Masculinity and gender roles undergoing change by dw.com
Masculinity and gender roles undergoing change
Traditional gender roles are no longer valid, but men are dealing with the new expectations of masculinity in different ways. From vulnerability to metrosexuality, gender is transforming.
As the popular German tongue-in-cheek song by Herbert Grönemeyer goes: "When is a man a man?" Men's role in society is transforming and their social dominance is under threat; women no longer accept less pay for doing the same job as a man and demand representation in the upper echelons of politics and the economy.
Even the way we talk about gender roles is changing. After all it makes sense to use gender neutral terms to refer to professions practiced by both men and women.
Fortunately there are men who find this completely normal and long overdue while also actively supporting these demands. For many fathers it's become quite normal to play a bigger role in childcare or to take parental leave. It wasn't so long ago that this was frowned upon.
The number of men turning to psychologists or masculinity coaching is on a steady rise as men question what it really means to be a man. It seems Grönemeyer was right when he sang: "Men are so vulnerable."