1

David Pena

04/01/24

Mr. Powers

English 1302

Position paper

Masculine roles that get pushed onto men by both society, and other men are harmful to

both their physical and mental health. These gender roles are as old as any records we’ve ever

kept. Expectations men should strive to meet, in order to fit into society. Yet as time goes on, and

the times change, the roles haven’t for the worse. Men are forced to fit a mold that gears them

towards what is expected of them, despite the many harmful effects it has for their well being.

One thing that is not addressed when people discuss the roles of a gender in society is

statistics about it. Criminal statistics for example are avoided, yet as stated by Wilson and Daly,

who are both well respected researchers who through surveys, and research on the origin of male

violence, worked to understand male violence. “A predominance of male offenders is of course

characteristic not just of homicide, but of all types of crime except prostitution. Ninety-three

percent of robberies, 94% of burglaries, and 91% of motor vehicle thefts in America in 1980, for

example, were committed by males.” (Wilson et al, 66) Men are more likely to commit not only

violent crime, but most major branches of crime. It was brought up within the same article, that

through their studies, Wilson and company found that men were often forced into an aggression

heavy role or situation. As stated again by Wilson and his peer “If male fitness derives from

success in risky competition, then males are expected to join such competition willingly, given
 2

reasonable prospects of success.” (Wilson et al, 66) In order to be seen as a successful male

amongst your peers you have to take risks. You have to rise to whatever occasion is presented,

whatever danger it is, or else you will be seen as a lesser person. It leads to a culture where

backing down is just not an option, if you back down you are a lesser man. Less likely to get a

woman, or just seen as not a man like the others. It can even present harm in a more indirect way

for their physical health. Men struggle to address when they have STDs. It is treated as a sort of

taboo subject for men to discuss, yet whenever a way to deal with it, or have it treated is

presented, it's often moved to the side. As brought up by Fleming, a health behavior and

education professor at the University of Michigan, and peers in their research about targeted ad

campaigns. “The ads ask men to “man up,” a colloquialism indicating the adoption of masculine

ideals such as courage and being strong-willed.” (Fleming et al) They bring up the point that to

even get men to test for STDS, something that should be a bare minimum if they feel as if they

need it, yet in order to get even that done. They need to be appealed to specifically to even get

anything done. It has made this type of culture for men, where in order for something to appeal

to them, it first needs to appeal to what may as well be a fragile idea of what being a man is for

these men.

Of the 48,183 suicide deaths within the United States during 2021, 38,358 were from

men. Which is nearly four times that of women’s 9,825. (Center of Disease Control and

Prevention) This does not imply that men struggle with their mental health more than women, it

plainly states that they do. Researchers while looking into this issue have found a common trend

in adhering to masculine gender roles with poor mental health. Such as the research done by

Iwamoto, a professor who is part of the University of Maryland Psychology Department, and

peers, where they state “That is, it is possible the more that men adhere
 3

to distinct masculine norms, the more likely they will report future depressive symptomatology.”

(Iwamoto et al, 1878) Iwamoto’s research was on the effects of masculine gender roles on men’s

mental health. While it was conceded that there are positive benefits in some aspects from it.

There were also many instances where it hurts mental health, at moments in serve ways. Such as

the idea that men should not need help to function and be strong. It hurts men, making them

unable to reach out for help. It is even brought up by other researchers. Such as Cleary, a

cognitive psychology professor at the University of Colorado and her peers within their own

research. “begin the discussion by addressing the male excess in suicide rates and the

discrepancy between men’s low rate of diagnosed depression and high rates of suicide.” (Cleary

et al, 1) Despite having suicide rates that could be compared to a crisis, men have a low rate of

reporting depression, or its symptoms. The research done by Cleary and her peers pointed out

that in several nations the suicide rate was a male dominated statistic. Even in matters not as

large as suicide, the inability for men to reach out for help is always present. Even if they reach

out for help, it can be pushed down by other men, as brought up by McKenzie, a researcher from

the University of Otago at Wellington, and her peers in their research. Men struggle to connect

with their fellow man about their mental health, either due to the others dismissing it, or possibly

using it as a method to make fun of the other. Not only is it seen through everyday interactions,

but they even found examples of it happening through firsthand accounts. “I needed to get lots of

courage together to tell a friend of mine and I kind of said, “Ah, I think I’m depressed,” and he’s

like, “Ah, that’s a shame” [laughs] and it didn’t really go anywhere, you know.” (McKenzie et al,

