A Researcher Studied the Most Common Last Words of Suicidal Men

MEN WEREN’T REALLY THE ENEMY— THEY WERE FELLOW VICTIMS SUFFERING FROM AN OUTMODED MASCULINE MYSTIQUE THAT MADE THEM FEEL UNNECESSARILY INADEQUATE WHEN THERE WERE

Traditionally, the mythology of the self-made man had relied on the exploitation of women’s labor in their roles of wives, mothers, and sisters, as well as on a pejorative understanding of “the feminine.” Often the measure of a man’s success was calculated on the basis of his ability to out-earn his wife’s capacity for spending, a criterion for suc

Masculinity is in a crisis of its own making, and toxic masculinity and ludicrous overconfidence in our own ability is harming men, too.

Confusion of selflessness with inner poverty can be especially difficult for women. In our male-dominated culture, a woman can grow up feeling that she doesn’t really count, that she will not amount to much in this man’s world, that a woman’s fate and work is not of value. This powerful conditioning can lead to an identity riddled with depression,