It’s not just his name, he’s also a man like a tree: according to Playboy, actor Henning Baum (51, “The Last Bull”) was voted the most masculine German in a representative survey by the Norstat Institute. The choice of the muscle-bound blonde giant wouldn’t be entirely surprising if it weren’t for one notable survey detail: the majority of male survey participants also voted for the Essen native. Baum thus relegates his colleague Elyas M’Barek (41), who is usually so used to winning, to second place among all participants in the survey. Among the female participants, M’Barek is just ahead of Baum. In an earlier “Playboy” interview, Baum had already emphasized with regard to his role: “The Lapps have to play others.”
According to the Norstat survey, men and women alike believe that trees embody typically male characteristics such as strength, responsibility and courage. At the same time, society’s idea of what masculinity means has changed significantly compared to the traditional image of men. In the past, it was considered particularly masculine to appear dominant and use any means to gain respect. Modern masculinity, on the other hand, includes acting sensitively and being able to talk about your feelings. And: A real guy can cry in public today – that’s what 45 percent of survey participants say. For her, Henning Baum, who in addition to acting is also a trained paramedic, apparently represents the perfect symbiosis of both worlds: indescribably masculine and yet emotional when needed.
The country also needs new role models. When asked about good male role models, Elyas M’Barek (37 percent), footballer Thomas Müller (36 percent, 34), Henning Baum (33 percent), presenter Kai Pflaume (32 percent, 56) and singer Mark Forster (30 percent, 40) received the most votes from around 1,000 participants. At the bottom of the role model ranking is moderator Oliver Pocher (45) with just four percent. The entertainer had just shown a lot of emotions in the wake of his separation from his estranged wife (31) on her birthday on September 28th when he congratulated her very self-critically on Instagram. “Unfortunately, last year I didn’t manage to give you what you hoped for from me.” Pocher has since deleted his emotional post.
