Calls for 'masculinity reset' as men 'portrayed as either frightening or pathetic' on our screens

Instead, men are portrayed as either hapless and useless such as Daddy Pig in Peppa Pig, Homer Simpson and Peter Griffin in Family Guy, or as monstrous characters like Paul Spector, the serial killer in The Fall.

The poll of more than 2,000 people was part of the "Lost Boys" study by Centre for Social Justice (CSJ).

The think-tank's study called for a "masculinity reset" to ensure both male and female qualities are treated positively by the mass media.

A previous study by CSJ published in March 2025 found the number of men between the ages of 16 and 24 not in education, employment of training soared by 40 per cent since the pandemic.

In comparison, the figure for women was just seven per cent.

The organisation argued a generation of young men are being left behind in education as new social attitudes leave them feeling isolated.

Television series Adolescence became the centre of media attention earlier this year for its portrayal of a 13-year-old boy falling into the world of online misogyny and going on to murder a girl.

Some 57 per cent of those questioned in the poll said they believed the media portrayed men at extremes as either pathetic or excessively masculine.

Only one quarter of people disagreed.

Similarly, 57 per cent agreed that male role models in today's popular culture are less masculine than those in the past.

A further two thirds (67 per cent) said there was a lack of suitable role models for boys in the media.

When asked which qualities should be shown in male characters on film and TV, 57 per cent said they would like to see "honesty, respect and family values".

No other qualities were named at such a high rate.

Former Culture Secretary and current chairwoman of the Advertising Standards Authority Baroness Nicky Morgan said: "If people only ever hear about misogyny, sexual assaults and violence towards women, no doubt it's going to affect how boys are seen.

"How people are portrayed in the media undoubtedly shapes society's view of them."

Model and creative director David Gandy said: "I noticed when my daughter started watching Peppa Pig how the father is treated as a bungling fool who gets it wrong, while the mum gets everything right.

"I like to empower my girls and to teach them about powerful women and what they have achieved, but men are just as important and we have to shout about what's being achieved by them, too."

Neil Brand, a playwright, film score composer and film critic said: "There is a sense that men and boys are growing up with a society that is disempowering them.

"I think cinema has led this charge, even if it's only reflecting what society is doing.

"Feminism and the #MeToo [movement] of the past 20 or 30 years has been incredibly important and necessary.

"What it has meant is that the less able and less socially responsible writers and filmmakers have gone for the obvious story, if you're talking about women being empowered, which is that the men then have to lose that power and that the balance can't be struck between the two.

"Somehow or other, it requires s****y men for women to be shown achieving what it is they should be achieving."