“The Man Box: A study on being a young man in Australia” was recently released by Jesuit Social Services’ The Men’s Project.  

The study involved an online survey of 1,000 men aged 18 to 30 from across all demographics, as well as focus group discussions. The Men’s Project asked them their views on different topics about how a man should behave. These were categorised under the seven Man Box pillars: self-sufficiency, acting tough, physical attractiveness, rigid gender roles, heterosexuality and homophobia, hypersexuality, and aggression and control.  

The study, undertaken with the support of Associate Professor Michael Flood from the Queensland University of Technology, looked at the influence of agreement with the Man Box rules on different areas of young men’s lives, including health and wellbeing, physical appearance, relationships, risk taking, violence and bystander behaviour.  

It shows that young men who comply with society’s pressures to be a ‘real man’ report poorer mental health, are twice as likely to consider suicide, more likely to commit acts of sexual harassment and experience and perform acts of violence and bullying.   

“These findings show the immense costs of pressuring young men into living up to rigid ideas of what it means to be a real man,” said Jesuit Social Services CEO Julie Edwards. 

“We need action across the community and in the form of new programmes which will deliver benefits to society, as well as to the young men themselves in terms of health, wellbeing and safety,” she added. 

In response to this, The Men’s Project aims to raise awareness and promote positive attitudes and behaviors. Josh Kennedy, captain of AFL team Sydney Swans, is the Men’s Project Ambassador. “We want young men to be free from harmful social pressures, and we need to support them by focusing on building resilience and promoting respect,” he said.  

Click here to view the complete “The Man Box” report. 

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