#11 Masculinity

‘Being gay is not a choice’

Dirk and Thomas came out to their families only recently. Today they live together as a couple. In an interview with our author, they talk about their path to an open life.

Masculinity

‘I was a Hitler caricature from a bad Hollywood film’

He used to march through the streets in a leather coat, carrying the Reich war flag, giving hate speeches and dreaming of the great revolution. Today Axel Reitz works in extremism prevention.

Masculinity

Thin on top

TikTok routines, rosemary oil, transplants: the market for hair-loss treatments is booming. Hair may be just hair in the end – but it’s never quite that simple.

Masculinity

Born to perform?

From engine to muscle, from horsepower to watts: a bike shop reveals how men relate to technology and status today – and whether anything has really changed.

Masculinity

‘I want men to hug each other’

More and more men are looking for role models who show their feelings. Valerio, Frank, Noah and Tom do just that. Four perspectives that show masculinity is something you can shape.

Masculinity

Old boys, old conflicts?

Every year, the Coburger Convent draws thousands of fraternity members to Coburg. While some celebrate tradition, others criticise its all-male structures, its torchlight processions and the way it deals with its own history.

Masculinity

The patriarchal obsession with virginity

Older men’s fascination with teenage girls runs deep in our culture. The Wecker case recently brought it back into the headlines. Films, music and the internet fuel hypersexualisation – with far-reaching consequences.

Masculinity

Misogyny in the feed: when algorithms shape reality

Misogynistic content spreads rapidly on social media. For many young women, it is no longer a digital phenomenon but part of everyday life. An investigation into quiet radicalisation, a lack of prevention and the consequences in real life.

Portrait of Luise in a black scarf and blue jacket against a yellow wall – investigation into misogyny on social media

Masculinity

Queer footballers: ‘It can break a player very quickly’

Why no active Bundesliga professional has come out – even though clubs, associations and fans have long been flying the rainbow colours.

Masculinity

Masculinity can be deadly

Women attempt suicide more often – and yet 71.5 per cent of people who die by suicide in Germany are men. A search for answers.

Blurred silhouette of an upper body against an orange background

Masculinity

‘You’ll never be a man’ – or will you?

Growing up in Afghanistan, Sajad never fitted the usual image of masculinity. Today he is looking for his own definition of it – and for the courage to reinvent himself.

Masculinity

The social pull of masculinity

What does it mean to be a man today? On the pressure to conform, on uncertainty – and why simple answers are so seductive.

What does it mean to be a man today? Our eleventh focus topic asks this question without expecting a simple answer.

A man explains why being gay is not a choice. Queer professional footballers have their say, and one story explores the sentence: ‘You will never be a man.’

It is about misogyny in the feed, the patriarchal obsession with virginity and the fact that masculinity can be deadly. But also about closeness: ‘I want men to hug each other,’ as one of the stories puts it.

TO THE MAGAZINE HOMEPAGE