7/19/13
Men’s roles in the home are changing, and with them their beliefs about what it means to be a man, according to a study of U.S. and U.K. men by JWT Intelligence. Three-quarters of men agree with the statement that “men and women don’t have to conform to traditional roles and behavior anymore.” More than six in 10 men (61%) and 72% of millennial men feel that traditional gender roles and play patterns for children aren’t important. Nearly eight in 10 women (79%) agree.
More than three-quarters of men (76%) believe there is increasing pressure on them to dress well and be well-groomed; 73% think there’s as much pressure on them as there is on women. Almost eight in 10 (78%) believe there’s equal pressure on men and women to stay in shape/have a good body.
The majority of men consider it acceptable for men to use skincare products such as moisturizer, though attitudes about men’s adoption of various grooming behaviors vary by age. Millennial men are in general more likely to be accepting of men adopting traditionally female grooming practices and fashions. Gen Xers are most accepting of men wearing “feminine” colors such as pink, however (44% of Gen Xers consider this acceptable, compared with 39% of millennials and 26% of boomers). Annual sales of men’s toiletries in the U.S. are expected to reach $3.2 billion by 2016, up $1 billion from 2006, according to Mintel data cited. Men account for 30% of spa visits, according to SpaFinder data cited.
Men in the U.S. and U.K. consider manliness to be about manners, values, and keeping one’s word, rather than income, physical strength, or power in the workplace. Even though millennials are at the forefront of the shift toward a more balanced idea of masculinity, they’re also the most likely to express nostalgia for the masculine ideals of previous eras. Almost two-thirds of millennials (65%) and 58% of men overall say men seem less masculine now than they did in the past. Almost six in 10 millennials (58%) and 51% of men overall say their idea of what it means to be a man is no longer widely accepted in society. More than half of millennials (53%) and 38% of men overall feel that there aren’t many opportunities to do “guy stuff” these days.
Although men with children do more than twice as much housework now as they did in 1965, according to Pew Research Center data cited, there are significant gaps between how much work men say they do around the house and how much work women say men do. For example, about half of married/partnered men say they’re the ones who do the lion’s share of grocery shopping and cooking, but fewer than one in 10 women say their partners do most of these tasks.
There is a similar gap between men and women’s perceptions of men’s parenting skills and participation. Almost nine in 10 men (87%) rate themselves an A or B in handling child care responsibilities, while 72% of women rate their partners that highly. Women are more likely to give their partners’ parenting skills an A than men are to grade themselves that highly, however (31% of women vs. 23% of men). More than eight in 10 men (82%) believe that men face the same tough decisions about balancing career and family that women do; 63% of women agree. Two-thirds of men say they would choose to stay home with their children full-time if they could afford to do so. More than seven in 10 millennial men (72%) would take three months’ paid paternity leave if their employers offered it.
SOURCE: “The State of Men,” June 2013, JWT Intelligence, Ann Mack, Director of Trendspotting, 466 Lexington Ave., New York, NY 10017; 212-210-7378; ann.mack@jwt.com; www.jwtintelligence.com. Price: Available online at no charge.
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