We ask you, men, do you think men are in crisis?
Writers in major publications from the New York Times to The Atlantic have referenced a crisis of masculinity in one form or another in the last few years.
But it seems like nobody’s really talking to the men or asking them if they feel in the middle of a masculinity crisis.
Sam De Brito of TheAge examined the issue of changing gender norms in his piece The “Crisis” of Masculinity, wondering whether much of the evidence cited by articles on the topic are going into the question with some confirmation bias. De Brito explains:
My problem with sweeping statements like this is they take for granted the point they’re trying to prove: it’s assumed men are in crisis so, according to the law of confirmation bias, a documentarian who’s already decided on the premise (and title) of their film will include everything proving their hypothesis and ignore that which does not.
It’s persuasion dressed up as reason.
That doesn’t mean gender norms aren’t changing, but rather that these changes may not necessarily be creating the upheaval and misery that the term “crisis” implies.
Beyond assuming that all men are somehow resistant to change, or ridiculed for embracing the softening walls between male vs female, De Brito asks us to think about whether all of the behaviors considered traditionally masculine need to be rejected as harmful or oppressive.
Eva Figes, in her famous 1970 feminist polemic, Patriarchal Attitudes, summed it up, writing: “Human beings have always been particularly slow to accept ideas that diminish their own absolute supremacy and importance. [For men,] like all people who are privileged by birth and long tradition, the idea of sharing could only mean giving up.”
Part of the problem for men is many “traditional” male behaviours depend on the diminution or domination of women. “Traditional” feminine virtues often encourage this subordination.
That said, I can’t help wonder if we’re in danger of throwing out the baby with the bathwater by deconstructing and rejecting every “traditional” male behaviour as destructive or irrelevant.
One also can’t help wonder whether anybody is actually even saying that all traditionally masculine behaviors should be thrown out, or whether that’s a concept designed to sell articles.
De Brito also argues that it isn’t just men who have to be competitive and fight for a place in the hierarchy. It is the nature of all living organisms to compete for survival. So why have we set competitiveness as a masculine trait in our society?
And so we turn it to you, our readers. Guys, do you think there’s a crisis in masculinity?
Are the roles of men changing?
What traditionally masculine characteristics do you think are particularly valuable?
Photo credits:
Dad with son: Flickr/Anders Porter
Men racing to pool: Flickr/Rodrigo Esper
There are sure less homophobic , sexist, and racist men now than in the past. There are more men okay with the idea that women are equal and can do job as good as men. There are more men okay being a stay at home dad without fear of being ridiculed. So I think masculinity is not in crisis. We evolved into better men with sense of empathy and nurture, traits usually associated with women.
There is a paradigm shift underway in how people perceive males and masculinity. Unfortunately this change was not borne of a self generated realization among men that there was a better way for males to behave. Instead, it has its roots in a full throated attack on the “evils” of maleness. Patriarchy, prejudice, impulsive aggression, and violence have all been equated with masculinity in the past 50 years or so. As a result, many young males in today’s world, who hare living through rapid and radical cultural and societal shifts unlike anything that has been seen in history, are faced… Read more »
To answer the basic question if there is a crisis…. I believe they are in crisis but not for the typical reasons. The crisis I see is that many men in general, are going along and living their lives without question. “None so blind as those who will not see.” Things are and have been happening that have negatively impacted men and the crisis as I see it is that many men are oblivious. Some things have changed and the affects on men have clearly been negative but many men have no clue, they’ve simply been accepting the changes and… Read more »
No, there isn’t. Us men have more freedom than ever to pursue the lives we want. Not everyone will accept or understand this immediately, but social change is a slow process and it will take a generawtion or more for people, whatever their gender, to grasp its full implications. As for problems facing men at the moment, such as violence and educational performance, there is room for discussion and cooperation about these issues. I fear, however, that some individuals claiming to stand for men in these areas spend too much time bashing feminists on the Internet rather than thinking of… Read more »
Chris … if you look at all the responses leading to yours, you’re the only one that brought up feminism and a perception of MRA’s. I hope this doesn’t turn into a them vs. us debate. The questions were primarily asked of men. Not MRA’s, not feminists but men.
