Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Masculinity As a Public Health Problem?

Harmful-men, women, self
Violence 90% of violence is committed by men.
Mental Illness
Men's bodies
-drink the most
-eat the most
-steroids
-health
-Substance abuse

Some aspects are associated with being positive when they shouldn't be for example violence and substance abuse; a lot of males seem accomplished when they beat someone up or drink the most alcohol, when in reality, they aren't benefiting anyone; they are hurting not only themselves, but also society.  Conversely, they see some aspects as negative when in fact there is nothing wrong with it.  The main example of this would be femininity.   Which then brings us to our second point; femininity  is also a public health issue because it forces women to contort themselves to fit into this intricate box that restricts them to a point that it is physically, mentally, and socially impossible to fit in.

However, the question of the hour is whether or not masculinity is a public health problem.  Certainly a difficult mystery to debunk, because of the fact that both sides of the argument are relatively strong.  Arguing that masculinity is in fact a public health problem highlights the countless times that men are often diagnosed with mental illness, but is it possible that it is due to the fact they are pressured by society?  So the question basically becomes who is to blame for the social pressures put on men to be ultra masculine.  Or is it a chicken -egg situation?

Whether or not masculinity is a public health problem, is there really a way to solve it?  Who exactly can be blamed for it?  Society has created this cyclical pattern of pressuring men to be the most 'manly' but putting them against one another, yet people are still so unwilling to try and stop the cycle for some reason, that it is leading to more and more issues with physical, sexual, and mental violence.

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