{"id":1197,"date":"2017-07-07T13:20:33","date_gmt":"2017-07-07T13:20:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/?p=1197"},"modified":"2017-07-07T15:44:43","modified_gmt":"2017-07-07T15:44:43","slug":"masculinity-a-blessing-and-a-burden","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/masculinity-a-blessing-and-a-burden\/","title":{"rendered":"Masculinity: A blessing and a burden?"},"content":{"rendered":"

It is often our personal experiences which influence our academic trajectory. Throughout my life to date, I have been told that I need to demonstrate certain behaviours, simply because I am male. These include not crying (\u201cboys don\u2019t cry\u201d) and that I should not show any displays of emotion (\u201cman up\u201d) when faced with difficulty.<\/p>\n

My frustration and dissatisfaction with these expectations partly kindled my interest in clinical psychology as a profession. As this included the possibility of helping men to challenge their conceptions of masculinity, connect with their emotions and facilitate their own psychological growth.<\/p>\n

Regardless of my own personal interest in this area, I would consider this to be a particularly important issue. Research suggests<\/a> that men between the ages of 20 and 49 are more likely to die from suicide than any other single form of death There is also research to suggest<\/a> that men make up 90% of the homeless population and 95% of those housed in our prison system, and that men continue to not seek help<\/a> for their physical or emotional problems as readily as women do.<\/p>\n

When I was informed about the three-minute thesis competition<\/a>, I felt inspired and enthused to stand up in front of an audience of my peers, and speak openly and passionately not only about my own frustrations with the concept of \u2018masculinity\u2019, but also how my research has shown how some men with a history of violent offending consider their masculinity.<\/p>\n

What I found was that these men wanted to be \u2018nice guys\u2019 but found it difficult walking the tightrope of masculinity. They knew that too little masculinity could lead to vulnerability, and too much masculinity could lead to aggression. Unfortunately, they fell on the side of violence, as the difficulties in their lives were too great, and the armour of masculinity (which society had placed upon them) was just too heavy.<\/p>\n

Although I consider that my research could have far reaching implications, male gender blindness is nowhere more evident than in the relative lack of research<\/a> into problems affecting the male gender, notably in the United Kingdom<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It would appear that we are currently living in a post-feminist culture where it is commonly believed that only females can suffer because of their gender (which clearly they can and do). Unfortunately, this is perpetuating the lack of understanding as to why the male suicide rate is so high<\/a>, and why society is so much more tolerant of males being exposed to risk and danger<\/p>\n

Seager et al <\/a>argue that the full spectrum of the human condition in all its variation and diversity should be the object of our psychological curiosity and research.<\/p>\n

Having won the Cardiff heart of the three minute-thesis competition, I am keen to know whether I will be successful in obtaining a place in the grand final held in Birmingham on 11th September 2017. These places will be offered to the top six entrants from all the UK universities who entered the competition.<\/p>\n

If I was fortunate enough to be offered a place, I would look forward to speaking once again about this issue. This would be another step towards my vocation to help men break free from pressures to conform to social roles which are currently doing them harm.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It is often our personal experiences which influence our academic trajectory. Throughout my life to date, I have been told that I need to demonstrate certain behaviours, simply because I […]","protected":false},"author":1365,"featured_media":1202,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"image","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1197","post","type-post","status-publish","format-image","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-adult-mental-health","post_format-post-format-image"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7swiU-jj","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":768,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-work-burnout-and-the-spiritual-crises-in-health-and-social-care\/","url_meta":{"origin":1197,"position":0},"title":"Post traumatic stress disorder, work, burnout and the spiritual crises in health and social care","author":"Dr Teena Clouston","date":"13 October 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is now a well known condition recognised by several key factors including: the presence of one or more extreme stressors or traumatic incidents; flashbacks to the event; intrusive thoughts, often accompanied by imagery or sounds; intense distress and anxiety; disassociation or other avoidance behaviours. This\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Adult mental health"","block_context":{"text":"Adult mental health","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/category\/adult-mental-health\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/502\/2016\/10\/PTSD.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/502\/2016\/10\/PTSD.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/502\/2016\/10\/PTSD.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/502\/2016\/10\/PTSD.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/502\/2016\/10\/PTSD.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/502\/2016\/10\/PTSD.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1294,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/emancipating-ourselves-from-emotional-repression-at-work\/","url_meta":{"origin":1197,"position":1},"title":"Emancipating ourselves from emotional repression at work","author":"Professor Dirk Lindebaum","date":"9 October 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"How to use reappraisals, and express anger (constructively) instead of 'managing' it - by Dirk Lindebaum. This article first appeared on the LSE Business Review Are your emotions always yours? If you think so, you\u2019d better think again. In a recently published book, I argue that emotions are often used\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Adult mental health"","block_context":{"text":"Adult mental health","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/category\/adult-mental-health\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/502\/2017\/10\/GettyImages-699894726.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/502\/2017\/10\/GettyImages-699894726.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/502\/2017\/10\/GettyImages-699894726.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/502\/2017\/10\/GettyImages-699894726.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/502\/2017\/10\/GettyImages-699894726.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/502\/2017\/10\/GettyImages-699894726.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":850,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/shell-shock-lessons-for-today\/","url_meta":{"origin":1197,"position":2},"title":"Shell Shock \u2013 Lessons for Today","author":"Stefanie Linden","date":"11 November 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"On 1 November, to commemorate the centenary of the Battle of the Somme, one of the defining events of World War One (WW1) - I talked at a meeting of the Glamorgan Family History Society about my research on psychological trauma and combat stress. The centenary of the Great War\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Adult mental health"","block_context":{"text":"Adult mental health","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/category\/adult-mental-health\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/502\/2016\/11\/angels-of-mons.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/502\/2016\/11\/angels-of-mons.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/502\/2016\/11\/angels-of-mons.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/502\/2016\/11\/angels-of-mons.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1478,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/guided-self-help-a-new-treatment-in-ptsd\/","url_meta":{"origin":1197,"position":3},"title":"Guided self-help: a new treatment in PTSD?","author":"Natalie Simon","date":"26 February 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"I\u2019m a research assistant and PhD student based at the National Centre for Mental Health at Cardiff University. I\u2019m part of a team that is studying the efficacy of a new self-help treatment for people living with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Who can be affected by PTSD?\u00a0 It is very\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Post traumatic stress disorder"","block_context":{"text":"Post traumatic stress disorder","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/category\/post-traumatic-stress-disorder\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/502\/2018\/02\/IMG_8911-This-one.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/502\/2018\/02\/IMG_8911-This-one.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/502\/2018\/02\/IMG_8911-This-one.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/502\/2018\/02\/IMG_8911-This-one.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/502\/2018\/02\/IMG_8911-This-one.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/502\/2018\/02\/IMG_8911-This-one.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1527,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/mental-health\/new-ways-of-thinking-about-the-mental-health-and-wellbeing-of-primary-school-aged-children\/","url_meta":{"origin":1197,"position":4},"title":"New ways of thinking about the mental health and wellbeing of primary school-aged children","author":"Stephen Jennings","date":"26 June 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Growing socio-political interest in child and adolescent mental health A broad consensus among research suggests that 10 percent of children and young people in the UK have a clinical-level diagnosable mental health condition such as anxiety or depression. 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