Except that's not so well born out by social studies which take individual differences and behaviour into account - Problem of biology, is it doesn't factor in differences in individual behaviour.

Suicide isn't a biologically male thing, it is however more likely that women experience less social pressure to 'succeed', and in general have far better social coping mechanisms, such as talking about their emotional problems, failings and a high rate of seeking medical assistance. Women will generally seek out counselling, either formally or informally, in a way that men don't.

Women have high rates of depression, bi-polar disorder but also have a lower rate of suicide. See there is a big issue here, women are far more likely to seek medical help and assistance, when suffering from a mental health problem.

Men also tend to commit more successful suicides, because they tend towards things like hanging, shooting themselves, which have very small windows of opportunity for medical intervention.

Its clearly not biologically defined either, as disparity between male and female suicide rates change over time, quite dramatically, having nearly doubled since records were started in 1981.

Biological behavioural characteristics tend to remain steady in a population. Plus, if it was a biological trait passed genetically, with suicide being the most common cause of death in young men, across a period of history, you would expect evolution to have probably have sorted that out.

Unless its a complex trait, but then those don't tend to be gender specific.

"One Nation Under God, has turned into One Nation Under the Influence of One Drug"
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You sicken me.

Of course I don't know you but I would say that this utterance, 'Having to pretend to be a big strong man at all times is not healthy. ' pretty much sums up your attitude.

You are anti masculinity....You are essentially the cultural discrimination problem I am talking about in the title post....the ideological shift that went too far. I think your belief in 'pretence' is pretty off.

The difference between males and females are a reality of nature. It isn't 'good' or 'bad' it is how the species was 'designed'...though I'm not claiming a god with this.

You need to accept biological realities between the sexes if you are going to treat them fairly.

Of course this isn't to say that encouraging moderating behaviour in the worst excesses of both isn't a bad thing....but I think we can see from your attitude and from others that this isn't really what's happening in society....The article link in the title post is evidence for that too.

So working on male mental health.....in fact the mental health of both genders is a good thing. Whether or not we should put more into male mental health to reduce the higher suicide is a point that's much higher than my pay grade.

As a layman I'd say no....As I don't think it would make that much of a difference to outcomes. It's an attempt to subvert nature and it would probably fail.

But whatever is most effective for the greater good...I'm not ideological about it. What I do react against is this idea that masculinity should be regarded negatively. It's no different to saying someone born gay should be treated negatively.

Edited by Stirlingsays (04 May 2017 8.59pm)

'Who are you and how did you get in here? I'm a locksmith. And, I'm a locksmith.' (Leslie Nielsen)

As you know we all start off essentially female but then just less than half of us are warped into being blokes

Having a mature relationship with one's own emotions, self-awareness and the ability to self-criticise in a constructive way, must be a lot healthier than having to be superficial everyday and worrying about image.

Some blokes are naturally testosterone-fuelled big-time, some blokes pretend to be, and some blokes are just easy-going. On the other end of the scale , of course, you have screaming queens who are faking how gay they really are.

Graham Norton is a bloke just being himself I reckon. Rather that than pretending to be someone yer not every day.

'Billy Big Bollocks' types are comical. Last thing they want to hear of course.

Big chest and massive boobs

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Because they can? Pushing the boundaries?
An ethical and moral minefield.

Big chest and massive boobs

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