This study examines how Israeli media present the masculinity of two non-Jewish groups, foreign Black players and Israeli Palestinian players. A systematic qualitative content analysis during the years 2002-2003 revealed very similar media images of these two groups. In both cases, the players are often portrayed as tough and physically superior (i.e., more masculine) but also as cognitively inferior and childish (i.e., less masculine). These findings shed light not only on Israeli views of the other, but also on the way the media perceives Jewish masculinity. The tension between the hypermasculine and the hypomasculine perception of non-Jews serves as an inverse mirror. On one hand, it allows the cultivation of a cognitively superior and mature Jewish image. On the other hand, it corresponds with the historic image of the weak and frail Jewish man and serves as a constant reminder of the failure to achieve the demands of masculine physical ideals.
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