Men’s suicide rates are high
World-wide gender inequality pervades the very fabric of today’s society.
The issue of feminism is a very popular discussion in today’s media, including the social obstacles that men face that are just as prevalent.
According to Forbes on Sept. 24, 2012 in an article entitled, “The Gender Inequality of Suicide: Why Are Men at Such High Risk?”, “One factor [of the higher suicide rates in men] is the increasing ‘feminisation’ of employment which may cause men to feel like they have less room in the professional world.”
The article stated that some men are losing their sense of worth and pride because they feel their presence in the workforce is not as necessary, as women are now filling roles that were historically left to them.
Additionally, in an article from The Guardian on Jan. 23, 2013 entitled, “Suicide is a gender issue that can no longer be ignored,” written by Jane Powell, “The variable factor is culture and society; how we expect men to act, and how they feel they can behave. Suicide prevention work must, therefore, address this.”
Emma Watson, in her recent UN Speech on Sept. 20, 2014, elaborated upon the idea of men’s emotions, stating, “I’ve seen young men suffering from mental illness unable to ask for help for fear it would make them look less ‘macho’—in fact in the UK suicide is the biggest killer of men between 20 to 49 years of age;…I’ve seen men made fragile and insecure by a distorted sense of what constitutes male success. Men don’t have the benefits of equality either… Both men and women should feel free to be sensitive. Both men and women should feel free to be strong… It is time that we all perceive gender on a spectrum not as two opposing sets of ideals.”
In light of the gender inequality in the United States as identified by the media, men and women alike have realized that change to the societal norms is absolutely necessary, and now is the time for it to happen.