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Instructor: Eonjoo Park

Section: ENG 201LEC-JX1 (12684)
Date: 7/11/16
Abstract
Masculinity is the possession of qualities that are traditionally associated with men.
Males are taught to be masculine at a young age which requires them to be more stoic and less
expressive of their inner emotions. Although it has been a cultural norm to teach young men to
be more manly, or masculine, and women to be more lady-like, or feminine, there is much
evidence that implicates that this sort of thinking can lead to mental health and psychological
problems, especially in males. Furthermore, I believe that by implementing this stereotype unto
males can lead to several internal problems that are harder to recognize due to the inability of
males who are more masculine to express themselves and their emotions. Their internal problems
can spark external responses that are harmful to themselves, like substance abuse, or even to the
people who surround them, such as domestic violence or assault. To prove this, I will examine
and analyze the data published in acclaimed journals by sociologists and psychologists who
research the effects of being masculine in males and through that information prove the negative
effects of teaching men the stereotypical characteristics of being a masculine person, which
include psychological problems such as depression and anxiety, and also provide possible
solutions to aid men who find themselves not manly enough for failing to live up to the standards
expected of them. I will also read a textbook used in the University of Texas to understand more
in depth the stereotypes associated with masculinity.
Keywords: Masculinity, Femininity, Depression, Substance Abuse and Domestic Violence

Stereotypical Masculine Ideologies: Their Effect on Male Psychology

By Jasmeet Aujla

Masculinity is the possession of qualities that are traditionally associated with men.
Males are taught to be masculine at a young age which requires them to be more stoic and less
expressive of their inner emotions. Although it has been a cultural norm to teach young men to
be more manly, or masculine, and women to be more lady-like, or feminine, there is much
evidence that implicates that this sort of thinking can lead to mental health and psychological
problems, especially in males. Furthermore, I believe that by implementing this stereotype unto
males can lead to several internal problems that are harder to recognize due to the inability of
males who are more masculine to express themselves and their emotions. Their internal problems
can spark external responses that are harmful to themselves, like substance abuse, or even to the
people who surround them, such as domestic violence or assault. Therefore, it is my belief that
the societal enforcement of exaggerated masculine ideologies on males can negatively impact
their mental health in numerous ways.
People frequently make the mistake of identifying ones sex as the same as their gender.
In actuality, the sex of a person depends on their biology, whereas the gender refers to the
characteristics associated with a particular sex. These characteristics are often influenced by
culture, society and psychology, and are considered the rules of that gender, in this case,
masculinity. A males individual view of masculinity is what drives their personality, establishes

