This is a comment by on the post “Why Are Men Four Times More Likely to Kill Themselves Than Women?“
MH writes:
“Being a woman, says neuropsychiatrist Louann Brizendine, is like having giant, invisible antennae that reaches out into the world, constantly aware of the emotions and needs of those around you.”
John D responded:
“Well if Brizendine’s views on antennae are so well founded and researched—er?—why are they so poorly tuned in to men and suicide? Or is it that men’s ’emotions and needs’ are tuned out and off the radar? You can’t have it both ways! ‘Constantly aware?’
“Great poin,t MH. If men have a responsibility to stop rape, do women have a responsibility to stop suicide? If Louann’s suspiciously supremacist point is valid, then women are letting men down in a huge way. If women caretake others emotional needs better, then shouldn’t women be committing more suicide?
“Or is it possible that women simply take care of their own emotional needs better?
“I would say it is the latter. Additionally, I would say that (as Ozy mentions even though I seem to be banned from commenting on his articles) men are trapped in the man-box. When men show victimhood or vulnerability they usually get mocking and derision from both sexes from what I have seen.
“When women express suffering they get attention (personally and in a societal way). When men express suffering they get revulsion.”
Photo credit: Flickr / Beverly & Pack
“and ‘pussy’ (a personal favorite, I just *love* it when men use feminine words to insult each other!).” – So do I. And when women use feminine words to insult men it drives me to the heights of pure and unbridled ecstasy.
As somebody who has always felt that others are unable or simply unwilling to take into consideration my own feelings and experiences I find it annoying when woman are described as profoundly more capable of empathy than men.
Really? We’re going to blame this on women? I’m thinking not. Let’s start with the fact that most children are raised in single parent households headed by women. Want to have a say in how your son looks at life? Start by participating in his childhood. Studies show that most adolescents of both sexes, *but especially males with absentee fathers* look to their peers for life guidance. Have you spent much time observing boys ages 7 to 17? A lot of roughhousing and abuse, followed by phrases like ‘man up’ ,’don’t be a wimp’ , and ‘pussy’ (a personal favorite,… Read more »
It’s society, not women alone at fault. Both mothers n fathers push the “man up” on their children. You realize men die 5 years younger than women and that women’s healthcare is spoken about a hell of a lot more than male healthcare that I’ve ever seen…
@Bex.
I find it interesting that you saw “let’s blame women” anywhere in either of those comments. At best they said “let’s blame ONE woman (Brizendine) for having shitty unscientific ill-researched conclusions”
Regardless, I’m curious where you found “solid numbers showing that women are VASTLY more likely to die of preventable diseases” because it’s been my understanding that with perhaps one or two exceptions, men outnumber women when it comes to pretty much all categories of “untimely death.”
Amen to that. We men are not allowed to bleed, not allowed to be injured, hurt, sick, sad, depressed. Gotta eat our cement n harden up, keep going, work hard, work long hours until our inevitable heart attack at 50.