From my cultural perspective the expectations of earning more (financially) and being "strong" is such a big issue. This has made some men to abandon their families because they feel they can't provide any more (moreso with wives who are earnings but choose not to contribute to the wellbeing of the family), also men strive beyond their limits to prove that they are strong, hide their emotions and feelings for their emotions to explode in inappropriate ways.... In a culture where "a man should not cry" , many men out there are hurting but can't just say it out. Right from childhood a male child is told not to cry because he is a man...

Many thanks Rebeccah Nabwire !

Your comment was very valuable! If you wish to tell more about this please, do not hesitate to reach out to me. I would love to know your opinion more in detail...

Good Morning. A great idea for the research. No wonder Men's health has always been neglected and maybe the most common gender for committing suicide is men while for parasuicide is women.

Nevertheless, I'm very much interested in the collaboration.

I think you've almost covered the major points like

Intelligence, Sense of humor, Earning expectation, Physical features (attractiveness), Popularity, Being strong (physically and emotionally (NEW)...

I was hoping if you could add a point like

SOCIAL EXPECTATIONS, Mental/ Social Support..

Thank you so much for your valuable answer Rohit Batish

It is very true that the statistics about men's suicide are horrific.

I will definitely add your suggestions to the list... please could you elaborate on what you mean by social expectations & mental/social support? I feel it is important to be as specific as possible here, as these terms may have a different meaning in every culture.

Thank you very much!

In Africa, men are looked at as the source of family life and survival o the family revolves around them. From ensuring are born, the children go to school, eat food, are medically attended to to acquiring house property, security in the home and so forth... Most men talk out their challenges in social gatherings but in such they tend to fall in addiction traps, some start extra marital affairs in a bid to get away from the home stress's and others fall sick or are pronounced dead from cardiac arrest. However times are changing especially in areas where there has been political insurgency that the role of men is being taken on by women.... But overall most men are burdened especially by the expectations that society has placed on them. To some men, they feel such expectations are biological and they strive to fulfill them and hence failure may account for suicide due to shame and guilty...

Culture has a big role in influencing the mental health of people in different aspects.

Rebeccah Nabwire this was very insightful. I would truly love if you could join this project. I feel that your expertise would make a great difference.

I agree with all areas pointed out by various researchers here, and these are very visible unrealistic expectations. I just want to share one of my simple observations (lots are there) in Indian culture, "when a couple decide to get married, the society or the families expect that the male should be taller than female." Funny right? But it is a very simple example of the mind set of the people.

Sakkeel Kp you made such a good point! I find this issue to be true in Europe as well. In fact, with your permission, I'd like to add this to my list. I did consider attractiveness, but height does not necessarily equate to that.

Thank you so much for your answer!

Sure go ahead 👍🏻

You can add a new sub category under Physical Features as 'Physic'. With this, you can mention about the masculine body nature, hight, rough voice, physical power etc.

I am not very sure about what are the physical aspects may come under attractiveness as per your categorisation.

All the best for your project

Many thanks Sakkeel Kp for your suggestions, they are very valuable!

HI Flora,

Am from Ghana west Africa and would love to collaborate with you on your project to solicit views from this point of the world. This is my email [email protected]. and we can see the way forward.

so you can add the point: sexual expectations- high sexual performance has become a toxic expectation for men in our part of the world and as a result, most men have resulted to use local medicine which is gaining popularities in the market of the local market

Daniel Agyemfour-Agyemang Sarpong many thanks for your excellent idea! It is such an important one and I have actually forgotten about it. I am adding it immediately.

Welcome to the project!

Flora Komlosi-Ferdinand Good afternoon! It would be interesting to trace the relationship between the level of toxic expectations and the social intelligence of men!

Ihor Liadskyi this is a great idea, many thanks. Unfortunately, I feel that even if a man has very high social intelligence, he still might be vulnerable to toxic expectations directed towards him...

But I might misunderstand your idea... could you tell about it more in detail, please? It would be very appreciated!

Flora Komlosi-Ferdinand A person with developed social intelligence, in my opinion, can properly shape the social background around him or her, so that there is less exposure to toxic influences

Hi Flora, that's a great topic and it's highly relevant to my proposed PhD topic on mental health literacy. If you are keen, we can communicate further via email ([email protected]). Thanks!

Ihor Liadskyi thank you for contributing to this discussion.

Thank you all so much for your valuable ideas and contribution!

I am now closing the possibility to participate in the research.

However, if you wish to add more ideas to this discussion, it will be very much appreciated.

I would recommend looking at the published research about male muscle dysmorphia.

John B. Bishop this is a very interesting thing! I will absolutely dive into this topic, thank you very much!

Society expects differently from males about mental illness. In Pakistan, Male is considered to be more powerful and a symbol of strength while, mental illness is associated with weakness. Therefore, people do not accept that males can be mentally ill or have some common mental illness. In case, if a male is suffering from Disorder, there are certain taboos attached to it that males can not be talked about it and could not even seek mental illness.

Ayesha Aziz Phd thank you so much for your answer! I suspect this phenomenon feeds a toxic cycle.

Men's emotional and mental health should be considered more 'real'.

Thanks again for your insightful perspective!

Goodness, this is a hot subject !!! Poor men have been charged in their backs with lots of expectations about what they should do to really behave like a man. And yet I would say that as many expectations as the ones that lay upon women!!! That is why our youth now is shaking off those "expectations" and battle everywhere for "going out of the box" in gender typologies, professional positions or family duties.

Nevertheless, I recognize that men from 30's on have it difficult because these "expectations" -even though Post-Modernity claims to have deconstructed already most of them- the truth is that the undertow of the "old pressure" upon men to be the main providers, the emotionally strongest, the know it all, the authority and the best performer is still on force, unfortunately !!! Things are changing quickly though, so let's hope that the real push of the youth, really serves to change this definitively !!!

Raquel Torrent Guerrero thank you very much for your answer!

I feel I must point out that I am not trying to diminish women's issues in society... I am simply focusing on the other side of the coin... as men's mental and emotional health is a very neglected topic unfortunately...

I am very happy that you described the struggles of the average Western European men (and possibly some other Western cultures' too) in the second part of your answer. I feel that it is very interesting to see how societal realities and expectations change for men in different parts of the world. Thanks again!!

You're very welcome Flora, I commented because it's a very important matter and a real problem culturally imposed on men. Fortunately I'm having more men than ever before in my consultancy what it means that they're more open to recognize their long hidden traumas !!!

Culture is the main factor causing mental health issues for Pakistani men to be pushed under the rug. Society expects the male to the strong physically and mentally. Men are pressurized into hiding their mental issues so that they aren't seen as weak or vulnerable, qualities supposedly pertaining to females. Societal rejection and the fear of being perceived as unmasculine leads males to not seek professional help which leads to worsening mental complications. Help will rarely ever be sought until the mental stress and confusion manifest into physical symptoms which will then more readily be treated.

Thanks so much for your comment Fiza Amjad

I find it interesting how people are supposed to be ashamed about mental health issues but, on the other hand, the physical symptomps caused by it are taken so much seriously...

Your point was very interesting!