Masculinity In Men Research Paper

It is believed that men who bully others are an exact effect of them trying to protect whatever sense they have of masculinity. Their sense of masculinity can be warped into society’s version of hypermasculinity. Chris Bell, director and narrator of Bigger, Stronger, Faster, tells how as a twelve year old boy, he wanted to be “ripped, tan, and larger than life; but in reality [he] was a fat, pale kid from Poughkeepsie … from an overweight family.” He watched and idolized Rambo, Hulk Hogan, Rocky, and Arnold Schwarzenegger, men who achieved fame and fortune through violence - even though some of it was an act. Bell and his brothers became heavily interested in weightlifting and even won competitions for the sport, but the difference between

This is due to the fact that men are often pushed to bottle their emotions. Terrence Real, psychiatrist, reports that “Hidden depression drives several of the problems we think as typically male: physical illness, alcohol and drug abuse, domestic violence, failures in intimacy, self-sabotage in careers. We tend not to recognize depression in men because the disorder itself is seen as unmanly” (FIND PAGE). Real goes on to say that depression is a double edged sword for men - the femininity associated with expressing emotions and the shame of mental illness (FIND PAGE). This can create complications in numerous ways. For example, a man may be unable to express his emotions in fear of it ruining his masculinity; this will create problems within a romantic relationship, which may lead him to use drugs or alcohol as an outlet or being abusing his partner in order to release the pain that he is experiencing internally. Unfortunately, men seem unable to deal with being unable to express their emotions, but who would be able to bear that emotional burden? This weight often leads men to only emotion accepted by society’s hypermasculinity, anger. Katz from Tough Guise and Tough Guise 2 offered statistics: eighty six percent of domestic abuse cases involving physical injury are from men, twenty five percent of men will use violence against a partner, males significantly exceed females who suffer from

Society’s current version of hypermasculinity has proven to be violent, ruin relationships, and cause mental problems. We must work to change this into something that is much better for men and women alike. If we do not, the confines of masculinity will close in even more, seeming like a highly exclusive club where many more people are left out than let in. If it does continue, masculinity will continue to promote risky behaviors, including stunts for attention and violent reactions to a lack of masculinity; these behaviors, however, will be more startling due to the fact society may have adapted to what used to be horrifying. To allow this problem to snowball out of control would be a shame to society since we are well aware of the problem, and we can no longer allow more mass killings to take place that could potentially put Pearl High and Colombine Elementary to shame. The nerds, the outcasts, the jocks—all potentially have mental illnesses and problems with dealing with masculinity. This is an important fact to remember because we cannot solely focus on a minority of