RUTHFULLY YOURS

What would we do without psychological studies about sex and gender?  We’ve had studies that most women are “part lesbian” and a lack of access to sports bras deters girls from playing sports.  We’ve had a study showing that women are more likely to become lesbian if they don’t have ready access to men and a landmark study showing that female chimpanzees are more likely to be domineering feminists.

And now we have a new study concluding that white, masculine men are more likely to be mentally ill, conducted by Y. Joel Wong, a man who isn’t white, may not be masculine, and actually…who knows if he is really a man for sure?

Men who have “playboy” attitudes and believe in power over women may face a higher risk for mental health trouble than men who don’t, a broad new research review suggests.

The finding on sexism, and other so-called “traditional views” on masculinity, stems from an analysis of 74 studies conducted between 2003 and 2013. The studies included nearly 19,500 predominantly white male participants, the researchers said.

The research “looked at expectations about what it means to be masculine, and how that relates to mental health outcomes among men,” explained study lead author Y. Joel Wong.

“What we found overall is that the more that men conformed to masculine norms the poorer their mental health, and the less likely they were to seek mental health services,” he said.

Wong’s team focused on data concerning the embrace of 11 different types of so-called “masculine norms,” including the desire to win; to retain emotional control; to take risks; to engage in violence; to exert dominant behavior; to participate in a “playboy” lifestyle; to be self-reliant; to elevate work to the highest level of importance; to retain power over women; to maintain a disdain for homosexuals; and to pursue “status.”

Desiring to win = mentally ill.  Retaining emotional control = mentally ill.  Making work a priority = mentally ill.  But I’m glad that at least these are traits associated with “masculinity.”  I’m not 100% sure what a “playboy” lifestyle or “retaining power over women” means; by these twisted standards, it may simply mean a refusal to be subservient to women like these emotionally castrated guys.

In the end, the researchers found that men who adhere to masculine norms are generally in a worse state of mental health, and less motivated to seek psychological help.

Maybe they didn’t seek help because nothing was wrong with them.

You know, while this piece was quite fascinating, I seldom see studies about the suicide rates of the “transgendered” or studies about the mental state of minority men who father children and then walk away or studies about radical Islamists who execute complete strangers at a party, showing no empathy for their victims.  But I do expect to see more studies about the twisted nature of white men, who have incidentally been the primary builders of one of the most tolerant and stable societies mankind has ever seen.  (Can you imagine Michelle Obama’s disdain at having to live in a society largely built by white men?)

Ed Straker is the senior writer at NewsMachete.com.