Is it true that stereotypes about who a “real” man is harm men themselves and their loved ones? And how to measure the damage and how to help boys become human first?
Prejudices about what real masculinity is, how to raise boys, are now regularly challenged by psychologists, educators and men themselves. Promundo, a non-profit organization in the United States, has developed a scale that makes it easier to assess how norms and stereotypes about masculinity affect a person. The scale included such items as “self-sufficiency”, “brutality”, “physical attractiveness”, “male gender roles”, “hypersexuality” and “control”.
“While there was a lot of talk in the media and the scientific community about harmful masculinity, there was no way to measure its impact,” says Elizabeth Miller, physician and head of the Department of Adolescent Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania. The idea appeared in the 80s of the last century. Paul Kivel and colleagues at the Auckland Men’s Project developed the concept of “Stay Away – Act Like a Man” to find out how society dictates that men behave.
In 2018, the American Psychological Association (APA) released a guide to psychological practice for helping boys and men, and included points that psychologists should be aware of. Thus, the issue of harmful masculinity has come back into the limelight.
The APA has proven that men who follow stereotypes of masculinity are more likely to suffer from depression and suicidal thoughts. In addition, such men are more often cruel to others. Researchers believe that boys and men are no less than girls and women influenced by social norms. That harms them and those around them.
Men who hold rigid views of masculinity harm the well-being of others and suffer themselves.
Men who scored higher on the scale were five times more likely to humiliate other people – verbally or physically, resort to online bullying and sexual harassment. They were twice as likely to develop depression and suicidal thoughts.
“These results underline how dangerous stereotypical masculinity is for its adherents, their peers, families and society as a whole,” said Amber Hill, lead author of the study.
To help psychologists and psychiatrists work more effectively with male patients, the researchers developed a short version of the 4-item questionnaire. If a man agreed with each of them, this indicated his propensity for violence:
- A man should not do housework.
- To gain respect, men must use violence if necessary.
- A real man should have as many sexual partners as possible.
- A man who talks too much about his fears and problems does not deserve respect.
“We found a way to measure stereotypical masculinity. And now we see that men who hold rigid views of masculinity harm the well-being of others and suffer themselves, says Gary Barker, President and CEO of Promundo USA. “Now we have a tool that allows us to see how attitudes towards harmful stereotypes about masculinity are changing.”