What "Off Campus" Teaches Us About Healthy Masculinity

Normalizing male conversations about friendship, feelings, and consent.

Posted June 1, 2026 | Reviewed by Gary Drevitch

“We don’t just need more role models. We need visible, authentic, relatable ones” —Tim Campbell

At first glance, Amazon Prime’s hit show Off Campus might look like every other college sports drama, with its high-energy blend of athletes, parties, and romance. But look a little closer, and something much more interesting is happening. The show doesn’t just deliver love stories and hockey. It offers explicit examples of positive masculinity, where ‘no’ is respected without question, male friends talk to each other about their feelings, and vulnerability isn’t seen as a weakness. At a time when expectations around toxic masculinity and the so-called ‘manosphere’ are increasingly celebrated by young men, Off Campus offers a refreshingly grounded alternative, where masculinity is built on respect, humour and connection.

Perceptions of what it means to be masculine are often linked to rigid behaviours and traits such as strength, dominance, and rejecting emotions. As a result, men and boys can feel under pressure to follow these rules and behave a certain way, meaning their attitudes and behaviours are driven by others’ expectations, rather than their own wishes and values. This extreme pressure to act in a stereotypically ‘masculine’ way is referred to as toxic masculinity (Harrop, 2023).

So how does Off Campus help to dismantle that script?

The way the men talk to each other

The male friendships featured on Off Campus are based around a group of hockey teammates, so as you might expect, there’s plenty of humour, competitiveness, and bravado. But they also talk to each other about tougher topics, such as relationships, feelings, mistakes, and even consent. Traditional masculine norms can discourage vulnerability, leaving men isolated or emotionally unsupported, and this is particularly true of male athletes (Burrell, 2023). Yet in Off Campus , vulnerability is the norm, not the exception. From Logan reassuring Garrett that he’s not like his abusive father, to Dean and Garrett reflection on the importance of safety and trust in relationships, healthy, non-toxic interactions are placed front and centre. Viewers see the friends repeatedly check in with each other, offer advice, and hold each other accountable in a way that still allows for plenty of humour and fun and provides a valuable template for healthy relationships.

Talking about consent

One of the most striking things about Off Campus is how it handles the issue of consent and treats it as an essential component of relationships and trust. For example, Garrett turns down Hannah when she’s drunk because he recognises that she is not able to consent. Instead of taking advantage of the situation or treating intimacy as a prize to be won at any cost, he puts her to bed and looks after her. Of course, this shouldn’t be unusual; it should be the norm, yet many young adults report engaging in sexual behaviour while drunk, despite the implications around consent (Jozkowski & Hoffacker, 2023). Having characters in Off Campus model the right behaviour in this situation, and explicitly state that they’re stopping because the other person is too drunk to consent, is really important. It shows that making this choice isn’t weak or emasculating. On the contrary, it demonstrates strength of character and a clear understanding of what’s okay and what’s not.

Rejection doesn’t turn into resentment

Culturally, men are often taught to interpret rejection as a challenge or a threat to their identity , fuelling entitlement or aggression . For example, Blake et al (2018) found that men interacting with a woman in any kind of sexualised way (dancing, flirting etc) was a predictor for increased level of aggression after a romantic rejection. In other words, they got angry if they were told no. Off Campus chose to flip the script on this scenario, using the characters of Dean and Allie. When Allie says no to Dean while they’re dancing during their first interaction, his reaction is telling. He’s clearly disappointed but he doesn’t lash out. He doesn’t pressure her, mock her, or speak negatively about her to his friends. He simply accepts it. This is especially powerful coming from the character of Dean, who is portrayed as a dominant ‘alpha male’ character in the series. He wants her and he’s disappointed, but his actions are driven by respect for her choice rather than dominance and control. This is where the show is so valuable, as it doesn’t just talk about healthy behaviour, it actively models it.

The men feel real emotions

Another myth challenged by Off Campus is the stereotype that “real men don’t cry.” In reality, men do express emotion , of course, particularly in contexts like sport. Yet even then males are often still judged alongside their perceived level of masculinity. MacArthur & Shields (2015) found that even though many male athletes routinely express emotion, others judged these men’s emotional expression by the extent that they were still perceived as masculine. In other words, it’s okay to show emotion as long as you do it in a way that meets the typical idea of how a ‘real man’ behaves. Several athletes in the study reported viewing crying as a sign of weakness and drew on the idea of sport being tough and masculine to explain why crying was incompatible with sports culture. Off Campus challenges this perspective, portraying the male athletes as strong and competitive, while also feeling deeply. Throughout the series, the characters experience disappointment, fear , and sadness and they show these emotions in a range of ways, including crying. This may seem like a small thing, but it sends an important message that emotional expression is both necessary and valued and doesn’t in any way diminish the masculinity of those involved.

In short, Off Campus doesn’t tell men to stop being masculine, or portray masculinity as something negative. Instead, it offers a brilliant example of what positive, healthy male relationships can look like, provided we’re willing to wave goodbye to the rigid expectations of the past.

Blake, K. R., Bastian, B., & Denson, T. F. (2018). Heightened male aggression toward sexualized women following romantic rejection: The mediating role of sex goal activation. Aggressive behavior , 44 (1), 40-49.

Burrell, S. R. (2023). ‘Cause we’re all just part of the system really’: Complicity and resistance in young sportsmen’s responses to violence against women prevention campaigns in England. Sociological Research Online , 28 (2), 336-354.

Harrop, G. (2023). Toxic masculinity. In Encyclopedia of domestic violence (pp. 1-10). Cham: Springer International Publishing.

Jozkowski, K. N., & Hoffacker, C. (2023). How drunk is “Too Drunk” to consent?: A summary of research on alcohol intoxication and sexual consent. Consent , 88-104.

MacArthur, H. J., & Shields, S. A. (2015). There’s no crying in baseball, or is there? Male athletes, tears, and masculinity in North America. Emotion Review , 7 (1), 39-46.

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Gill Harrop, Ph.D., is a Registered Forensic Psychologist specializing in the use of active bystandership and psychological strategies to address problematic relationship behaviour and tackle crime.

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This article is part of the Bringwise Psychology Journal — daily insights on human behavior, mental health, and personal growth.