Dr. Kimberley Taylor's video: WHAT IS A REAL MAN IN TODAY S WORLD

HOW DO WE DEFINE “REAL” MEN IN TODAY’S CULTURE? WITH THE CHANGING SOCIAL EXPECTATIONS AROUND MASCULINITY AND THE CONFLICTING DEPICTIONS OF MEN IN TODAY’S MEDIA, IT’S REALLY NO SURPRISE THAT A LOT OF GUYS ARE HAVING AN IDENTITY CRISIS WHEN IT COMES TO HOW TO EXPRESS THEIR FEELINGS. FROM AN EARLY AGE, MEN ARE TOLD THAT STRENGTH IS EQUATED WITH LACK OF EMOTION OR VULNERABILITY AND THAT THE ONLY ACCEPTABLE FEELINGS ARE ANGER, AGGRESSION AND VIOLENCE. IN ORDER TO BE SEEN AS ‘REAL MEN’ WE ENCOURAGE THEM TO BE STOIC AND DISCONNECTED FROM THEIR FEELINGS AND TO RESOLVE CONFLICT THROUGH VIOLENCE. AND ACCORDING TO THE RECENT DOCUMENTARY, THE MASK YOU LIVE IN, SOCIETY’S NARROW DEFINITION OF WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A MAN IS HAVING SOME UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES RANGING FROM SUBSTANCE ABUSE, TO VIOLENCE, TO RAPE. TODAY THE TOPIC IS, HOW CAN WE RAISE A HEALTHIER GENERATION OF YOUNG MEN AND CREATE A CULTURE THAT DOESN’T LEAVE THEM LONELY, ISOLATED AND DETACHED FROM THEIR TRUE EMOTIONS. JOINING ME IS DR. RYAN MCKELLEY A PSYCHOLOGIST AND ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR AT THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-LACROSSE. HE SPECIALIZIES IN THE AREA OF MEN’S MENTAL HEALTH AND CHANGING GENDER ROLES WORKING TO HELP YOUNG BOYS BECOME CONNECTED MEN.