The Role Of Masculinity In Mental Health

In the article “Toxic Masculinity Is Killing Men: The Roots of Male Trauma,” Kali Holloway explains why the ideal of masculinity is so unrealistic and harmful to men. Holloway also gives many studies and writings to back the idea that to be a strong man you have to suppress feelings and pain. In these studies, it proclaims that both men and women start off equally feminine as babies and that these ideas are taught to boys and girls as they grow up learning how to “be a man.” Holloway goes on to say that masculinity is not just taught by parents, but also taught through television and movies that portray men as masculine and strong. There are many examples given showing the ways men release their stress differently than women. This makes it

Over the past few years, the phrase “toxic masculinity” has been heard more and more when describing issues related to men. However, when taking a closer look at the definition, it becomes difficult to understand the meaning. In the article “Toxic Masculinity Is a Harmful Myth,” Richard Reeves describes the broadness of the idea of toxic masculinity. He’s effective in doing so, explaining how general the term is. The idea is described as anti-social behavior by men, which doesn’t explain what toxic masculinity is in detail.

Holloway begins her essay by stating the traditional standards for both men and women, stating that “If we are honest with ourselves, we have long known that masculinity kills men” (1). She then defends her argument with a brief description of struggles the men go through with their health and mental health that are indirectly caused by masculinity. Holloway then dives into fields of scientific data to break down how the idea of masculinity is built into a child’s mind and how this process is damaging to the young boy’s mind. Holloway ends her essay by reentering her earlier idea that most of the problems that men face with their health and their mental health is caused indirectly by masculinity. However, this time she includes more detail and more scientific evidence to reinforce her idea. Holloway states “ We have set an unfair and unachievable standard, and in trying to live up to it, many men are slowly killing themselves. We have to move far beyond our outdated ideas of masculinity, and get past our

Men’s mental health can be negatively impacted by pressure to uphold conventional masculine norms. As they internalize expectations of violence and stoicism, men may experience higher rates of stress, despair, and substance

This study emphasizes the fact that lives of prisoners are an understudied phenomenon in society. Researchers found that access into prisons for conducting personal interviews were difficult due to the increase of prison population over the past three decades. Researchers also realized that prisoners who were incarcerated or released preferred not to discuss their experiences behind bars for their personal safety and well-being. In the United Sates, prisons occupy over two million inmates in which ninety percent are males. Majority of male prisoners are from low income communities and are persons of color. Since many inmates are also suffering from

In Peter N. Stearns’ book Be a Man! he cites Nichols, Pleck and Sawyer as he makes the assertion that “Macho man, artificially and oppressively virile, asserts himself over hapless women and in fields of aggression ranging from big business to war, from raising of sons to the domestic cloistering of wives” (Nichols, Pleck and Sawyer). White men in America throughout history have guided themselves according to a particular set of social norms which defines their masculinity. Society embraces these defining characteristics and therefore sets standards for the men to live by and be judged by. John Steinbeck comments on the irony of these standards as he said “Men, kindness and

Our society has become such that men today are told at seemingly every available opportunity that silencing emotion and ignoring the issues that accompany repressed emotions are two of the major defining traits of masculinity. The purpose of the following research was to assess whether this forceful inhibiting of emotional manifestation, an emotional regulation strategy known as expressive suppression, has any impact on the mental health of men, specifically if a link between emotional repression and the high suicide rate among men in America exists. Information was collected from a wide range of sources such as the National Institute of Health, the American Foundation of Suicide Prevention, the tenth edition of Exploring Psychology, and even

The author’s primary focus of this article is to examine and identify current men’s health issues through the perspective of the men’s movement. This perspective is gained through the conduction of interviews involving notable individuals within the men’s movement and comprises of four main men’s movement positions including: Father’s Right’s, Profeminist, Inclusive and Mythopoetic men’s movement features. With the exploration of theses themes, the article aims to approach not only the perceptions regarding men’s health, but also the perceptions surrounding men’s health and masculinity and furthermore how health research and health care practices have primarily ignored men’s health requirements. The methods used for the collection of qualitative

War has been a mainstay of human civilization since its inception thousands of years ago, and throughout this long and colorful history, warriors have almost exclusively been male. By repeatedly taking on the fundamentally aggressive and violent role of soldier, Man has slowly come to define Himself through these violent experiences. Although modern American society regulates the experiences associated with engaging in warfare to a select group of individuals, leaving the majority of the American public emotionally and personally distant from war, mainstream American masculinity still draws heavily upon the characteristically male experience of going to war. In modern American society, masculinity is still defined and expressed through

In addition, Farrell cites the pressure that men feel to stifle their emotion as another restrictive role affecting men (1974). This, of course, has its consequences. Men are less likely to talk about what is emotionally troubling them, which can have some pretty serious ramifications. Across history, suicide rates have been higher among men than women, and this difference has been increasing over time, with suicide rates being higher than ever among men (Helgeson, 2012). This has become such a large issue that the high rates of suicide among men have been called the “silent epidemic” (White & Bilsker, 2011). This is partly because it is much harder to identify men who are at risk of committing suicide because they are less likely to open up

It has been proven in multiple studies that men are more reluctant to seek help for mental health issues,

How is gender and gender roles socially constructed? Soulliere states that gender is a cultural creation that is frequently developed by and represented through popular cultural media such as advertisements, music, sports, and entertainment television (Soulliere 2006). The article “Wrestling with Masculinity: Messages about Manhood in the WWE” by Danielle M. Soulliere (2006), examines messages about manhood revealed by televised professional wrestling (Soulliere 1). Messages concerning masculinity and manhood were investigated and compared to the cultural version of masculinity (Soulliere 2006). Soulliere’s research proves that the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) depicts messages, which supports the dominant hegemonic form of masculinity (Soulliere 2006). To further grasp and understand Soulliere’s hypothesis, we must first examine her research methods and outcomes.

Masculinity is all about strength and toughness. But behind every man is a soft, tender side. For many years, and even still today there is a social standard for men to be manly. Rugged outdoor work and sports are commonly associated with masculinity, but behind the scenes nurturing and delicacy are just as much part of men as women. To some, the fact that I am writing this paper and I am a male would discredit my masculinity. However, that is not the case. Surveys are beginning to show that males are gaining more respect for females, which is allowing them to open up and reveal their own softer side. Just because a man doesn’t play a sport doesn’t mean he isn’t masculine. Genetics determine male or female. Manliness is

Being a male in today’s society is not about living and enjoyment, it has become more of a task. Social pressures and media have made it difficult for males to live a life in which they are not being pressured to act or perform a certain way. In order to reassure themselves of their masculinity, violence has become the main method in assuring themselves and those around them that they are powerful. Not only is this violence being perpetrated against others, but self-inflicted violence also exists. The violence being used is not only physical but it is emotional abuse as well. Masculinity has forced many males to perform in ways that are detrimental to their own health as well as their loved ones. Furthermore, it has also put males in the

Women are more often diagnosed with depression because they are stereotyped as being overly emotional and irrational based on these emotions, versus men who are idealized as being emotion-less, therefore more logically sensable. This may mean that clinicians are more anxious and more willing to diagnose with women with depression because they are hyperaware of symptoms of depression in women, and more quickly link these dynamics together once they are detected in women. This is because people become hyperconscious of signs that may confirm stereotypes and are driven to confirm these stereotypes that may be consciously or subconsciously held within their beliefs and morals. Men are told by society that it is not masculine nor normal to exhibit