A recent survey conducted by FiveThirtyEight asked 1,600 men to reflect on their ideas of masculinity. Specifically, it asked men how they would like others to see them, where they learned their ideas about what it means to be a man, and how the broad and popular culture affects their views about masculinity and their expression of it.
Not surprisingly, 64% of respondents felt that fathers or father-figures were the sources of their ideas about what it means to be a good man. Encouragingly, 41% of respondents reported that their mothers also provided insights into what they believed to be healthy masculinity. Another interesting tidbit from the survey was the fact that for 42% of respondents age 18 to 34, pop culture served as a source of inspiration for understanding of manhood. Unfortunately, 60% of respondents agreed that society puts pressure on men in a way that is unhealthy.