Men Still Die Before Women Summary

Does Society Put Men into Small Boxes?

The average life expectancy of an American male is 73 years, meanwhile it is 80 years for females. In the article “Men Still Die Before Women. Is Toxic Masculinity to Blame?” by Haider Javed Warraich and Robert Califf, the authors come to the conclusion that masculinity causes men to die earlier than women. Michael Kimmel, author of “Bros before Hos: The Guy Code”, digs even deeper into why masculinity is to blame for shorter life expectancy of men. Kimmel also includes many anecdotes, discussions from his classes, and other articles that focused on this subject to further bring light on to this topic. Whomever reads these articles will clearly see that masculinity is the main cause of men dying sooner

The male students in his workshops later claim that they are careful with the way they move, act, and talk among other men. Kimmel asked, “What happens when you step outside the definition of masculinity?” to only find out that other men take away their manhood by calling them names such as: fag, gay, homo, queer, nerd and etc. He included an MTV interview with the popular hip-hop artist Eminem, who also uses such words in his songs. Kimmel adds Eminem’s quote, “The lowest degrading thing you can say to a man when you’re battling him is to call him a faggot and try to take away his manhood. Call him a sissy, call him a punk. ‘Faggot’ to me doesn’t necessarily mean homosexual men… to me [faggot] just means taking away your manhood.” Men follow the “rules of masculinity” to not be degraded by other men around them, and have their manhood questioned in front of others. Ladies, if he’s “being a guy” and not acting like the man of your dreams, it’s only because they are worried about their

Yet a closer look at science, medicine, and cultural activities been shown that the engine for the purposes of our inequality might be the long-held ideal of masculinity itself”, the authors clarify. Although we, as a society, often tend to blame genetics, it has been proven that they are not the only cause for short lifespans. Warraich and Califf later add, “This traditional position of male identity comes with serious health consequences” such as smoking, drinking, and mental issues that lead to health problems, or even suicide. The authors explain why it may lead to suicide by claiming, “the internalization of a male identity in which seeking help is seen as a sign of weakness begins in childhood and becomes particularly intense during adolescence.” In short, men from young age are being taught to ‘not be weak’ and ask for help, which later ‘puts men into small boxes’ as they grow older. This last statement is also proven to be true in Michael Kimmel’s