Interactive readings “Overcoming Harmful Masculinity Stereotypes”

Many boys and men grow up hearing messages like “real men don’t cry”, “men must always be strong”, or “men should earn more than their partners”. These are masculinity stereotypes: ideas about how men “should” behave, think and feel.

Stereotypes can become harmful when they are too rigid. They can make men feel that they must always be tough, never show emotion, never ask for help and never say “I am struggling”. This constant pressure can cause long-term stress and fear of not being “man enough”.

Research in Europe shows that strict masculinity norms are linked to risky behaviours and worse health for men. Men are more likely than women to smoke, drink heavily and delay going to the doctor, which increases their chances of serious illness and early death. For example, in the EU, 13% of men drink alcohol daily compared to 4% of women, and 22% of men smoke versus 15% of women.

Harmful masculinity stereotypes also affect mental health. Men and boys are often discouraged from talking about sadness, stress or loneliness. In many European countries, men are more likely to die by suicide even though women report more depression and anxiety.

Challenging masculinity stereotypes does not mean that being masculine is bad. It means allowing more than one way of being a man: men can be strong and sensitive, independent and able to ask for help, ambitious and caring.

Men can start overcoming harmful stereotypes by: talking honestly with friends and family about how they feel; going to a doctor or counsellor when something is wrong; sharing care work at home; and questioning jokes or comments that shame men for being “too soft” or taking care of their health. When men are free from rigid gender rules, they can make healthier choices and build more equal, respectful relationships.

These may be challenged through a variety of modalities, especially: psychotherapy, workshops, and more (Andoh, 2025).

• In 2019, 13% of men drank alcohol daily, more than triple the rate for women (4%). Men also smoke more often: 22% vs. 15%, highlighting the health costs of masculine norms (EIGE, 2025).
• Traditional stereotypes of masculinities are related to worse health outcomes in men. This is evident from the gender gap in numbers of deaths which persists across all life-stages until age 69 when, largely as a result of premature male mortality, women form the majority of the population in Europe (WHO Regional Office for Europe, 2018).

One of the most documented consequences of harmful masculinity norms is men’s reluctance to seek professional psychological help. A 2025 systematic review of 47 studies identified the most prominent barrier as the fear of being perceived as “less masculine” by seeking support. Men who did not seek professional help were significantly more likely to turn to binge drinking and substance use to manage anxiety, depression, and stress, creating a cycle that further deteriorated their mental and physical health (Mokhwelepa & Sumbane, 2025).

Western societies expect men to embody ambition, self-reliance, stoicism, and emotional control consistently and persistently. When men fall short of these ideals, the likely responses are workaholism, suppression, avoidance, or chronic stress. The World Health Organization has formally identified harmful masculinity as a serious public health concern, noting that it discourages help-seeking and contributes to higher rates of violence, gender inequality, and mental health struggles. A 2023 scoping review confirmed that tailored interventions, including online programmes and peer support groups that explicitly acknowledge masculine norms, show the greatest promise in encouraging men to seek care (Kim & Yu, 2023).

When men are socialised to associate dominance and aggression with masculine identity, the risk of interpersonal violence increases significantly. UNFPA (United Nations Population Fund) recognises gender-based violence as a human rights violation rooted in structural discrimination, requiring the active engagement of men and boys to be effectively addressed (UNFPA, 2024). Research shows that men who adhere to the most rigid masculine norms can be three to six times more likely to report perpetrating sexual harassment than their peers (UNESCO, 2025).

A 2024 study found that men who experience violence as victims face a double burden: they suffer harm and also endure social stigma, since victimhood contradicts traditional masculine ideals of strength and control (O’Donnell et al., 2024). The Council of Europe (2023) underlined the importance of engaging men as active prevention partners. Research published in Frontiers in Sociology demonstrated that men who embrace “caring masculinities” are significantly less violent and more gender-equitable in their relationships (Moura, 2024).

Masculinity norms are learned, not innate. Gender socialisation begins in early childhood, with parents transmitting expectations through behaviour modelling, implicit cues, and explicit messages such as “boys don’t cry”. Fathers are more likely to discourage emotional displays in sons, patterns that predict children’s emotional expression and mental health outcomes in adulthood (DeGue et al., 2023).

