91香蕉视频成人在线

As societal views of gender change, new perspectives of masculinity, femininity, and traditional gender roles are evolving. For Modesto Jesus Hevia, PsyD, Associate Professor in the Clinical Psychology Department at 91香蕉视频成人在线, the topic rife for exploration if, as a  society, we are to bring about constructions of gender that are equitable. At a Student Lunch and Learn on Thursday, April 4, Hevia raised some thought-provoking questions in his talk, The Psychology of Men and Masculinities: Where We鈥檝e Been, Where We Could Go, and What it Could Mean, chief among them: What makes men behave as if they always have to prove their masculinity?

 鈥淸As] men, [we either] need to prove our manhood because it鈥檚 our essential nature; it is the 鈥榚ssence鈥� of manhood that is never fully established [or], we need to prove our masculinity because we鈥檝e been socialized to believe that manhood has to be proven,鈥� explains Hevia, citing two possible answers to what he deems, 鈥淭he Burning Question鈥�. 

 鈥淭he belief that men behave a certain way鈥攖hat we need to prove our masculinity鈥攊s really quite popular in our society,鈥� says Hevia, a Cuban-American psychologist with more than 32 years of clinical and teaching experience, pointing to the fact that these answers underscore the age-old nature vs. nurture debate.

鈥淎s a field, the critical study of men and masculinity is relatively new,鈥� says Hevia, underscoring that it was nonexistent prior to the 1970s; both its emergence and evolution have been influenced by feminist relational scholarship and dominated by two major perspectives over the past 50 years. 鈥淎nswer 1 is the nature [argument, one that offers a] 鈥榯raditionalist鈥� or 鈥榚ssentialist鈥� view鈥攖he [one] referred to in the research as the Gender Role Identity Paradigm (GRIP), [while] Answer 2 is the nurture [or] social constructivist position that underlies the Gender Role Strain Paradigm (GRSP)...the major current paradigm for understanding the psychology of men.鈥�

Hevia went on to outline the six major tenets of the GRSP, chief among them the fact that, 鈥済ender roles are inconsistent and often contradictory, [which means] many people violate them,鈥� he explains, adding that adverse consequences can arise when men, 鈥渇ail to conform to [prescribed gender roles]鈥�. Over time, gendered ways of behaving have led to the assumption that men are inherently forceful, aggressive, dominant, assertive, independent, and willing to defend their beliefs, take a stand and engage in risk. Because 鈥渢raditional鈥� male gender roles are narrower and more rigid when compared with those for females, 鈥渢he consequences of violating them have been [historically] more adverse for males than for females.鈥� Hevia goes on to point out that the underlying ideology surrounding 鈥渢raditional masculinity鈥� is based on stereotyped gender roles that are overly rigid and create an asymmetrical relationship between the genders 鈥攐ne that not only creates but also perpetuates inequity on the basis of gender.

 鈥淧atriarchy is a social system that empowers males and disempowers everyone else,鈥� says Hevia, adding that, 鈥渢he division is hierarchical and involves an asymmetrical power relationship between the genders, [one that] isn't particularly friendly to folks who aren't male, but it's not particularly friendly to males either.鈥� To complicate things, while some aspects of traditional masculinity are actually quite functional in certain contexts, these same traits can be equally dysfunctional in other contexts. As such, when men can鈥檛 fulfill their traditionally masculine鈥攔ead 鈥渆ssential鈥� roles of provider, protector, and procreator鈥攊t creates psychological discomfort for them.

 鈥淕ender Role Strain [the term for this discomfort] has been associated with a number of adverse psychological and physical health consequences,鈥� explains Hevia of three main expressions, the most severe of which鈥攄ysfunction strain鈥攃auses some aspects of 鈥渟o-called traditional masculinity鈥� to be hazardous to men鈥檚 health. All of these factors combined leave Hevia in favor of the term masculinities as a means of acknowledging that men have myriad ways of expressing their masculinity differently at different times.

His current interests (beyond the psychology of men and masculinity), include social justice education鈥攁 field of increasing relevance to conversations surrounding gender roles in society. According to Hevia, this begs an examination of the implications surrounding this body of research in order to include more socially just constructions of gender and contemporary clinical practice both with men and by men. Hevia points to the American Psychological Association鈥檚 guidelines, published in 2018, that 鈥渞eflect a paradigm shift [and not only] emphasize equity and social justice [but also] empathy for men,鈥� he explains, before underscoring the epic problem that remains: Many men remain highly skeptical of psychotherapy. 

鈥淭here's no single, monolithic way to be masculine over the course of one's lifetime,鈥� Hevia reminds his audience, pointing to the role of intersectionality鈥攚hen cultural and diversity variables interact with gender norms鈥攁nd the ensuing impact of the experience on the expression of both masculinity and Gender Role Strain. 鈥淏ecause men of color and GBT men have to reconcile the values and masculinity standards of their own cultural group with those that the dominant culture imposes on them (while at the same time denying or restricting their opportunities to attain them), these men may be even more susceptible to the harmful effects of gender role than men from the dominant culture,鈥� emphasizes Hevia, outlining a scenario he calls, 鈥渢he essence of gender role strain.鈥� 

Bottom line: 鈥淚鈥檝e never met a man who responded well to being told that his manhood was toxic,鈥� says Hevia who offers some truths about men and masculinity that bear repeating when conversing with, and about, men. These points present teachable moments for those folks keen on increasing awareness around the topics of men and masculinity and improving communication and connection with the men in their lives:

Five Ways to be More Mindful of Men and their Masculinities

1. Men are emotional beings who crave intimacy. 

To isolate them from their emotional feelings, and by extension their emotional selves, is harmful not only to individual men but also to those seeking to build relationships with them.

2. Masculine stereotypes are harmful. 

Pervasive scripts that socialize boys and men to compete, but not to connect, predispose both groups to violence and promote bullying as well as high-risk behavior, especially among teens.

3. 鈥淭raditional masculinity鈥� can be hazardous to a man's health. 

Research has found Gender Role Strain to be associated with a number of adverse health risks, from hypertension and cardiovascular stress to substance abuse and depression.

4. Masculinity is expressed differently in different contexts. 

For many men, fatherhood is a second chance at creating bonds they might have neglected to foster. When an individual focuses on being a good parent, and a good person, being a good man takes care of itself.

5. The term 鈥渢oxic masculinity鈥� is neither helpful nor constructive for anyone. 

As Hevia reminds his audience, 鈥淚t isn鈥檛 manhood itself that is toxic, but rather it鈥檚 the sexist, heterosexist, overly rigid and socially unjust ideas and values into which so many men are socialized that are toxic and poison men from within. And these ideas and values affect us all: When you poison the air, everyone who breathes inhales it.鈥�

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