When Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg seemed on a Jan. 10, 2025, episode of “The Joe Rogan Experience,” he lamented that company tradition had transform too “feminine,” suppressing its “masculine energy” and forsaking supposedly precious characteristics corresponding to aggression.
The place of job, he concluded, has been “neutered.”
Most likely now not strangely, Zuckerberg has additionally embraced stereotypically masculine interests in his non-public existence. He’s transform a blended martial arts aficionado and has shared his affinity for smoking meats. On his expansive Hawaii compound, he’s even taken up bow-and-arrow pig looking.
He’s come some distance from the geeky symbol of his formative years.
However is Zuckerberg proper? Do offices within the U.S. want to embody a extra diesel-fueled, street-fighting, meat-eating mentality?
As a social psychologist who research masculinity and aggression, I believe it’s essential to judge what the science says about Zuckerbeg’s claims – and to imagine what it method for the way forward for place of job tradition within the U.S.
Display no weak point
In 2018, sociologist Jennifer Berdahl and her colleagues coined the time period “masculinity contest culture” to explain offices rife with cutthroat festival, poisonous management, bullying and harassment.
Integrating a long time of prior analysis on masculinity within the place of job, Berdahl and her collaborators had been in a position to map how masculinity contest cultures perform, in addition to display how they impact organizations and particular person workers.
In her experiments, she had members agree or disagree with statements corresponding to “expressing any emotion other than anger or pride is seen as weak,” in line with their perceptions of their very own group. The usage of complicated statistical techinques, Berdahl’s workforce was once in a position to distill masculinity contest cultures all the way down to 4 elements: “showing no weakness,” “strength and stamina,” “putting work first” and “dog eat dog.”
Then they had been in a position to turn how those cultures are tied to a bunch of damaging results for staff and firms, corresponding to burnout, turnover and deficient well-being. And on the group degree, they are able to foment a dysfunctional administrative center setting, poisonous management or even bullying and harassment.
An imagined criticism
In keeping with this analysis, then, it kind of feels like selling inflexible masculinity within the place of job isn’t the most efficient resolution for an arguably already suffering Meta.
What, then, led Zuckerberg to assert that the place of job has been neutered and should be infused with masculine power? Has the American administrative center in point of fact long past complete “Legally Blonde”?
Zuckerberg’s personal corporate isn’t precisely a paragon of parity: Its general group of workers, as of 2022, was once just about two-thirds male, whilst its tech group of workers was once three-quarters male. Moreover, in line with psychologists Sapna Cheryan and Hazel Markus, offices within the U.S. nonetheless mirror what they name “masculine defaults” – cultures that praise traits or behaviors most often related to males.
This may vary from how corporations describe themselves – for instance, as puts which might be “aggressive” and “unrestrained” – to webhosting occasions catering to historically male interests, corresponding to golfing outings.
Many offices within the U.S. nonetheless advertise and prize historically masculine characteristics and interests.
Daniel Boczarski/Getty Pictures for PXG
Even if Cheryan and Markus’ research facilities on how masculine defaults make it tougher for ladies to carve out their skilled paths, they are able to hurt everyone, together with males.
My analysis, for instance, has proven that once males really feel stressed to satisfy sure masculine expectancies, they are able to expand fragile masculine identities, which might be connected with aggression and anxiousness.
Even if the pervasiveness of masculinity norms can provide males an higher hand within the place of job, I wonder if males are contorting themselves to suit into old-fashioned molds of who succeeds at paintings. Certainly, analysis presentations that a hit organizations advertise a wholesome mixture of stereotypically masculine and female qualities.
In different phrases, it’s easiest when folks of all genders really feel comfy showcasing characteristics corresponding to cooperation and company, qualities that don’t essentially fall into one gender camp.
The upward thrust of the delicate billionaire
If many offices nonetheless possess dog-eat-dog cultures and rejoice masculinity – with it appears that evidently deficient results – it’s possible you’ll surprise why billionaire company leaders would suggest for them.
Probably the most beneficiant clarification is lack of information. Zuckerberg may just merely be unaware that almost all places of work within the U.S. nonetheless possess aggressive environments and characteristics related to conventional masculinity.
Even if this might be the case, I believe there might be two different explanations for Zuckerberg’s promotion of inflexible masculinity norms.
There might be an financial reason. Most likely Zuckerberg thinks that selling his corporate as an enviornment of high-stakes festival and aggression is the easiest way to draw skill and spur innovation in a box already ruled through males. It’s continuously idea that festival drives innovation. So “Meta needs to be more masculine” may just in reality be code for “Meta needs to breed more internal competition, which will spur innovation and turn a profit.” This assumption may be inaccurate: Contemporary analysis has proven that inner festival would possibly in reality stifle innovation.
There is also a mental reason. I’ve present in my analysis that males are in all probability to dangle to notions of inflexible masculinity once they really feel drive to “man up” and are insecure about themselves.
Most likely Zuckerberg sees range efforts as a problem to his energy. Perhaps he thinks aligning himself with President Donald Trump’s model of masculinity will assist him acquire and retain energy, particularly as he faces demanding situations from different tech giants. So his promotion of an competitive place of job, in conjunction with his slashing of insurance policies that would make him glance “weak,” are strikes to support his standing as a pacesetter, as an innovator and as a person.
This isn’t to mention that actions corresponding to looking and blended martial arts are inherently unhealthy, and even inherently masculine: There are many feminine hunters and UFC opponents. Neither is it to mention that sure masculine traits within the place of job are inherently unhealthy.
But if I see middle-aged billionaires – Zuckerberg isn’t the one one – displaying the indicators of fragile masculinity that I’ve seen amongst younger grownup males and adolescent boys, I will’t assist however surprise what the rustic’s long term holds.
