TYPES OF

MASCULINITY
PORTRAYED IN MEDIA
AVERAGERS: ENDGAME

The movie, Avengers: Endgame is a superhero film released by the Marvel Cinematic Universe in
the year 2019, which tells the story of a band of superheroes who go by the same name. It was a
sequel to the movie Avengers: Infinity War. This was the 22nd movie by the franchise. The story of
the movie starts from the point where Thanos, the protagonist of the movie, has already wiped out
half of the population of the universe just by snapping his fingers. At the beginning they show a
fraction of the Avengers ambusing Thanos and  beheading him only to realise that it will not
change what he has done. Time passes and we come to a scene where five years have passed
and people are still struggling to deal with the loss of their loved ones
AVENGERS: ENDGAME

The viewers saw the return of Lang, the Antman in this movie, who was stuck within another realm
and on his arrival, he suggests a plan to reverse the damage that has been done. The idea was to
collect the different infinity stones required for the task from different time zones. The team of
Avengers come together in order to build a machine which would help them execute this idea.
After this the group divides into three to retrieve the stones from the last. During this time,
Romanoff had to sacrifice herself as a form of a ritual in order to gain one of the stones which put
everyone on the Avengers under serious grief; however, they carry on with the mission preparing a
gauntlet  for holding the stones. The team struggles to fulfil their objectives as Thanos from the
past who is now aware of their aim, interferes by sending his soldiers to stop the Avengers.
AVENGERS: ENDGAME

At the end of the fight Rogers and Stark struggle to keep the gauntlet out of Thanos' hands and in
a matter of desperation, Stark transfers the stone to his suit and snaps his own fingers to put an
end to this fight and prevent from losing those who have been brought back recently. However, he
was mortally wounded from this, while the Avengers lost another member. The film ends with the
Avengers attending Tony Stark's funeral and the retirement of Rogers as Captain America, with a
new division of responsibilities for the superhero group. The film has been used for the analysis of
the four different types of masculine characters for the assignment and understanding how
masculinity can influence femininity as well (Ebert, 2019). 
 THE 4 TYPES OF MASCULINE CHARACTERS
IN THE MOVIE. 
The 4 categories of iconic representation of males are discussed in a detailed manner with the help of the movie,
Avengers: Endgame (Victoria, 2012). 
Hero
The iconic representation of male characters in the category of Hero denotes the victor, who is trustworthy, honourable,
respected and always saving and protecting a heroine and others in need. The character in Avengers endgame which
suits this stereotype the most is Captain America or Steve Rogers. He is the leader of the entire group of Avengers, he is
reliable, trustworthy, honourable and respected by everyone. He is able to save the weak when they are in need. His
overall character is created to be heroic, for which he is the most suited for this type of masculinity. 
Warrior
Warrior is another iconic representation of masculinity. He works to protect women, children and nations. This category
creates a clear demarcation between men and women, the protector and the protected. Thor in Avengers: Endgame is a
clear portrayal of warrior masculinity. He is seen fighting for his nation, trying desperately to save it, along with protecting
the women and children. 
THE 4 TYPES OF MASCULINE CHARACTERS
IN THE MOVIE. 
Sports Hero
A sports hero is the third icon who is portrayed to be athletic, powerful, skilled, handsome, successful, rich and is considered
to be the ideal choice for every woman, inspiring all men. They are competitive and the category comes from the concept of
making sports masculine and being successful in it, the criteria for being a more manly man. Hawkeye is the character which
fulfils the role of a sports hero category from the movie. He does not possess any superhuman power like the others but is
able to fight alongside the other heroes due to his archery skills. Since archery is a type of sport and Hawkeye's charter
develops mainly around his skills, he can be considered to be the sports hero of the organisation. 
Entrepreneur
Entrepreneur is the last category of iconic masculinity representation. These types of characters are intelligent, hardworking,
knowledgeable, aggressive and successful. They are well-educated and smart who are not afraid to take risks. 
In the movie Avengers: Endgame, no other character can portray entrepreneur type of iconic masculinity other than Ironman.
He is knowledgeable, Intelligent, hard working and not afraid of taking risks along with being rich and successful. The type of
masculinity which was portrayed through Captain America during this role was a realistic type of masculinity. Hawkeye and
Thor belong to the more unrealistic categories of superheroes or males. 
ANALYSIS OF MASCULINITY THROUGH
THESE CHARACTERS
These masculine characters within Avengers have been created to portray and encourage feelings of astonishment within the
audience. The movie does not have overly toxic types of masculinity, the characters were well-written and well executed throughout
the movie. They all had positive interactions with the woman throughout the movie. The heroes aimed at protecting everyone
including the women within the movies. 
The movie did put women under the section of the weak and those who are in need of protection. Even though Endgame has a
large number of lead actors within it, the superhero characters are seen to be mostly to be masculine with just two and female
superheroes portrayed within the movie, this does not properly represent the women in these movies.

