It’s weird that humanity has decreed that masculinity is in crisis – I don’t know exactly when the tipping point hit but people talk about ‘the masculinity crisis’ as a real thing. I’m a rank amateur who would love to start chatting about this with other guys, but don’t. I think that’s part of the problem that we need to fix.
Just trying to start a conversation about all this stuff. I don’t really have the answers, but I do have a lot of opinions. Feel free to disagree and share your thoughts on here.
Not a Male Rights Activist or ‘meninist’!
Masculinity Crisis 
I’m a woman, and just happened to find this while doing a project on gender roles in society. I think that one of the biggest problems with masculinity is that guys have so many different guidelines to follow when it comes to ways they should act. There are commercials on TV, ads in magazines, among other types of media that are designed to target the male market, but at the same time, males may not feel that way. Males have always been expected to take on the “leader” role, being big, strong, tough, and to take on the dominant roles in relationships with women. But today, with so many women taking on that independent self-serving status, men have begun to find that they no longer need to fill that role. Not only that, but with homosexuality becoming accepted more and more everyday, men are finding that the typical gender roles are being bent quite a bit.
I think that it’s different for women being that we’re gaining status instead of losing it, we’re taking on larger, more dominant roles, and we’re happy with that.
I’m sure I’m not spot on being that I don’t have the feelings that come with masculinity in crisis, but I have done quite a bit of work regarding the issue lately, and have spoken with many people of all lifestyles.
Thank you for taking the time to comment. I agree, there are a billion different examples out there and we’re expected to conform with all of them at different times – whether we feel like being any of them or not. I don’t think this is unique to men, but I think things have changed relatively recently and we’re trying to catch up or discover an authentic identity that fits.
The fact is that we’re in flux. Patriarchy is still the dominant force in many forms of business and government so there’s a long way to go for feminism but changing roles for women means that in a zero-sum world, men need to get used to the idea that there’s less for them. The problem is that much of society hasn’t run with this idea so the expectation for many is that they will still be the breadwinner, strong and silent etc.
Your comment has motivated me to write more, thank you!
I certainly feel as though masculinity in itself is something that be can discussed for days and days. there are so many different aspects connected to the idea it can certainly boggle anyone’s brain. We have also discussed the idea of masculinities, pluralled being that there are multiple types of masculinity that become subjective to each individual based on their culture, lifestyle decisions, and other courses that may alter one’s view on masculinity.
Your research sounds fascinating. Please do keep in touch – I hope that we can continue to discuss thoughts and ideas on masculinities.
Are there any topics that you would be particularly interested to get an opinion on in the next few weeks?