Masculinities And Men's Depression: A Psychological Analysis

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

Closely related to notions of masculinity is mental health. As the Canadian Mental Health Association [CMHA] (2018) and CMHF (2018) report, beliefs about masculinity can discourage men’s interest in health issues, and stigma, fears of emasculation, vulnerability, and powerlessness in particular can dissuade interest in mental health. For example, many men have lower awareness of depression and anxiety symptoms or do not believe they are susceptible, and they often do not link issues or symptoms like anger and insomnia, to emotional distress (CMHA, 2018; State of Victoria, Department of Health 2015). Rather, men tend to employ maladaptive behaviours, like numbing, which can lead to self-destructive behaviours, such as violence

Hypermasculinity requires a man to be, frankly, emotionally constipated. He cannot show tears or sadness. Many young boys are told to stop crying and “man up”. By repressing natural expressions of emotion such as crying, men have withdrawn emotional states. Men being forced to repress their emotions and being raised into fearfulness of expressing these emotions, is dangerous. This emotional repression makes men more susceptible to depression and eventually suicide. Depression is commonly seen in the image of a highschool girl with no friends who is sad all the time. But that’s just not the case with most depressed people. Depression is less sadness and more emotional disconnect. This emotional disconnect of depression can be found in both men and women. Yet the same emotional disconnect of depression is something men are forced into feeling. The feeling of having to hide emotions or not being able to feel at all are signs of depression, but are the sort of traits society wants men to have- in order to Act Like A Man. When men do show emotion, it must be raw and powerful and dominating. It has to be a play of power against other men and especially a play to show power over women. They fight. And, in the most extreme case, they kill.

Society faces an issue that is not usually addressed because it is seen as the norm in today’s American culture. It is the crisis of masculinity. The notion of how men should be portrayed is not usually identified as a problem; today’s society views men’s apathetic and exasperated exterior as the orthodox behavior of everyday life. Boys at a young age are taught by the popular culture that they need to be a “real man” - strong physically and emotionally. The mask many men put up is based on the extreme idea of masculinity that emphasizes toughness, physical strength and gaining the respect of others through violence or the explicit threat of it. This front is put up by men because they do not want to stray from what is accepted, for men who

Men are less likely to seek help for depression because in countless societies, men are looked down upon for showing emotion. Untreated depression can then easily lead to suicidal thoughts and eventually suicidal behavior. Men throughout the world carry the burden of concealing their weaknesses from those around them for

For a long time, men and women have been dealing with the controversy of gender roles. In modern day, the battle for gender equality has been more known. In the story “Guys Suffer from Oppressive Gender Roles Too”, the author Julie Zeilinger explains how males are held to a more macho standard, but do have prevalent emotions. If we were to let go of these rigid rules about what is manly, there would be no standard for any gender. If that was reality, men shouldn’t have to feel humiliated about staying home, and if their companion makes more money than they do. Zeilinger talks about how males detach themselves from some emotions, and live a “life nub to a true range of human emotion” so they can meet this masculinity standard. However if males

When boys are young they are told to toughen up or to stop acting like a girl when they are sad or want to cry. Michael Kimmel, author of “Bros Before Hos”: The Guy Code, discusses how there is a code guys are supposed to follow and how being taught natural behaviors, such as crying or talking about emotions, are wrong at a young age negatively impacts boys for their whole life. Emily Smith, the author of Life on the Island, talks about how a decrease in places that have a feeling of community increases the suicide rate among men. Everyone tells boys to act a certain way their father, coach, even people they don’t know, but this is not the only place they hear these negative statements. Television and magazine advertisements often depict men in an unrealistic way that feels unachievable and because of this young boys who view these ads feel negatively about themselves and because of the guy code they can’t share their feelings and emotions which can lead to depression or even suicide.

In order to fully understand a more in depth evaluation of both why and how men conform to this social phenomenon, one must know how hegemonic masculinity is defined. This term was made popular by Connell’s work Gender and Power which critiqued the male social role and how hegemonic masculinity has developed (Connell 830). Scholars agree that hegemonic masculinity is characterized by “being emotionally detached and

This study was aimed at finding out the effects of alcohol on a man’s masculinity and how drinking makes men feel in comparison to when they are sober. Existing literature from Addis and Mahalik, (2003); Good, Schopp, Thomson, Hathaway, Mazurek & Sanford-Martens (2008); Dempster (2011) has suggested that the impacts of alcohol on masculinity and often results in men feeling pressure to keep drinking to keep their masculinity credit.

The gender stereotypes, which are constructed by our society, formulate what is required to “be a man”. The desired stereotypical trait of masculinity is a well-established male characteristic, which is vital to fit with assigned gender norms. It is perceived as desirable attribute among society, when in actuality may be causing harm with how it is shaping younger generations. The gender characteristic of masculinity and the attributes required to make a man, have been causing various mental health issues among males. The mental heath issues caused by masculinity are discussed in the movie, The Masks You Live in. Through the ideas of The Mask You Live in, this paper will discuss toxic norms associated with masculinity, how they are

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

Men and women are biologically similar in regards to the hormones and chemicals involved with depression. However socially, each gender encounters different social afflictions that can often lead them into depressive states. In this essay, we will explore the common struggles that each gender experiences and how these realities effect their contrasting developments of depression.

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

According to Anthony Clare the heart of the masculinity crisis lies within the understanding of “the private and public sphere, the intimate and the impersonal, the emotional and the irrational” (Clare, 2000:212). Both men and women are both confined to their spaces and the line between the two has somewhat been blurred, thus resulting in a crisis. The way in which this line is blurred is by masculinity becoming more feminized. There have been two major shifts in masculinity over

The aim of this research is to explore selected self-help literature, mostly aimed towards the young male demographic, and how they approach and they effect ideas around masculinity. Over the past ten to fifteen years self-help movements, programs and more notably books have become increasingly popular. Although this research isn’t aimed exclusively to compare and contrast women’s and men’s self-help literature, the comparisons that may arise throughout this essay may have the capacity to be illuminating. This project will examine just how self-help literature, mostly targeted towards men, effect ideas around masculinity and why this matters and is relevant.