Masculinity is not a given derived from nature, but rather from the social models constructed at each stage, which attribute different characteristics to men and women based on the social needs of each era, and also, of course, on who has more power. As societies change, models of masculinity and femininity need to change because they become outdated, and their maintenance ends up harming everyone, but especially people of the gender that clings most to the past.
This is what's happening right now. Our societies have changed radically compared to the recent past, a century or even 50 years ago. Women have made a great effort to eliminate previous mandates, which confined us to the role of mothers and homemakers. Changes in the male gender, on the other hand, are much more difficult, because resistance and opposition movements are emerging, faced with the fear of losing ancestral privileges.
This evolutionary delay now has very negative consequences, which we are beginning to see. The series Adolescence, for example, which has garnered a huge audience recently, highlights the violent, almost inexplicable behavior of very young boys. The series isn't a fantasy; it emerged when its creator, Stephen Graham, realized that a teenager killing a girl his age wasn't an isolated case, but rather several. It keeps happening: last week it happened again in France, and there are probably many more around the world that we won't even know about.
However, the current model of masculinity is not only dangerous for women. It is even more so for men, a fact that is rarely discussed. In Catalonia, the mortality rate is 86.34 for women, and in Catalonia, 81.29 and 86.49 respectively. This is a relatively recent phenomenon; for example, the difference in mortality rates between the sexes is very high during youth. By the age of 20, in Spain, 3 out of 4 people who die are men, and they do not die from illnesses, but from risky behaviors, assumed because of the imposed model of masculinity.
What does this model consist of? Basically, it places a very high value on violence, not as a destructive act, but as the importance of courage, strength, and the ability to assert oneself. Children are raised on the pleasure of confrontation, of clashes, of conflict, of the display of power, apparently proof of some kind of superiority. We are seeing the dire consequences that this attitude of arrogance has worldwide. On an individual level, it is also disastrous. In Spain, in 2023, 74.2% of homicide victims were men, victims of assaults carried out primarily by other men: 92% of murderers are men. 62% of all homicides were committed by men who killed men, and 28% killed women. The percentage of murders carried out by women who kill men is approximately 7%. You can draw your own conclusions: women find it unbearable to be killed, but men seem to accept this price paid to be able to exercise violence as "natural."
It's not just homicides: from 2000 to 2021, 81.5% of suicides were committed by men, especially young men between the ages of 12 and 29. The second leading cause of death among young people: traffic accidents. Between 2015 and 2019, 72% of deaths from accidents were men. These are Spanish data, but in Catalonia they are similar. The third leading cause of death among young people: drugs. 79.6% of drug-related deaths were men in 2022. The last: extreme sports; I haven't found the corresponding data, but it is entirely plausible that these are mostly men's deaths.
Do we need more arguments to demonstrate the devastation of the current masculine model, specifically among men? This old-fashioned masculinity seems to be making a comeback, especially among young men, who are unaware of the price they will eventually pay for this regression. It's almost a matter of life or death to review the messages we send them and the values we instill in them.