their gender role, and creates a self-concept of how they are perceived by their community and
themselves.
Common adjectives that come to mind when people are asked to describe a masculine
person are words such as courageous, responsible, and ambitious. On the Psychology of Men
website, they specify the three prominent categories of the male gender roles: strength, honor and
action. Each consists of attributes contributing to a positive balance of masculinity within a male
and are often viewed as the qualities of an ideal man. In an effort to achieve these standards, men
can exhibit the provided features in various ways, such as being self-reliant, loyal, and risktaking. Although having these expectations seem harmless, they can very easily sway into more
negative tendencies such as stoicism or hostility.
The negative exaggeration of the masculine ideologies can be defined as hypermasculinity. This can come about when the three categories of male gender roles, strength,
honor, and action, are amplified to create the less healthy masculine characteristics. The idea of
having strength by being self-reliant is corrupted to being cut off from others. Having honor no
longer entails fulfilling duties and remaining loyal to friends and family, instead it consists of
arrogance and manipulation. The thought of taking action by being competitive or being a risk
taker is overrun by hyper aggressive responses that may lead to violence and taking life
endangering risks all in the name of being manly. In a study for Gender Roles, Aggression, and
Alcohol Use in Dating Relationships by Amy L. Ray and Steven R. Gold, sixty undergraduate
couples were required to take a series of tests. The men were asked to take a Hypermasculinity
Inventory, or HMI, test which is, comprised of 30 forced choice items that measure three
dimensions of hypermasculinity: (a) calloused sexual attitudes, (b) violence as manly, and (c)
danger as exciting.(49) The criteria of this test displays the ways that males tend to misconstrue
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the masculine stereotypes that lead them to pursue volatile actions while they believe they are
just being manly.
Due to the media and societal pressure, the aspects of masculinity can become distorted
and inspire stereotypes that can induce negative responses to these expectations. While the action
category of the male gender roles indicates traits of competitiveness, ambition and volition, when
exaggerated they can lead to what Edward Gondolf dubs in his article, Alcohol Abuse, Wife
Assault, and Power Needs, the power theory. Instead of following the given traits, men under the
influence of the power theory mistranslate them as being tough, in charge, and aggressive. In the
effort to assert these values, men sometimes face the insecurity of being viewed as impotent. To
compensate and cope with the burden of the upholding the expectations asked of them, they shift
to alcohol or drugs. Wife assault research suggests that both alcohol abuse and wife assault may
be the manifestation of underlying needs for power and control associated with distortions or
misconceptions of masculinity.(Gondolf 275) In other words, Gondolf focuses on how men turn
to alcohol abuse and sexually assault their spouse to assert dominance and retain power in the
relationship to compensate for their insecure need to be manly. Since women are typically
viewed in our male driven society as the inferior sex, they are usually the victims of this
insecurity. In congruence with my research topic, the exaggeration of the idea of power and
dominance is warped by men to evoke violent responses.
Despite the evidence that maintaining dominance in a hyper masculine mindset produces
harmful effects to the mental health of these men due to the pressure they feel to do so, there are
people who feel this is not the case. In the Trajectories of Gender Role Orientations in
Adolescence and Early Adulthood: A Prospective Study of the Mental Health Effects of
Masculinity and Femininity, the authors, Anne Barrett and Helene White, present the trajectories
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of masculinity and femininity by creating categories of low-decreasing, moderate-increasing, and

high-increasing to describe the levels of masculinity and femininity in a person between the ages
of 12 to 25. Each of these trajectories provides an important component in describing the degree
of masculinity within men as they increase in age. Their findings included that, higher levels of
masculinity over adolescence are associated with fewer depressive symptoms in early
childhood.(White 462) In other words, according to the data plotted in the article, men with
high levels of masculinity were actually less prone to depression. This experiment shows how
when men are not manly enough for society, they tend to have more mental health issues in an
effort to cope, whereas more masculine males who are seen as highly autonomous and confident
are rewarded and viewed positively by others in the community. Although this conclusion seems
to be contrasting with my data, it actually provides another perspective of the same topic. Later
in the article, it is mentioned how the masculinity trajectories of depressive symptoms doesnt
vary by sex and instead supports the hypothesis that gender role orientations are the primary
influences of mental health issues. Meaning, it isnt being masculine that is causing the problem
of being depressed and having anxiety, it is the gender roles associated with the masculine
characteristics that is.
Recently, this matter has been designated as the Gender Role Conflict, or GRC, and has
been a part of over 450 empirical studies which document how these gender roles restrict mens
psychological and interpersonal problems. Jim ONeil, in his Mens Mental Health and Gender
Role Conflict: A Call to Action article on his website, divides the GRCs into four components:
success, power, and competition, restrictive emotionality, restrictive affectionate behavior
between men, and conflict between work and family relations. He further states that the results of
the research reported by psychologist suggests that, GRC has significant relationships to mens
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psychological problems including: depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, negative attitudes

