With Mental Health Week in full swing here at Ohio Northern University, I figured it would be a good time to bring up the concept of a "masculinity complex," or the idea that men are more inclined to partially or completely repress their emotions in order to withhold the socially constructed idea of "masculinity." While this is something many may scoff at and simply disregard as a beta-male syndrome, it's an issue of dire importance that must be discussed amongst our millennial generations. You see, the fact that men are simply unable to express their emotions without the constant fear of ridicule or social sabotage leads to more issues than you may realize.
As a man, I can tell you firsthand that dealing with the complex human emotions everyone feels is an entirely different story when you're oppressed under the idea that emotion does nothing but show weakness and shame. To be taken seriously as a male, you have to take on a role of stoic strength, a role that romanticizes bottling up the things that hurt you and saving them for another time. This article itself is difficult to write because I can feel myself trying to hurdle the societal barriers that have been instilled in me since the day I was born. This isn't a plea for help or a cry in to the void that is the Internet. What I'm trying to say is that, as a society that perpetuates this male archetype, we're ultimately hurting ourselves and clipping our own wings.
According to empirical evidence on sex and how that factors in to suicidal tendencies, men are four times more likely to commit suicide than a woman. Now, this isn't just a "normal" discrepancy between men and women. This is a bright red flag that there's a very serious issue within the structure we use to raise boys and teach them how to view the world. We aren't teaching young men how to effectively articulate their ideas and emotions that are intrinsically part of the human experience. Without this ability, many men simply don't understand how to ask for help without feeling weak and belittled. The deprivation of a healthy emotional and psychological state due to hegemonic masculinity is the reason that middle-aged, low-socioeconomic-level men are four times more likely to take their own lives than women. This is the sad but very real truth that we're just not talking about.
To me, Mental Health Week means more than just making yourself aware of the issues people face with their psyche, it's about an empathic understanding of the raw, unbridled pain that these people face every day of their lives. This culture lag we're experiencing pits our idea of masculinity against the undeniable importance of a healthy mind--mentally, physically, and emotionally. Until we can effectively change the attributes and characteristics that we hold in such high regard for men, we're going to continue to see these absolutely disheartening statistics. We're a generation that will soon lead the world into the future and it's up to us whether or not it's one filled with hope and prosperity or sadness and misunderstanding.
