Men are 3.56x as likely to kill themselves as women. For alot of men reality is that we are expected to get a well paying job, be the breadwinner, occupy the most physically demanding jobs and be "strong" mentally. When men cry, you're weak. When you are in need of affection, you're weak. When you're interested in art, you're feminine.

Such as, mental health. 29% of women are likely to be treated for their mental health problems compared to just 17% of the men. This is because men aren't used to expressing how they feel and are not sure what the symptoms they have are or have a hard time explaining what they're feeling, so they present their GP with different symptoms. For example a range of physical, stress related symptoms are common. 67% of people in Britain who drink a hazardous amount are men. And 80% (!!) Of those dependent on alcohol, are men, AND 69% of those dependent on harddrugs.

Various social factors put women at a greater risk of poor mental health than men. However their readiness to talk about their feelings and their strong social networks can help protect their mental health. This is severely lacking with men. History shows the poor concern of mens health by society. For example, we're often the ones fighting the wars under the pretence that it's our masculine duty. The truth is that 97% of war deaths are men, and 93% of workplace deaths as well. The reason for this, again, is that being placed in the most risky situations is our "supposedly" masculine duty. 84% of the reported sleeping homeless in london in 2018 were men as well. We're the expendables somehow. Easily put away when we become an inconvenience, or send to the bulletfarm as cattle.

As women face sexism often from bigoted men, unbalanced representation by media and much more I'm not able to all name right now. Men sadly face a different, largely unknown kind of sexism. A subject not much touched on or questioned worldwide of what exactly the role of men is in society. While men have less trouble getting in a position of power (not considering backgrounds or ethnicies) and have been considered superior in most of humans history. I came to wonder if this was still the case today. It seems there is a universal neglect for the wellbeing or life value of men. Throughout human history, men have been perceived as the dominant sex. This means however, that the general consensus is that men have a born duty to fight in wars we have nothing to do with and the only ones desperate enough for working the high risk and physically demanding jobs for that "manly" seal. We are still expected to act like nothing can touch us.

And there are more than a few men who just simply do not agree with societys view of what being a man is about or supposed to look like. I'm not even talking about gays specifically! Any guy can have feelings they wish they could out without judgement. They fear being deemed feminine, so they crop up their feelings of insecurity and have it slowly eating away his ego. The state of a mans mental health is often neglected by the man himself or he's not even aware a constant state of apathic is something to worry about resulting in reaching for help too late, if not at all. We basically rather let our mind kill itself, than get help and be condescendet by men and women alike. It feels like admitting something is wrong with you. The same goes for showing basic emotions like fear, sadness and even happiness sometimes. Also when men compared to women are homeless, they receive less guidance and support from institutes and charity. It seems women have an extra safety net whereas men have to deal with harsher consequenses. This might be due to the lack of sympathy by the families and general population. This realization can put extra stress and fear of failure on your mind. Failing is not an option anymore. Thats the problem. Men are also less likely to reach out for help from family and friends because doing so can be perceived as disfunctional and give a blow to his ego weakening his state of mind even more.

Men feel like confidence is considered "alpha" and always act out more confident than they actually are. Even if you don't really want to. You're straight, so you have to play the game. The mans ego is fragile, when having a lack of masculine traits there is a chance he feels like he is not man enough. He might compensate by getting muscular or take up manly hobbies. On the other hand, he might spiral down into a personality disorder. Please understand, men don't choose to be affected so badly by those insecurities. Being worthless, having no purpose is one of many nightmares we're supposed to dream about.

This differs in culture. In western culture masculinity has been the most desired trait in men for centuries. In countries like Japan or South korea however, the opposite is true. Following the prosperity the countries faced in the last decades, entertainment changed and so did the general opinion on what male beautystandards are. This does mean beauty standards are constantly developing and changing. A more extreme example of this is back in ancient Greece. Tiny penises were a sign of a decent and educated man. That's why all those statues are not particularely well endowed. Large penises were only found on figures of the god of pleasure, Hedone (a human-animal hybrid) and Priapus, a minor fertility god cursed with an sustaining erection that would go flacid just about when he would get laid. It is debatable how much this was reflecting the artists or buyers own insecurities.

Something as simple as the size of ones penis can be crucial for how someones life plays out. Being born with a micro penis would be so Incredibly belittling, emberassing and crushing, it's more than reason enough to destroy a little kids spirit, sending him down a spiral of eternal insecurity, passionate self loathing and chronic depression. There have sadly been countless instances of men who consider themself not big enough to do the one thing man is supposed to be put on this planet for, and decided to end it early. I think thats the clearest example of what I'm trying to explain. The idea of when someone is too emberassed of himself to look into a mirror because he hates how he is born only half a man. And I'm not just talking about men with a tiny member. A failed career sending you into bankrupcy makes you feel like half a man. Not being able to have children, being gay, bi or trans. Having a father who is half a man himself. Being bullied into believing you're only half a man. Being forced to go fight a war you have nothing to do with. Working in construction hoping your back wont give out before you're 64. Sleeping on the streets. Working 60 hour weeks, hoping your kids will understand why you we're never there for them. Its the expectations society has for us we want to meet so bad. If I don't succeed, I automatically fail. I just want to leave, and leave the responsibilities that were forced on me behind. But that's not what a man would do. I'm scared. I'm not prepared to be a man yet.

I'm just 23...