What’s it like to be a man in 2018? A Chatelaine survey

By Chatelaine

What does it mean to be a “real” man? According to an exclusive Chatelaine survey of 1,000 Canadian men ages 25 to 65, 57 percent grew up thinking that it meant to be physically tough. Only one third were encouraged by both parents to talk about their fears and emotions. And while 79 percent think men and women should have equal rights and opportunities, only 18 percent describe themselves as feminists.

(Check out the full survey results on Chatelaine.com.)

The survey, conducted in partnership with Abacus data, explores the state of masculinity in the age of #MeToo. “In the past several months, women have come forward to talk about sexual harassment and abuse in unprecedented numbers — and for the first time in history, they’re being taken seriously, and powerful men are facing real consequences,” says Editor-in-Chief Lianne George. “It’s an emotional, complex moment. Men need to be part of the solution, but many aren’t sure how to do that. Others feel entirely alienated by #MeToo. With this project, we’re hoping to provide the basis for a larger conversation about how gender stereotyping shapes the experiences of men and women.”

As part of the project, Chatelaine also invited dozens of men — including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau; Masai Ujiri, the head of the Toronto Raptors; a healthy masculinity expert; a talk radio host; and Justin Baldoni, star of the hit series Jane the Virgin and host of the web series Man Enough — to talk about work, harassment, fatherhood, body image and whether mansplaining is actually a thing.

Also among the survey’s key findings:

  • A third of men report often feeling lonely. That number shot up among those ages 25-29 to 45%.
  • A quarter of men feel comfortable talking about emotions with male friends. 42% say they’re not especially or not at all comfortable.
  • Half of men said that, aside from sex-ed class, the majority of their sexual education came from their friends. Men under 30 are far more likely to say their sexual education came from porn (43%).
  • Three quarters of men said that parenthood has had no negative impact on their career.
  • When women talk about the pervasiveness of sexual harassment, 25% of respondents said they feel “nothing.” Others felt a combination of sad (42%), angry (32%), bored (12%), persecuted (9%), and guilty (5%).

Read more about the survey and why it’s so important to talk about masculinity right now.

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