toward help seeking, stigma, self-disclosure, shame and guilt, feeling discriminated against, body
image/muscularity concerns, alcohol and substance abuse, and attachment and bonding.
(division51.net) The gender roles associated with a masculine men coincide with my claim that
the stereotypes placed on men actually affect them on a psychological level. However, since we
live in a largely patriarchal society, the attitude to deny mens problems to maintain dominance
permits them to be normalized, accepted and even ignored by the public, making men affected
with these troubles feel helpless because they cant receive the aid they need without judgement
from the community because they are seen more as generic persons based on stereotypes by the
psychology department.. Unfortunately, stereotyping and then objectifying men has become
commonplace in todays society and therefore has gradually deadened the male spirit.
The origins these stereotypes have been investigated by various theorist,
developmentalist, and others who seek the answer to the cultural phenomena of masculinity and
femininity. Each of these specialist have discovered their own interpretation of the root cause and
generate three major models, which include the psychoanalytical, social learning, and cognitivedevelopment theories. The psychoanalytical theorist hypothesize that masculinity is the
inevitable outcome of biological givens whereas the social learning theorist speculate that the
environment, not the biology of a child, influences their gender identity. A cognitivedevelopment theorist ideas are similar to a psychoanalytical theorist, however, it suggests that,
the child first categories himself or herself as a boy or girl, and then structures experience to be
consistent with this categorization. (Reinisch 296) The structure experience mentioned are the
stereotypical masculine attributes that are instilled into these five to six year olds when they first
learn about their gender identity and follows them into their adolescence.
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With the side effects of trying to obtain the ideal man status are continually enforcing
adverse responses in todays society, it is our duty to create change and introduce forms of
activism to oppose these stereotypes on a cultural and political level. Possible solutions are
revealed in a book called Partners in change: working with men to end gender-based violence.
The authors have specified the pathways, whether be in a public policy context or in a conceptual
framework that focuses on emphasizes qualities to create more positive and affirmative
paradigms of healthy masculinity. By promoting positive masculinity, we can change the
dialogue to identify mens strengths like responsibility, courage, altruism, resiliency, service,
protection of others, social justice, positive fathering, perseverance, generativity, and non-violent
problem solving, which is the first step in changing sexism thereby decrease the suffering that
men, women, and children experience from restrictive gender roles. It is also crucial to
disseminate the research on this topic in a way to reach a national and international audience
with supporting both men and women in their journey in finding their place in society by
transcending the typical masculine and feminine roles, despite the relative novelty of the study of
men as gendered human beings.
Masculinity itself is not the primary issue. The problem lies within the pressures of
reaching the high expectations that distinguishes the real men from the boys. In an effort to
meet those expectations, males can turn to harmful processes to cope with their insecurities.
Alcohol and drugs are often used as a temporary solution for depression and affects the
individual themselves, though sometimes the solution doesnt just affect the individual but also
those surrounding them. Domestic violence, including wife assault, is another negative side
effect of this misconception of masculinity. The course of action to take to resolve this issue is
yet to be determined due to its unprecedented nature and because of the opposition from our
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patriarchal leadership who ignores the problem. However, it is our responsibility to alert our
communities to discover new, productive means of disseminating the research we have found
that mentions the deteriorating mental health of males who strive to meet the exaggerated
masculine ideologies set by society. The effects of exaggerated stereotypical masculinity on the
male psychology can be malicious, however, it is up to us as a society to determine whether it
will continue to be an issue on the future generations.

Works Cited:

Atkinson, Maxine P., Greenstein Theodore N., and Lang Molly Monahan. "For Women,
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Breadwinning Can Be Dangerous: Gendered Resource Theory and Wife

IiiiiAbuse." Journal of Marriage and Family 67.5 (2005): 1137-148. Web. 4 July 2016.

Barrett, Anne E., and White Helene Raskin. "Trajectories of Gender Role Orientations in
i I Adolescence and Early Adulthood: A Prospective Study of the Mental Health Effects
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of and Femininity. Journal of Health and Social Behavior 43.4 (2002): 451-68.

Web. 16 June iiiii2016.

Gondolf, Edward W. "Alcohol Abuse, Wife Assault, and Power Needs." Social Service

I Review 69.2 (1995): 274-84. Web. 16 June 2016.

Meek, Will. Psychology of Men. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 July 2016.

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http://www.psychologyofmen.org

ONeil, Jim. Society for the Psychological Study of Men and Masculinity. American
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Psychological Association, 15 June 2015. Web. 19 June 2016.

http://division51.net/homepage-slider/mens-mental-health-and-gender-role-

conflict-a-call-to-action/

Ray, Amy L., and Gold Steven R. "Gender Roles, Aggression, and Alcohol Use in Dating
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Relationships." The Journal of Sex Research 33.1 (1996): 47-55. Web. 7 July 2016.

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Reinisch, June Machover., Leonard A Rosenblum, and Stephanie A Sanders.

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Masculinity/femininity: Basic Perspective. New York: Oxford University, 1987. 19

June 2016.

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