Focus: Norms of Masculinity

Manhood in the Age of Trump

Frank Bruni, New York Times

A real man lusts. A real man rages. A real man doesn't chip in with domestic duties. That's not just Trump's view - he once boasted that he'd never change a diaper - but also, apparently, the message that many young men in America today still get, according to an intriguing study released a few days ago.

Promundo, a nonprofit organization that promotes gender equity, surveyed roughly 1,300 American men between 18 and 30. Seventy-five percent said that they're supposed to act strong even when scared or nervous; 63 percent said that they're exhorted to seize sex whenever available; 46 percent said that they're waved away from household chores.  Promundo also surveyed British and Mexican men, and neither group described a gender construct as musky, musty and unyielding as the one that Americans detailed. The research suggested that plenty of American men live in what some sociologists call the Man Box, constricted by a concept of manhood that includes aggression, hypersexuality, supreme authority and utter self-sufficiency.

April 2, 2017

On March 30, Promundo and Axe, Unilever's leading male grooming brand, launched The Man Box report - a new study on young men's attitudes, behaviors, and understandings of manhood - at the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) in Washington, DC.  At the report's unveiling, its authors from Promundo, alongside representatives from Axe, USIP experts, advocates, and academics, will discuss this new research on attitudes in the United States (US), United Kingdom (UK), and Mexico and what these findings mean for men, women, and the prospects for peaceful societies. The research, conducted with a representative, random sample of young men aged 18 to 30 in the US, UK, and Mexico, reveals that most men still feel pushed to live in the "Man Box," a rigid construct of cultural ideas about male identity. In fact, at least 57 percent of men report being told that a "real man should behave a certain way" at some point in their lives. This includes being self-sufficient, acting tough, looking physically attractive, sticking to rigid gender roles, being heterosexual, having sexual prowess, and using aggression to resolve conflicts.

Promundo, March 30, 2017

Bottling up emotions. Finding it hard to cry. Feeling ashamed about being depressed. Or embarrassed at the idea of reaching out for help. These are issues for many men. And the mental health effects of these attitudes need addressing. Male suicide is a growing crisis. Every two hours, a man commits suicide in the UK. It's the number one killer of men under the age of 45. Yes, a man under 45 is more likely to die by suicide than from any kind of disease, accident or at the hands of someone else. Some commentators have said that nobody knows why the male suicide rate is so high. But a new study tells us it may have to do with the masculine ideal of self-reliance.This study of 14,000 Australian men found that those who strongly identified with being self-reliant were significantly more likely to report suicidal thoughts.

The Canary, March 26, 2017

Recent Journal Articles

Jakob D. Allen, Marcel J. Casavant, Henry A. Spiller, Thiphalak Chounthirath, Nichole L. Hodges, Gary A. Smith

CONCLUSIONS:  Prescription opioid-related HCF admissions and serious medical outcomes were higher among teenagers. Contrary to trends for other prescription opioids, exposures to buprenorphine have increased in recent years; children aged 0 to 5 years accounted for almost 90% of buprenorphine exposures. These findings indicate that additional prevention efforts are needed.

AAP News and Journals, March 2017

Sean Esteban McCabe, Brady T. West, Phil Veliz, Vita V. McCabe, Sarah A. Stoddard,Carol J. Boyd

CONCLUSIONS:  Prescription opioid exposure is common among US adolescents. Long-term trends indicate that one-fourth of high school seniors self-reported medical or nonmedical use of prescription opioids. Medical and nonmedical use of prescription opioids has declined recently and remained highly correlated over the past 4 decades. Sociodemographic differences and risky patterns involving medical and nonmedical use of prescription opioids should be taken into consideration in clinical practice to improve opioid analgesic prescribing and reduce adverse consequences associated with prescription opioid use among adolescents.

AAP News and Journals, March 2017

Hongying Dai

CONCLUSIONS:  Tobacco use differs among subgroups of sexual minority youth, with lesbians and bisexual girls having a higher prevalence of tobacco use than their straight peers. Heterogeneity of tobacco use across distinct sexual identity groups underscores the need to develop evidence-based tobacco control strategies for sexual minority youth.

AAP News and Journals, March 2017

News Reports

The scary reason doctors say kids need HPV vaccinations

The number of people diagnosed with HPV-related oropharyngeal cancer, tumors found in the middle of the pharynx or throat including the back of the tongue, soft palate, sides of throat and tonsils - is relatively small - about 12,638 men and 3,100 women in the United States each year, according to the  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention . But these numbers are expected to continue to rise, overtaking incidence of cervical cancer by 2020.  One study  revealed the presence of HPV in 20.9 percent of oropharyngeal tumors before 1990, compared with 65.4 percent in those sampled after 2000.

Washington Post, April 2, 2017

Medscape, March 28, 2017

New study from New Zealand shows HPV vaccine has reduced rates of genital warts

The human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine was introduced in New Zealand in 2008 to prevent cervical cancer. It is free to all men and women aged nine to 26 inclusive. This is because 99.7 per cent of cervical cancers are associated with the sexually transmissible infection. There is mounting evidence the HPV vaccination program is preventing cervical disease. This includes both precancerous lesions and cervical cancer. Although it takes 10 to 20 years from HPV infection until cervical cancer develops, the  data are already showing  a 17 per cent decline in precancerous lesions in women aged 25 to 29. But the human papillomavirus is also responsible for causing genital warts. Despite a range of questions about the vaccine's efficacy in this area, a  recent New Zealand study  has shown a large reduction in genital warts.

Stuff.nz, March 29, 2017

The Weekly News Roundup is produced by The Partnership for Male Youth and is released every Monday. 

For more information contact Dennis J. Barbour, JD. News Roundup editor and President/CEO of the Partnership, at [email protected].