Narratives about diversity, equity and inclusion have used cis-gendered, straight, white men as the antithesis of representation initiatives and this group has therefore largely been ignored in the analysis of commercial visual language. While there has been a regression in gender equality and a rise in toxic masculinity fuelled by social media, it is important to address the power of imagery in this trend.

Our VisualGPS visual analysis of advertising has shown that depictions of men are more limited compared to women; whether it is roles that they are seen in, their range of emotions, their individuality or even the colour palette of the visual. In the last 12 months alone, we have seen brands using imagery of men to represent “hard” topics such as expertise, planning, problem-solving, skill and importantly the visualisation of success (especially in a business or sport environment). Whereas images of women are used far more often to embody life-affirming concepts such as relaxation, care, and togetherness. This means that men are half as likely to appear in imagery about mental wellbeing, three times less likely to be shown in friendship groups and seven times less likely to be seen in any talking or therapy scenarios (nearly 80% of examples show men with at least one woman in these scenarios).

In fact, when we analysed thousands of ads from 1945 to the present day, the most progress in diversifying the depiction of men has happened in the last few years. The last nearly 80 years have been a continual procession of visuals of men at work, men going to work, men after work (usually in the gym or the pub) or men competing against other men (usually in sport or for a woman). Things are changing though - Fatherhood has become more meaningful in advertising in recent years, the stereotype of the ‘useless’ father is almost extinct, and the role of caregiver continues to grow in resonance.

Interestingly, when we tested images of men with consumers through our VisualGPS research, we found that personal relationships test much better than the traditional tropes of financial success. We also found that there is much more desire for diversity within the men that are visualised – different body types (the body positivity movement is fuelled by images of women), more emotional, more relaxed and at ease and less styled.

This speaks volumes about how aspirational imagery in the future could work very differently for a male audience than what has been traditionally shown.

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