Masculine fragility is the anxiety among males who feel they do not meet cultural standards of masculinity. Evidence suggests that this concept is necessary to understand their attitudes and behaviors.[1] Male fragility has been characterized as the Me Too counterpart to white fragility.[2]

Workplace

When men feel their masculinity has been threatened, they often attempt to regain their sense of authority. The threats may include having a female supervisor or being given a job traditionally viewed as feminine. They may react by engaging in harmful behavior, such as undermining and mistreating colleagues, lying for personal gain, withholding help and stealing company property.[3][4]

  • The film Barbie is about male fragility. When Ken discovered patriarchy and returned to Barbieland he found "the usual script was flipped". It was he who needed to reassess his needs outside of the need to control and depend on women. Male fragility is at the core of the film.[5]
  • In Chloe Domont's film Fair Play the danger of male fragility was highlighted.[6] Dumont sets out to make an "exploration of that most exquisitely fragile of constructs—the male ego."[7]
  • Cuban author Zoé Valdés uses male fragility as a recurrent theme.[8]
  • Oscar winning Moonlight has been called a "masterclass in masculine fragility." Chiron embraced his fragility as a path to self-discovery.[9]
  • In the 2006 film Half Nelson, Ryan Gosling plays a teacher who is "a complicated and fragile masculine;" his triumph comes from succumbing to total vulnerability.[10]

Relationships with women

  • Women with higher incomes than their partner are twice as likely to fake orgasms and have a lower rate of sexual satisfaction.[11]
  • Women who believed their partner had masculine fragility were more likely to fake orgasms and were less likely to provide honest sexual communication.[12]
  • Fragile men "feel more uncomfortable around women."[13]
  • Online harassment is a common response from spurned men, "who in response to displays of female strength, reveal themselves to be as fragile as eggshells."[14]

Impact on health and behavior

Men with fragile masculinities are more likely to exhibit behaviors such as aggression (when externally challenged), and shame, and self-harm under stress (when internally challenged).[15] There is a consistent association of precarious manhood beliefs and risky healthcare behavior and outcomes. Men with strongly held masculine beliefs are half as likely to seek preventative healthcare; they are more likely to smoke, drink heavily and avoid vegetables; men are less likely to seek psychological help.[16] "Where manhood is fragile, men die young."[17]

Age, fragility and aggressiveness

As young men try to find their place in society,[18] age becomes an important variable in understanding male fragility. Men 18-25 respond more aggressively to threat to their manhood, and aggressiveness decreases with age. In some places, younger me have constant threats to their manhood and have to prove their manhood daily.[19] The more the manhood was threatened, the more the aggressiveness.[20]

Educational levels

Lower educational levels are associated with masculine fragility.[13]

Political implications

A link has been shown between male fragility and aggressive political stances, as well for Republicans who support such stances. This suggests that "fragile masculinity is crucial to fully understanding men's political attitudes and behaviors."[21]

Biological and evolutionary considerations for masculine vulnerability

Blue and gold set, Kaiser Maximilian II. 1557

Although the disadvantages of the male are usually described as socially mediated, males from conception are more vulnerable, with an excess of developmental and behavioral disorders. Social attitudes have been felt to compound these biological deficits. Evolutionary traits necessary for early hominid males, such as physical strength and spacial skills, are not as important in the modern world, but we have most of the same genes.[22]

Overcoming male fragility

To reduce toxic masculine fragility, psychotherapy or joining a fragile masculinity support group is recommended. Coping mechanisms for anxiety can be learned, new boundaries can be set and diverse masculinities can be explored.[1]

As a society it is recommended that we shift the conversation from masculine toxicity to masculine fragility, as "that's at the heart of it."[23] It is no longer enough "to be a man," as that has lost meaning. Society must deconstruct the definition of masculinity.[24]

In the workplace it is recommended that the concept of male fragility be recognized; healthy masculinity should be embraced; and, toxic structures dismantled by rewarding collaborative effort and not creating environments where men will feel inadequate.[3]


See also


References

  1. 1 2 Galla, Sean. "Fragile Masculinity: What Is Fragile Masculinity and How to Overcome It". MensGroup.com. Retrieved 2023-11-20.
  2. ↑ "Fair Play Blames "Male Fragility" for High Finance's Evils". jacobin.com. Retrieved 2023-11-23.
  3. 1 2 Kouchaki, Maryam; Leavitt, Keith; Zhu, Luke; Klotz, Anthony C. (2023-01-26). "Research: What Fragile Masculinity Looks Like at Work". Harvard Business Review. ISSN 0017-8012. Retrieved 2023-11-20.
  4. ↑ "4 experts break down why men may 'lie, cheat and steal' if they feel their masculinity is threatened at work and how to fix it". Fortune. Retrieved 2023-11-24.
  5. ↑ "'Barbie' Is a Movie About Male Fragility". Time. 2023-07-21. Retrieved 2023-11-20.
  6. ↑ "'Fair Play' Was Always Going to End Like This". ELLE. 2023-10-06. Retrieved 2023-11-20.
  7. ↑ babrams (2023-10-06). ""Fair Play" Writer/Director Chloe Domont Makes a Killing on Male Fragility". Motion Picture Association. Retrieved 2023-12-20.
  8. ↑ Golmar, Rafael López i Rueda y Antonio (2008-09-21). "Zoé Valdés: "En lo relacionado con Cuba, los cuatro primeros años de Zapatero fueron vergonzosos"". La Ilustración Liberal (in European Spanish). Retrieved 2023-11-21.
  9. ↑ Badillo, Eli. "The Oscar-winning film 'Moonlight': A masterclass in masculine fragility". Mountaineer. Retrieved 2023-11-22.
  10. ↑ "Movies that made you a man". Good Men Project. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
  11. ↑ "Women who earn more than their husbands are more likely to fake an orgasm – a study has shown". simonmercieca.com. 2022-02-01. Retrieved 2023-11-21.
  12. ↑ "Perceived Fragile Masculinity Stifles Sexual Satisfaction and Honest Communication, Study Finds | SPSP". spsp.org. Retrieved 2023-11-21.
  13. 1 2 "Who's the man?". Retrieved November 21, 2023.
  14. ↑ "The Decade of Enduring Male Fragility". Harper's BAZAAR. 2019-12-27. Retrieved 2023-11-25.
  15. ↑ "When is masculinity "fragile"?". Sage.
  16. ↑ "APA issues first-ever guidelines for practice with men and boys". Retrieved November 27, 2023.
  17. ↑ "When manhood is fragile, men die young". American Psychological Association Journal. May 20, 2023.
  18. ↑ Jones, Alison (2021-01-29). "Why younger men's masculinity may be more fragile". Futurity. Retrieved 2023-11-25.
  19. ↑ "'Be a Man': Why Some Men Respond Aggressively to Threats to Manhood". Duke Today. 2021-01-28. Retrieved 2023-11-21.
  20. ↑ Lindsay, Jessica (2021-01-30). "Men with fragile masculinity more likely to show aggression". Metro. Retrieved 2023-11-25.
  21. ↑ DiMuccio, Sarah H; Knowles, Eric D (2020-08-01). "The political significance of fragile masculinity". Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences. Political Ideologies. 34: 25–28. doi:10.1016/j.cobeha.2019.11.010. ISSN 2352-1546.
  22. ↑ "The fragile male". ncbi.nlm.nih.
  23. ↑ "Shifting the Conversation: From Toxic Masculinity to Male Fragility". The Wright Institute. Retrieved 2023-11-21.
  24. ↑ "Masculinity in the age of change". The New York Times. Retrieved November 21, 2023.
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