Early adolescence (ages 10–14) is a critical window for intervention: puberty intensifies gender expectations, and boys not yet fully internalised in rigid norms remain more open to alternative frameworks of masculinity (UNFPA, 2024). School-based programmes using small-group critical reflection show the greatest promise — out of 12 evaluations measuring gender attitudes in such programmes, 11 found significant improvements (Dworkin et al., 2013). An example is Australia’s “Silence is Deadly” programme, which provides psychoeducation to secondary school boys on men’s mental health and help-seeking, explicitly addressing how traditional

masculine norms shape negative attitudes toward professional support (Calear et al., 2021, cited in Ingram et al., 2022).

Online platforms have enabled a loosely connected network of communities, the “manosphere”, to reach millions of young men with messages promoting male dominance, emotional stoicism, and hostility toward gender equality. A 2025 survey by the Movember Institute found that young men aged 16–25 who regularly consumed this content reported higher rates of worthlessness (27% vs. 23%), nervousness (26% vs. 19%), and sadness (26% vs. 19%) than peers who did not engage with it (Andoh, 2025). Research by Stanaland (2024) also found that boys going through puberty often respond with aggression when told they do not fit traditional male stereotypes, suggesting this stage may be critical for developing “fragile masculinities”.

The concept of “caring masculinities” (presenting care, empathy, and nurture as fundamentally compatible with manhood) represents one of the most promising frameworks for sustainable change. The State of the World’s Fathers 2023 report by Equimundo found that men and women worldwide are calling for care to be placed at the centre of social life, requiring an overhaul of power structures and policies around both paid and unpaid care work (Equimundo, 2023). Boys who grow up with actively involved fathers are more likely to hold gender-equitable attitudes as adults, participate in caregiving, and avoid violence against partners (Moura, 2024).

At the therapeutic level, researchers distinguish between reconstructive approaches, reframing traditional norms such as self-reliance into adaptive behaviours, and deconstructive approaches, which aim to eliminate rigid gender expectations. Both show positive outcomes depending on context and individual readiness (Hoffmann & Addis, 2024). Community programmes such as Equimundo’s Manhood 2.0 and the Taking Boys Seriously initiative in Northern Ireland demonstrate that systemic change is achievable when education, therapy, and community engagement work together (Harland, 2024). Paid paternity leave, flexible working policies, and investment in male-focused mental health services are indispensable structural complements to these efforts.

YouTube video : “”Toxic masculinity” isn’t what you think it is.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjwjhaUDBrA

1. Andoh, E. (2025). Rethinking masculinity to build healthier outcomes. Monitor on Psychology, 56(8). https://www.apa.org/monitor/2025/11-12/rethinking-masculinity
2. Council of Europe. (2023). The role and responsibility of men and boys in stopping gender-based violence (Doc. 15678). Parliamentary Assembly. https://rm.coe.int/the-role-and-responsibility-of-men-and-boys-in-stopping-gender-based-v/1680a93c0d
3. DeGue, S., Singleton, R., Rizo, C., Collins, K., & Ray, S. (2023). A qualitative analysis of beliefs about masculinity and gender socialization among US mothers and fathers of school-age boys. Psychology of Men & Masculinities, 25(2), 152–164. https://doi.org/10.1037/men0000450
4. Dworkin, S. L., Treves-Kagan, S., & Lippman, S. A. (2013). Gender-transformative interventions to reduce HIV risks and violence with heterosexually-active men: A review of the global evidence. AIDS and Behavior, 17(9), 2845–2863. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-013-0565-2
5. Equimundo. (2023). State of the World’s Fathers 2023. Equimundo: Center for Masculinities and Social Justice. https://www.equimundo.org/state-of-the-worlds-fathers-research/
6. European Institute for Gender Equality. (2025). Men and masculinity. https://eige.europa.eu/gender-mainstreaming/thematic-areas/men-and-masculinity
7. Harland, K. (2024). Taking Boys Seriously: A participatory action research initiative demonstrating the transformative potential of relational education. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 45(3), 284–310. https://doi.org/10.1080/01425692.2024.2315121
8. Heilman, B., Guerrero-López, C. M., Ragonese, C., Kelberg, M., & Barker, G. (2019). The cost of the man box: A study on the economic impacts of harmful masculine stereotypes in the United States. Promundo-US and Unilever. https://www.equimundo.org/resources/the-cost-of-the-man-box-a-study-on-the-economic-impacts-of-harmful-masculine-stereotypes-in-the-united-states/
9. Hoffmann, E., & Addis, M. E. (2024). To reconstruct or deconstruct? A fundamental question for the psychology of men and masculinities. Psychology of Men & Masculinities, 25(1), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1037/men0000440