The concept of being a man is something which is taught to men from a young age by their environment. Well, on this page, we are going to talk about masculinity. If you want to know information about masculinity, make sure you read this entire article.
Meaning of Masculinity
According to Levant & Richmond (2007), masculinity is a collection of beliefs about men that are descriptive, prescriptive, and proscriptive. The concept of masculinity is flexible, in the sense that it can change from generation to generation and region to region (Connell, 1995). Therefore, each person, society and culture will have their own set of representations of masculinity (Murray & Drummond, 2016; Witt, 2011, p. 77).
According to Connel (1987) and Hofstede (2001) in Drydakis et al., (2018) the characteristics of male stereotypes include:
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- Physically and mentally strong (brave)
- Technically competent
- Ambitious
- Does not rely on others in daily life (can handle his own problems)
- A leader who can control emotions
So, what happens when a man cannot meet these expectations? Based on the person’s environment, one can expect a variety of reactions, both positive and negative. For example, when we were in elementary school there were boys who were weak and insecure, they were often called “sissies” because they behaved like stereotypical women.
The behavior of mocking and putting down guys who are less of a man is an example of Precarious Manhood. According to Bosson & Vandello (2011), Precarious manhood is a concept that says masculinity must be achieved and needs to go through/do certain things before one can say he is man. For some people, they become men because of smoking, drinking, and so on. Sometimes, these unhealthy activities occur because of the externalization of their emotional disturbances (Cochran & Rabinowitz, 2000).
Of course, your family, neighborhood, and friends want you to be a man according to the expectations that have been built by society along with social media, and culture. Certainly, there will be a negative impact (mental and physical) on these stressed individuals. According to Pleck (1995) men are going to experience distress when they:
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- Moving away or violating their roles and norms as a masculine man.
- Failing to meet behavioral norms of masculinity.
- Experiencing a mismatch between self and idealized self-concept based on stereotypical male roles.
- Personally demeaning, prohibiting, violating oneself, this can also be from the environment or caused by gender stereotypes.
Because of these situations, a variety of social and psychological problems are present in the lives of men, whether masculine or not. According to the American Psychological Association (2016) Wizdom Powell says that overly rigid masculinity (teaching men to be independent, strong, and able to handle their own problems) can result in adult men who are less willing to seek psychological help (Wong, Ho, Wang, & Miller, 2017). Even men who decide to seek psychological help experience gender bias in therapy (Mahalik et al., 2012) which affects their diagnosis and support.
A bookworm and researcher especially related to law and citizenship education. I spend time every day in front of the internet and the campus library.
