Violence and Mental Health

What is Hegemonic masculinity? Hegemonic masculinity is defined as “the common sense about breadwinning and manhood. It is exclusive, anxiety-provoking, internally and hierarchically differentiated, brutal, and violent. It is pseudo-natural, tough, contradictory, crisis-prone, rich, and socially sustained” by Mike Donaldson, in his book What is Hegemonic Masculinity. The key points from this definition are “violent”, “crisis-prone” and “socially sustained” and how these three aspects play into the relationship between hegemonic masculinity and men’s mental health.

Violent Behavior

More Violent, More Masculine

Violence has been painted as a masculine trait. As discussed in Tough Guise 2, a documentary on masculinity, Jackson Katz mentions that “whether we’re talking about the horrifying, high-profile mass shootings we’ve seen over recent decades, the far greater rates of murder and gun violence we see on a day-to-day basis that barely register in the national news, or the epidemic of sexual violence and domestic violence, the vast majority of this violence is committed by men, young men, and boys” , then proceeds to display statistics, supporting this claim. To derive meaning, many assert that these violent tendencies are due to media, and the desensitization of violence. But why does this only affect men, and not women, who are equally exposed to these forms of media? One possible explanation, is how men feel the need to display aggressive and violent behaviors as to comply with the characteristics that define hegemonic masculinity. Katz continues to play clips from news sources explaining the “Wussification of America” where men may also feel the need to act more violent in a way to maintain the masculinity and continue the ideology of a male run America. Another characteristic that defines masculinity is being alpha, where the individual feels a sense of dominance and superiority over others.

African American Aggressiveness

In Deevia Bhana and Emmanuel Mayeza’s Journal, We Don’t Play With Gays, They’re Not Real Boys…, they conducted a study in South Africa, where they observed behaviors of young school boys. They discovered that “these boys, who identify themselves as ‘real boys’, use homophobic violence as a means of exerting and yielding power over other boys. In particular, violence was exerted against those they constructed as ‘gay’, where being ‘gay’ is associated with physical and emotional fragility, association with girls” . By displaying characteristics of hegemonic masculinity, these boys develop a sense of dominance over their peers and provides them with exclusive power. Black men are considered the epitome of hegemonic masculinity. In Ajamu Banjoko's book The Sexuality Curriculum and Youth Culture, He mentions that "Black men aren't like normal people. Black men are supposed to be impervious to injury and pain. Physical dominance, aggressiveness, and the use of violence to maintain male power constitute a central feature in definitions of hegemonic white masculinity" . Black men are put in a position where they are expected to "project this mask of emotionlessness, fearlessness, and aloofness to counter the inner pain caused by the damaged pride, poor self-confidence and fragile social competence" , which furthers their risk of depressive symptoms and self-destructive behavior.

Self-destructive Behavior

Depression

Hegemonic masculinity seems to be a leading cause in violence towards other boys/men as well as women, as described by Bhana and Mayeza, it “grants them (men/boys) access, high status and dominance in a society at the expense of women/girls, and ‘other’ men/boys” , where only those who closely follow the characteristics of masculinity may benefit. However, hegemonic masculinity has serious ramifications towards those same boys/men. With that said, most men strive for the ideal depiction of hegemonic masculinity and to uphold all characteristics that define it, where emotional fragility, weakness and requiring help are frowned upon. Studies have been conducted, where interviews with men discovered how “norms of masculinity may lead men to “mask” their depression or self-medicate through alcohol or substance use, complicate their help-seeking efforts” . Boys/men are put in a position where it is ‘feminine’ to seek help and take action when faced with these challenges with mental health, their solution is to hide it, ‘mask’ it, or overdose on various substances in an effort to sedate their feelings. This method of coping has led many men to the path of suicide.

Not Masculine Enough

This is further highlighted in Emslie et al’s journal, Men’s Account of Depression: Reconstructing or Resisting Hegemonic Masculinity, “men may find recognizing and seeking help for depressive symptoms problematic; indeed, Warren has argued that depression is ‘incompatible’ with masculinity. She lists three main reasons. First, expressing emotion and crying is linked to femininity. Secondly, masculinity is linked with competence and achievement, while depression is often accompanied by feelings of powerlessness and lack of control. Thirdly, masculinity requires men to be tough and self-reliant” . This produces the ideology that men are not allowed to have these weaknesses, and if faced with them, must endure them, themselves. Through avoiding help, due to the fear of seeming weak and helpless, this makes men more crisis-prone. However, what is the reason men follow these rules? Are they genetically predisposed to act these ways?

Socially Constructed Concept

Hegemonic masculinity is a socially sustained concept in which men abide to, simply because of the way masculinity has been constructed to portray the epitome of manliness. The concept of masculinity is socially constructed and thrives only when participants enact those classifications. By performing these characteristics, it perpetuates the ideology of hegemonic masculinity and puts men in a position where they feel uncomfortable straying away from it. They are at risk of being too ‘feminine’. Additionally, the concept of masculinity is spread through media. Jackson Katz presents an abundance of examples where masculinity has been continued through media. He mentions that “there was no clearer depiction of this backlash phenomenon than the film Fight Club. The movie portrayed the emasculation of young men by the consumer culture and offered up bare-knuckled violence as a way for men to reclaim their manhood” .