Bayern Munich’s Serge Gnabry on modern masculinity, style, and influences

‘’Real Men’’ is a new GQ masculinity video series where celebrity personalities talk about what masculinity means today. The latest celebrity to feature is none other than Bayern Munich’s star winger Serge Gnabry. The talent, who has now scored ten goals in eleven games for the German national team started by addressing gender roles and how they have changed:

Gender roles provide orientation. But they also restrict you. Masculinity in the classical sense is not important to me: it’s always about being the strongest. But the topic of New Masculinity interests me a lot. For me, new masculinity means freedom, openness, and respect for individual ways of life.

Explaining how he values family and the education of the next generation, Gnabry explained that if he had to decide whether he wanted to be successful as a footballer or as a family man, he would choose the latter.

One of the main reasons why Gnabry places such importance on family life is because of how his own father was with him, protecting him from bad influences and making sure he treated others how he wanted to be treated. Gnabry elaborates on how his father has always been there for him as a role model: after a game, his father always gave his opinion about how he played openly and honestly, and Serge was never embarrassed to show his true feelings in front of him.

Another role model in Gnabry’s life was his German teammate at Arsenal, Per Mertesacker. Mertesacker helped Gnabry during his tough time at the London club and after his failed loan to West Bromwich Albion. Taking the young-winger under his wing, Mertesacker taught Gnabry to take responsibility, something the latter wants to teach the next generation of players. Gnabry elaborated,

In competitive sports, it is often seen as a weakness to us men when we talk about pressure, when we reveal our feelings, what we think and feel. But every person has weaknesses and fears. This is often forgotten because, like machines, we always have to accelerate, always have to perform. If we talked more about feelings, things would change.

Lastly, Gnabry also shared his thoughts on his clothing style:

I have my personal style and I feel good with it. I love wearing things that make other people say, “What’s up with that? How can you wear something like that? That’s much too loud!” The most important thing is to have self-confidence, also in matters of style.

Gnabry caught some attention when he wore a Gucci polo shirt inspired by Lebron James to his presentation. He might have an ally in Michael Cuisance, who sported a “snake shirt” of his own at his signing.