ABOUT:<\/strong> Within media and gender studies, while the study of women\u2019s representation is critical to attaining gender equality, the deconstruction of patriarchal structures requires examining gender portrayals in a relational sense. The inclusion of masculinities and, specifically, the way boys and men are represented in the media is essential to understanding the full picture of gender (in)equality. In present times, notions of masculinities are becoming increasingly complex, and progressive gender ideals are ever more present but still coexisting with conservative ones. This makes the need to explore the expressions and dynamics of hybridity, backlash and breakthrough highly relevant \u2013 with media playing a pivotal role in these (re)configurations. This special issue intends to bring together critical analysis focusing on media representations, discourses, narratives and counter-narratives of what it means to be, feel and behave \u201clike a man\u201d in today\u2019s Europe. It aims to contribute to a reflection on the stereotypes that underlie discourses in the mass media and in the online media, and on how cultural productions co-opt, confront, criticize, renegotiate and seek to promote gender alternatives that challenge gender inequality.<\/p>\n