Posted on 05/30/2026 3:12:29 PM PDT by CondoleezzaProtege
Center for Scholars & Storytellers at UCLA study finds Gen Z and Gen Alpha want to see caring, affectionate dads and men showing vulnerability in movies and TV, rejecting outdated masculine stereotypes.
Joyful fatherhood was the single most requested portrayal of masculinity by adolescents surveyed by the researchers, with nearly 60% of young people asking to see more fathers openly showing love and enjoying parenting.
46% of respondents are seeking content that shows men asking for help, including with their mental health.
"For today’s young audiences, the most compelling hero isn’t the one standing alone, but the one who has the courage to be present.”

(Excerpt) Read more at newsroom.ucla.edu ...
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I would guess a lot of them grew up without fathers. They have Daddy issues and they don’t even realize it.
I think they forgot to clarify that it’s Gen Z and Gen Alpha CHICKS who want to see this—not dudes (and I hope I’m wrong about the ladies).
A nation of Nancy-Boys. Hopefully there enough conservative kids who resist.
Forrest Gump was the biggest simp in the universe.
That also means they grew up with women who dont have a great deal of empathy for boys and men, so thats why they are looking for it.
Sounds more like Gen Beta.
They THINK they do.
The Box Office is the best indicator. How much money did the Top Gun sequel make? Would it have made as much if Maverick was renamed Soyboy?
Men have been portrayed as stupid, weak and helpless for decades. Apparently we are now ready to “fix” this by forcing men to be “caring” and “vulnerable”.
Real men are not stupid enough to fall for this.
Here is a straight-up fact: Chicks hate nice guys or guys who show vulnerability. It’s never a good idea for a man to go in that direction.
John Wayne showed about all the vulnerability that a man should have, it was never too much, and always just the right amount.
Across the entire sample, the desire to see nurturing fathers versus not wanting to see them was nearly 5-to-1.
The question is not whether the respondents prefer a nurturing role versus a non-nurturing role, but whether they'd prefer seeing a nurturing role to not seeing them at all. That's a very different spin. Here's another:
Informed by youth advisors and professional storytellers, CSS integrated targeted questions into its annual 2025 Teens & Screens survey, which surveyed 1,500 adolescents (ages 10 to 24, reflecting the ages of adolescence defined by the National Academy of Sciences)
Who in the world are "youth advisors and professional storytellers"? And the NAS despite, since when did adolescence extend to 24 years of age?
One of the longest-running scams in the social sciences is that surveys such as this provide any useful data at all. This one doesn't. IMHO.
Most likely.
Yes, here’s hoping so.
Yeah...and since when is a 10 yr old an adolescent?
Faggots, simps, and pedophiles ...
Yep.
The suicide & overdose rate is still way too high among American men, especially working class. Among elites: Tiger Woods is currently in rehab, and hockey legend Claude Lemieux took his own life this week.
There is room for quintessential ‘masculine’ boys & men confronting genuine mental & spiritual struggles.
Chicks hate nice guys or guys who show vulnerability.
Nothing wrong with a man crying at the end of Old Yeller.
The weaker they are made then the more of that we will see.
Don’t contribute to destroying them.
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