Gender inequality affects men too
We need to acknowledge that the sexism against women and girls is still a more severe problem in most parts of the world. However, contrary to popular belief, men and boys can also be subject to
discrimination. Men are also victims of domestic violence and sexual assault, but state institutions and society in general take such violence less seriously because of the prevailing attitudes towards men, such as the belief that men are fearless, sustain greater pain, and are more capable of self-defence. A study on sexual harassment in the US prison system found that ‘the sexual coercion incidence rate for males was 22%, while for females it was 7%’ (p.39). However, one may object that often men themselves are perpetrators of sexual assault on males, not females.
Psychological and emotional pressure
Traditional stereotypes are often just as difficult for men to live up to. There are enormous pressures to be a ‘real man’, to demonstrate physical and emotional strength, and to provide financially as the family ‘breadwinner’. Trying to live up to this ideal can lead to feelings of inadequacy. Yet the pressure to remain emotionally resilient often prevents men seeking help. Men are more likely to consume alcohol excessively; more likely to engage in violent and risky behaviours; and less likely to admit pain, seek medical advice or have a strong social network from which to ask for help. Among young men aged 12 to 24 years there are three male deaths to every female death, with accidents and suicide accounting for most of the difference. In 2015 around 76% suicides were by men.
Men may face discrimination or disapproval when taking on career paths, caring responsibilities and activities traditionally reserved for women. For example, men account for only 5% of the early childhood education and care workforce and are radically under-represented in the maternal child and health workforce. This creates challenges for men seeking out careers in these industries. While many men want to take more equal responsibility in caring for children, workplace practices often prevent or discourage them from taking extended parental leave or from working flexibly. Men who have better access to flexible work are more productive in their jobs, report higher work performance, cope better with higher workloads, have fewer absences and have lower levels of personal stress and burnout.
Military conscription is an overt one, but it reflects a much deeper problem. Boys are raised to be warriors. They're supposed to be tough, emotionless, and aggressive. Picture a defense robot that stays in the closet all the time, and when you push a button it comes out and takes care of business, and then when it is no longer needed, it's supposed to go dutifully back in the closet and switch off. That last bit is crucial. It's also popular to blame them for having been trained this way, and they are supposed to sit quietly and take it when they are shouted at, and remain off.
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The trouble is that men aren't robots. They're human, but that is consistently ignored, ironically but unsurprisingly, by a large number of women who simultaneously complain that women aren't treated as human.
It's a bit better with men, except those who ostentatiously display to aforementioned women. There is a clipped, laconic style of communication between men that conveys an enormous amount of affection in a glance and a word, which is different from the elaborate verbal style that women use. We do that because that's all we're permitted. We're constantly admonished to show our feelings, but when we do, we are considered creeps or potential rapists.
A fascinating classical study, widely ignored, was "Sex Differences: A Study in the Eye of the Beholder»[19] by Condry and Condry in which people were shown an infant engaging in a behavior and asked to guess the emotion of the infant. Same infant, same behavior. The single strongest correlate was when told the infant was a girl, they overwhelmingly guessed "fear," and when a boy, "anger." What did not correlate was also interesting. There was no correlate with the politics of the observers. That is, progressive egalitarians were just as likely to do this as conservatives with a traditional sex hierarchy. Other studies have shown that female infants are held and reassured about twice as long as male infants. Fear is not permitted of males. Any emotion, no matter what it is, is judged as anger. The culture only accepts and recognizes anger from males. Anything else is mocked as the "fragile male ego." And then people wonder why our prisons are full of men.
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