With the constant stream of discussion about the expectations of women in our society, it almost seems that the issues men face are nonexistent, or ignored at the very least. However, men face obstacles every day that are, a lot of times, swept under the rug in an attempt to maintain an image expected of them by the greater society. Because of assigned gender roles, women are encouraged to be emotional and are often consoled rather than reprimanded when they cry or show emotion. When a male feels this way, it is expected that he disguise it through anger or violence and call it masculinity. We, as a society, feel uncomfortable when people do not adhere to their role, so we subconsciously- most of the time unknowingly- reproduce these unfair cultural expectations.
It happens frequently in casual conversations; sayings such as "man up", "grow a pair", "don't be a sissy", etc. normalize an unfair expectation of masculinity to produce strong, unwavering men who lack any emotion besides anger while at the same time suggesting that being or acting like a woman gives a weak, cowardly, negative persona. Over the course of generations, we as a society have created a toxic masculinity that is resulting in detrimental feedback.
As can be expected when one is raised to be angry instead of sad and to lash out before allowing oneself to cry, violence is a real issue for those who grow up adhering to a masculine expectation. Men are more likely to be murdered, commit murder, join gangs and get arrested- a likely result of parents as well as teachers and peers being more likely to encourage fighting in young males than in females. With a society that rewards males for being aggressive- in movies, sports, and in the military- it shouldn't come as a surprise that violence, as well as many other difficulties that follow, are very prevalent in a man's life.
In fact, there are only two cases when a female is more likely to be the victim of violence and that is in the case of both domestic violence and sexual violence. However, that does not mean that sexual assault, abuse, and rape are irrelevant in a man's life. In fact, one out of every ten rape victims are male. This is only based off of incidences that have been reported. Unfortunately, because of this invincible ideal that men are demanded to conform to, many do not report rape and/or sexual assault due to the backlash and absolute societal shame that may follow. One in six young boys are sexually abused before they turn 18, but only 16% of men with a documented history of this abuse will admit it occurred, compared to 64% of their female counterparts. These numbers are far too vastly different to be any sort of coincidence; this is a result of toxic masculinity.
On top of this, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention says that men are almost four times more likely to die by suicide and white males accounted for 70% of suicides in 2016. This statistic is no stranger to gender roles, as the most common way for a male to end his life is by asphyxia or hanging which can be linked to action and violence, while women used pharmacological drugs more often which can be linked to emotion.
While women are more likely to attempt suicide, men are more likely to complete it. When it comes to mental illnesses, men are less likely to seek help from a professional when experiencing symptoms of depression and anxiety. In other words, men will literally choose death over showing any sort of weakness or lag in upholding their end of the bargain with society... talk about a misinterpretation of masculinity.
Although this barely scratches the surface of the issues men face daily, there is a painfully obvious pattern beginning to form. These issues are the result of misguided expectations placed upon men by a society that values the creation of hyper-masculinity more than it values the lives and well-being of its individual parts.