Hi Joanna
In Scandinavia fewer men become fathers.
For some of those men this certainly is a problem.
Are the roles of men changing? what is considered masculine behaviour, and masculine dress are closely related. in the (western) past they have changed broadly either by practicality principle, by economic necessity principle, or by change in cultural philosophy of the ruling men (and in a court whose power is not derived from mass popularity) to your question, yes the roles of western men are slllowly changing. currently it is driven by solely by economic necessity principle. eg. in the 80s alot mines closed in the uk, in the areas i know about, retail work was considered womanly. 20yrs later… Read more »
Is there a crisis in masculinity? Depends on how you define it. Women are the majority of the undergraduate students in higher education. They graduate at higher rates than men also so among college graduates they comprise a super majority. There are some reports that childless women under 30 earn more than similarly situated men. If we look at men not earning or achieving as much as women a crisis, then there is a crisis in masculinity, but this uses a metric defined by traditional masculinity. If we assume that men (and women) should expect women to be able and… Read more »
Do you think there’s a crisis in masculinity? There is no crisis of masculinity. The whole “male crisis” hoopla has been created by psuedo-intellectuals and is being swallowed hook, line and sinker by ¨gullible media. It is just a new gossip for media. Are the roles of men changing? Sure. The roles have always changed with technological advacements and social changes. The role of men is also evolving with the changes. What traditionally masculine characteristics do you think are particularly valuable? IMHO, stoic perseverance is the most valuable masculine characteristics. Those values are beautifully described in the following lines poem… Read more »
Do you think there’s a crisis in masculinity? Yes and I don’t think we are handling it well at all. A few of the traditional behaviours men have are being suppressed. Behaviours such as violence, risk taking, competitiveness to name a few. I do not think it is healthy in a society long term to have these attributes suppressed. What I think should be happening is that these behaviours, especially in teenagers, need to be trained, taught how to be brought under control and taught how and when they should be used. A lot of teenage men suffer terribly from… Read more »
I understand what you’re saying James but one thing that I would like you to clarify is the “urge for violence.” What’s behind that “urge?”
Hi Tom, sorry for the delay Its very hard to explain. “Violence” is possibly the wrong word, or at least too strong with too many negative connotations. What I am trying to say I guess is linked closely to this definition of violence “Strength of emotion or of a destructive natural force” except the strength of emotion causes you to become a destructive natural force. As a teenager I found I had urges to act in any way available, sometimes destructively (usually breaking things, don’t ask 🙂 ) You know sometimes it is wrong but you just can’t help yourself.… Read more »
“Human beings have always been particularly slow to accept ideas that diminish their own absolute supremacy and importance. [For men,] like all people who are privileged by birth and long tradition, the idea of sharing could only mean giving up.” I wonder if this is some of that confirmation bias. Its already been decided that men are the privileged ones and will therefore be resilient to change. That way when men do start changing and speaking up and complaining it is taken as “see you’re just worried about losing your privileges”. There seems to be this idea that in order… Read more »
I like your line about men waking up. I think there is a crisis in masculinity but not in the negative sense. It’s more of a turning point where men are deciding what roles they want and what roles they reject, where they are speaking up against stereotypes and ideas that disadvantage them, where they say they’re tired of supporting women’s issues and getting no support back. Men are changing, and some women don’t like that. Some women want to keep being the ones who change their role but keep men in the roles that benefit them. They want to… Read more »
I think there is a crisis in masculinity but not in the negative sense. I can agree with that. I’m calling the disruption that’s going on a crisis, which is as you say not a necessarily bad thing. Men are changing, and some women don’t like that. Some women want to keep being the ones who change their role but keep men in the roles that benefit them. They want to keep their special privileges and tet demand equality. These are the women who talk about the crisis and the negative aspects of masculinity. Because men are waking up and… Read more »
@ Danny
“Contrary to popular belief a lot of men didn’t follow that script because they wanted power over women or something like that. They did it because they saw that is their only option, they saw it as what they were supposed to do. ”
Yes, it was men’s OBLIGATION to acquire resources.
The sooner all genders have elements of what is best in each, imagine such a heaven.