PRESS RELEASE
Contact: Lawrence DeMarco
Phone: +1-301-801-0608 |
Email: info@menandboys.net
Misrepresenting Boys and Men: How Media Bias Fuels Harm and Undermines Justice
April 10, 2025. – A growing pattern of media narratives is unfairly casting boys and men as dangerous or deficient while ignoring or excusing equivalent behaviors by women. This distorted lens is driving cultural fear and deepening gender divides across institutions and public discourse.
Recently, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer wrongfully praised the Netflix drama Adolescence—a fictional portrayal of a boy committing a knife murder—as if it were a documentary, (1) using it to reinforce claims of rising male violence despite official data showing no such trend. (2) The media’s embrace of this narrative, coupled with unsubstantiated links to online influencers, reflects an agenda that unfairly stereotypes boys based on fictional content.
Globally, the double standards are even more glaring. A media watchdog recently reported, “the media neglect of the boys [abducted by Boko Haram], many of whom were forced to take up arms and later perished in combat, represents one of the most egregious examples of journalistic bias in modern times”. (3) While the world rightly mourned the suffering of kidnapped girls, the fates of thousands of enslaved, mutilated, and slaughtered boys were met with silence.
This pattern of bias is not limited to high-profile global events. A March 29 article on Dominique Moore’s conviction criticizes the father for remaining silent while the mother confined the children to squalor—casting him as culpable despite his non-involvement in the abuse. (4) In contrast, the media has often portrayed mothers who are victims of domestic violence as being unjustly scrutinized by child welfare services, emphasizing their victimhood and the systemic challenges they face, while similar circumstances involving fathers receive substantially less sympathetic coverage. (5) This stark disparity reveals how the same behavior is judged differently depending on the parent’s sex, reinforcing a biased narrative that men are inherently neglectful while women are presumed blameless.
Research shows that nearly 70% of media coverage about men is negative. These portrayals ignore the lived realities of boys and men struggling with educational setbacks, health disparities, legal inequities, and homelessness. (6)
To reverse this trend, we need accurate reporting and balanced public dialogue. The future of gender equality depends not on vilifying one group but on creating a culture of fairness, empathy, and evidence-based solutions for all.
The International Council for Men and Boys is a non-governmental organization that is working to celebrate the contributions of men to society and to end the 12 sex disparities that affect men and boys around the world. Achieving #GenderEqualityForMen will also benefit women. https://www.menandboys.net/
Links:
1. https://x.com/anneliese_midge/status/1902353660547416353
3, https://endtodv.org/pr/return-of-boko-haram-feminists-seek-to-vilify-young-boys-as-misogynistic/