--- --- # This Video Shows What It Means to Be a Man in 2015 by [Samantha Grossman](https://time.com/author/samantha-grossman/) ## Samantha Grossman Dec 14, 2015 6:12 PM UTC by [Samantha Grossman](https://time.com/author/samantha-grossman/) ## Samantha Grossman Dec 14, 2015 6:12 PM UTC How did the media portray men this year? A new video from the [Representation Project](http://therepresentationproject.org/), a non-profit that challenges gender stereotypes, decided to explore how commercials, film and pop culture in general represented masculinity in 2015. According to this video, the media repeatedly told men that to be manly, they have to act macho, blow things up, and objectify and disrespect women. Oh, and eat lots of meat. But about a minute and a half in, things get more hopeful. Some men, the video says, are using their voices for change. “Having some traits that are traditionally masculine doesn’t exclude me from wanting gender equality,” _Orange Is the New Black_ actor Matt McGorry says in a clip. Men like John Oliver, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Terry Crews also get shout outs for challenging gender norms. _Read next:_ [_Here Are All the Sexist Ways the Media Portrayed Both Men and Women in 2014_](http://time.com/3657419/sexist-media-moments-2014/) Representation Project Video: Masculinity in 2015 Media ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4147478/media-masculinity-2015/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4147478/media-masculinity-2015/"},"headline":"This Video Shows What It Means to Be a Man in 2015","datePublished":"2015-12-14T18:12:02.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:27:40.916Z","description":"A deeper look at the media's changing definition of masculinity","url":"https://time.com/4147478/media-masculinity-2015/","keywords":["Newsfeed","society"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Samantha Grossman","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/samantha-grossman/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4147478/media-masculinity-2015/","name":"This Video Shows What It Means to Be a Man in 2015"}}]}] ```