The Silent Epidemic 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 By repressing natural expressions of emotion such as crying, men have withdrawn emotional states.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.

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

This “tough guise” mask not only hinders men from finding their own happiness and potential in life, but it also encourages them to commit violent acts that are overlooked and often seen as conventional.

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

Men are treated vastly differently than women. For example, men are expected to not show their emotions. In “why men don’t last” by Natalie Angier, a Pulitzer Prize winning reporter, she described how even when men are young boys they have their emotions shamed out of them by their parents and their peers (Angier 1011). In “The War Against Boys” Christina Hoff Sommers, a writer of several books, wrote how men have it imprinted on them at a young age that showing your emotions is a sign of weakness. Men are also taught to be self-sufficient and not ask for help (Sommers 1061). For example, there were many times when I was in school but needed help. I never asked because I always wanted to think of myself as self-sufficient, that I did not need the help from my teacher and I could figure it out myself. Now, of course, I realize how dumb that was that there is no shame in asking for help,

Connor Beaton, the Ted Talk speaker defines a real man as one who has emotional resilience. The speaker at this point talks about the expressions and emotions of a real man. Beaton lamented, “Being taught that self expression is not what real “man” face today”( Beaton 00:56). Beaton talks about the bitter truth faced by men in today’s society. Men are not supposed to show self expression and are supposed to be tough and strong to be able to withstand any problems and that is being resilient . Self-expression is not for a real man and is only for women . Men can not express themselves in today’s society and Feminism isn’t the death of today’s society . A real man is not supposed to cry or sing as it is only for women in today’s society. This in today’s society defines gender socialization and its effects.The effects are that people expect something from a person but if a he/she does not deliver the same impression, the person is not considered the same and is treated differently.Similarly, Beaton says that a person is a real man if he is emotionally suppressed. Beaton exclaims, “ Emotional suppression creates a culture where men avoid emotion almost entirely. A culture where we stop talking about the truly important things in our lives , a culture where brotherhood and true companionship is discouraged ”(Beaton 09:00). Men according to the society are supposed to be tough and are supposed to

Obesity is a growing problem and concern in American households today. However it cannot be narrowed down to one main problem. The most prominent underlying issues are psychological and environmental. These issues in turn create deteriorating health and economic problems degrading one’s self-esteem.

The article, “Silent Epidemic”, is referring to the dropout rate. According to Bridgeland, Diluilo, and Morrison, “There is a high school dropout epidemic in America. Each year, almost one third of all public high school students and nearly one half of all blacks, Hispanics and Native Americans fail to graduate from public high school with their class. Many of these students abandon school with less than two years to complete their high school education” (Bridgeland, Diluilo, Morrison, 2006). Students that dropout of school risk everything. In the article “Silent Epidemic”, Bridgeland, Diluilo, and Morrison state that, “Dropouts are much more likely than their peers who graduate to be unemployed, living in poverty, receiving public assistance,

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

The world has experienced a total of four pandemics within the twentieth century. These pandemics, as horrific and deadly as they are, have brought so much more positive advances to our health care system and how we prepare for biological threats. Although we are in the twenty-first century and we have advanced so far in healthcare, there is still the possibility of a deadly pandemic.

This movie focused on something that people don't usually pay attention to, and that's the reason for the movie in the first place. Not only are men's emotions ignored in society but they are also shamed for feeling like humans. From a young age boys are taught that crying makes you weak and feeling emotions is only for women. So as biology goes these boys grow into men with the same mentality and pass the same message on to the next generation. In this paper i will be looking at specifically the way society shapes young boys to grow into emotionally unavailable men. Using the movie “The mask you live in” I will be evaluating the way young men are made to fear the human emotions that god has given them.

Of the many diseases spread by insects, none are actually caused by the insects themselves but by other organisms passed on when they feed or bite. Insects are capable of spreading diseases caused by many different types of microorganisms including bacteria, viruses, protozoan and others. Mosquitoes have earned the title of "the most deadly creature on earth." This is due to the fact that they spread serious epidemic diseases such as Malaria, Yellow Fever, African Sleeping Sickness, and West Nile Virus.