For as long as the media has hyper-sexualized a certain kind of woman that most could never be; so too has the media created an “idealized” version of what makes a man. For years, men have seen only one kind of version of themselves that just isn’t real. The macho bravado type has infiltrated film, television and TV commercials as well. The man that has the perfect shape and clean-cut hair, the man that gets all the girls, the man that excels in athletics if only to show off his “masculinity.” As recently as last year, this man has dominated what Axe defines as the “perfect man” in their advertisements.

The issues with this hyper-masculine, one-dimensional type of man is that it creates an exclusive club, one where anyone that doesn’t live up to those impossible standards can feel inferior. This portrayal of what defines masculinity shows that only the super fit, sexual and aggressive types are worthy of being called men. But the real question is why have we let the media create that definition of masculinity? Why does being a man have to encompass those superficial traits and nothing more?

Axe is proving their ability to see and value all kinds of men with their “Find Your Magic” campaign. Their new commercial appears to be a celebration of all shapes, sizes and races. It doesn’t limit masculinity to one type but embraces how each defines it for themselves, as it should have always been. The commercial features men you wouldn’t typically see in an Axe commercial, but nonetheless, men that represent our authentic and creative world. The nerd, the eccentric, the man that can rock any pair of heels and the one that doesn’t need to stand tall in order to feel alive. All of these characters are a step forward for Axe, as they no longer feel the need to tell men how they should act to in order to be a man. They instead celebrate that each person has their own dictionary and with it create their own definitions of masculinity and who they are, all valuable and all valid.