groups which work to build their identity on a “hegemonic virility”, even on the detestation of the feminine …
A scramble appeared. The representations of the masculine are no longer clear; they can also vary greatly depending on the social environment and the different cultures.
One thing is certain, however: the emancipation of women has reshuffled the cards, putting in competition roles and status. Their rise in power in the world of work and in public life, the sharing of parental authority have dealt a blow and upset societies that, for millennia, operated in the patriarchal model.
For some time moreover, with the entry into the #MeeToo era, it is the phallocentric order that is this time — definitely? — rejected.
These evolutions engender a reconfiguration of masculine roles, not without questions and tensions. A paradoxical injunction is emerging for many men: how to combine their share of masculinity with gender equality?
In the post-industrial era, identities have become multiple. Everyone can tinker with them. Just like female models, male models have multiplied, and that may be the good news!