1253) That quote was from a young college student called Zac. He was discussing how he

struggled to gain the courage to even speak up about the fact he was suffering from depression

Yet when he finally did speak up to a man he considered his best friend, he was simply waved
 4

off. His depression being treated as a dismissive matter. Typically, the only times men did feel

safe to discuss their mental health with another was either if it was a woman, or there was a life

altering event that changed their perception of life. An unfortunate necessity for what should be

something any man can be able to do if he lets himself.

When it comes to common counter arguments made against the idea that masculinity can

be toxic for men, the most rebuttal, or counter argument is a type of doubling down. Where

instead of stating that there are positives outside of those claims, they claim the toxic aspects are

positive. The largest defender of this stance being the self called revolutionary of his generation,

Andrew Tate. He has 8.5 million followers on X, and has gathered a large following for himself.

With that following comes a large number of men who spread his ideas of masculinity being the

peak. As quoted by Nair and their peers on the website Dot Esports “Men are not designed to be

comfortable, they want to achieve, to feel pain and suffering, to conquer something.” (Nair Yash,

et al.) Of course their stance is just doubling down on what is being attacked in order to defend.

Andrew Tate, and other Alpha male men try to just double down. Yet all it does is show the

closed, and often dangerously narrow mindset that ignores evidence, or anything holds their

argument together.

Masculine roles, while being able to be positive influences for men at moments, can

cause them immense harm as well. In examples such as the suicide rates, or the STD crisis that is

simply not being addressed, men are forced into an odd problem, where despite being seen as

problem solvers, they can’t get help, or help their fellow man. The issue of their roles sinking

into how they treat their health to cause issues for them down the line. When it comes to how

these issues are addressed they are often treated as attacks. Which just leads to a whole slew of

problems for the people suffering from them, since now, they have issues that can’t be pointed
 5

out. Trapped in what seems like a cycle of self destructive behavior by both society and

themselves.
 6

Citations

Center of Disease Control and Prevention

https://www.cdc.gov/suicide/suicide-data-statistics.html

Wilson, Margo, and Martin Daly. “Competitiveness, Risk Taking, and Violence: The

Young Male Syndrome.” Ethology and Sociobiology, vol. 6, no. 1, Jan. 1985, pp. 59–73,

doi:10.1016/0162-3095(85)90041-x.

Cleary, Anne, et al. “Editorial: Men, Mental Health, and Suicide.” Frontiers in Sociology,

vol. 7, 16 Jan. 2023, doi:10.3389/fsoc.2022.1123319.

Iwamoto, Derek K et al. “Masculinity and Depression: A Longitudinal Investigation of

Multidimensional Masculine Norms Among College Men.” American journal of men's health

vol. 12,6 (2018): 1873-1881. doi:10.1177/1557988318785549

Fleming, Paul J., et al. “‘Real Men Don’t’: Constructions of Masculinity and Inadvertent

Harm in Public Health Interventions.” American Journal of Public Health, vol. 104, no. 6, June

2014, pp. 1029–1035, doi:10.2105/ajph.2013.301820.

McKenzie, Sarah K., et al. “Masculinity, Social Connectedness, and Mental Health:

Men’s Diverse Patterns of Practice.” American Journal of Men’s Health, vol. 12, no. 5, 28 Apr.

2018, pp. 1247–1261, doi:10.1177/1557988318772732.

Nair, Yash. et al. “60 Most Controversial Andrew Tate Quotes” Dot Esports, 14/03/24,

https://dotesports.com/streaming/news/40-most-controversial-andrew-tate-quotes