Male Gen Zers don’t feel identified with what they’re seeing in ads. Their idea of success isn't the macho man with a six pack surrounded by money and females. They no longer care about making tons of money and thus have shifted to caring and prioritizing having long and meaningful relationships with their partners, family members, and friends, and prioritizing self-care and their mental well-being.

We aim, in collaboration with Unstereotype Alliance, to redefine these entrenched narratives with new, empowering narratives of what masculinity means for everyone. We aim to start a conversation about what it means to be a man and how there's spaces for them to be their true selves in every corner.

Young boys and men (in this case, man), are at the forefront of these prints, calling at them “hey you, man, look over here”. We’re talking directly to them at different points of their journey across different platforms.

Both pieces use words that are generally used to describe someone's femininity or appeal to the feminine side of the human experience. Taking feminine words that “manfluencers” deem negative and weak and redefining them to show there's space for men in these areas; both literally, within the construction of the chosen words and metaphorically, in the lived experience.

The idea is campaignable and can be extended, adding new words every few months: gentleman to explain how they don’t have to be ultra-aggressive macho men, performance to show that it’s manly to be interested in the fine arts, and craftsman to emphasize that men have a space in woman-led areas such as crafting.

Through these pieces we’re hacking the “manfluencer” space by taking feminine words that they deem negative and weak and redefining them to show there's space for men in these areas; both literally, within the construction of the chosen words and metaphorically in their lived experiences.

We chose these words because they encompass a few of the things that mean “success” to Gen Zers: positive relationships and self care. Gen Zers no longer care about making tons of money and thus have shifted to caring about having long and meaningful relationships with their partners, family members, and friends, and prioritizing self-care and their mental well-being.

By deconstructing these words, we answer the issue that the brief raises: young men aren't talking about the fact that they don't relate to current ads and current portrayals of the stereotypical man because the stereotypical man was not contemplated to be living in this day and age.

With these prints, we aim to start a conversation that needs to be happening and will ultimately elicit behavioral change among the Gen Zers. Rejecting expected and entrenched stereotypes while redefining what it means to be a young man in the 21st century.