In his recent appearance on Joe Rogan, Mark Zuckerberg said that workplaces need more “masculine energy” and that the workplace had been “neutered.” Though I couldn’t bring myself to listen to the full 3 hour conversation, I began to ask myself, what about workplaces exactly have been neutered? And what masculine energy is Zuckerberg trying to bring back?
Studies of men in workplaces – including some Equimundo has carried out – find that a majority of men find it stressful to work in a hyper-competitive space where they can’t ask for help or be seen. The truth is most humans don’t thrive and are not their most efficient selves when they feel threatened, harassed, and belittled. We’ve heard accounts from staff working under leaders of tech companies who publicly belittled staff they thought weren’t performing, and even threw things at them when these male leaders thought their staff didn’t think they came to a meeting prepared. Is that the masculine energy Zuckerberg wants back?
Many men like Zuckerberg lament the rise of ‘cancel culture,’ and that they get in trouble for making ‘harmless’ jokes. Is the normalization of sexual harassment in the workplace the masculine energy Zuckerberg wants back? Is he harking back to the Mad Men era when there were no women in the C-suite, in boards, or in most senior positions?
Various news reports say that some Silicon Valley offices are having parties every night, celebrating Trump’s inauguration. Have they forgotten that they are celebrating a president found liable for sexual assault? Are they celebrating that masculine energy?
The bottom line: a restrictive old-school version of masculinity is generally not good for men ourselves, for the people in our lives, nor for businesses. Nor for the world.
Contrary to the ‘masculine energy’ Zuckerberg claims he wants to bring back to the workplace, Meta actually has one of the most generous paid leave policies in corporate America, and many workers say they’re satisfied with it. Does the manhood Zuckerberg wants to bring back include men taking time off for caregiving duties, like many Meta men are?
If Zuckerberg’s definition of masculine energy includes caring for children and caring for the well-being of workers and users over profits, that’s great energy, whether masculine or feminine, or just plain human. If Zuckerberg’s masculine energy means men put care for others over themselves, stand up for those who are bullied or harassed, acknowledge the harm that some women and others face in the workplace, and put the collective over the individual, then I’m fully in agreement. That’s the human energy we all need.
To learn more about what we’re doing to promote caring versions of masculinity in the workplace and beyond, explore the Caring Masculinity Fund, which will support advocacy, programmatic work, and research to promote caring manhood.