 
Realism of these 4 iconic representation of masculinity
In my own experience, I have not had the chance to experience any one of the masculine types as portrayed through the movie
other than the entrepreneur and sports hero type. The sports hero type of masculinity works on a very basic concept of masculinity
which stresses the role of succession in sports in order to feel more masculine and better than the rest, it is something we can
watch in our daily lives. Additionally, the entrepreneur type of masculinity is also something we can see in real life pretty often. 
ANALYSIS OF MASCULINITY THROUGH
THESE CHARACTERS
Representation of masculinity in media
The representation of gender in media is very important as it forms and crystallises gender roles
for the audiences which are spread through the socialisation occuring by them watching the
movies. Both masculinity and femininity are constructible and the audience is influenced by what
they see in the movies as they try to imitate that or considered to make these characteristics
visible in their actions. This is why it is important to address the effect of portraying masculine
characters in the movies (Serttaş et. al, 2017). 
ANALYSIS OF MASCULINITY THROUGH
THESE CHARACTERS
Importance of masculinity in women studies
Reading and understanding the concept and application of masculinity as portrayed in the various forms of media is
very important and should be studied in order to understand their impact on the audience. By identifying certain
masculine traits, it is possible to understand how feminine characters have been forced to play the roles which fit
the masculine point of storytelling. Women’s studies aim at understanding the various cultural practices which
promote and internalise gender roles, widens gender inequality, which can be done by analysing the masculine
roles and how women are used to support these roles, without being considered as an equal (Untal, 2016). 
Feminism cannot solely be a study women. Through gaining a better understanding of masculinity through the
assignment, I have also had the chance to understand how even media has been used to portray the role played by
women characters for the purpose of uplifting the image of the masculine characters – making them more heroic,
ideal and so on. If one has to address inequalities between the two genders, she cannot leave out the aspect of
masculinity as well as its portrayal in the media, which influences millions of viewers and establishes gender roles
within them. 
CONCLUSION

The movie Avengers: Endgame has been selected as it consisted of many male superhero
characters portraying different types of masculinity. The four main types of masculinity stereotypes
include - hero, warrior, sports hero and entrepreneur. With relation to the movie, the hero form of
masculinity was portrayed by Steve Rogers or Captain America. The role of Warrior was best
suited for Thor, the role of sports hero was neat suited for Hawkeye or Baron. While Tony Stark or
Iron Man played the role of an entrepreneur type of masculinity. The importance of studying
masculinity and its effect on the society as well as its role in defining femininity or expected roles
from women is important in women studies as it helps in better understanding the gender
disparities and their reason behind it. 
REFERENCES
• Bromley, V. L. (2012). Feminisms matter: Debates, theories, activism. University of Toronto
Press.
•
Ebert, R. (2019). Avengers: Endgame. Retrieved from
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/avengers-endgame-2019 
•
Serttaş, Aybike & Gürkan, Hasan. (2017). The Representation of Masculinity in Cinema and on
Television: An Analysis of Fictional Male Characters. 
•
Untal, R. (2016). Masculinity in women and attitudes toward seeking help (Doctoral dissertation,
The Wright Institute).