Scientists identify when fragile masculinity begins in men

Fragile masculinity begins at puberty when boys start to feel pressure to be ‘manly,’ a study has found.

The term refers to anxiety among men when they feel they do not meet the cultural expectations of their gender.

It can motivate men to try and appear more confident, be risk-takers and show more aggression, while suppressing feelings of emotion, compassion and empathy.

Now, experts have found that this behavior emerges as early as puberty, as adolescent boys respond aggressively when they believe their masculinity is under threat.

The researcher’s experiment included more than 200 adolescent boys in the US and one of their parents.

Boys first reported on the extent to which their motivation to be masculine was internally driven or stemmed from a desire to gain other people’s approval.

They then played a game during which they were told their answers were either typical of their gender — for example similar to other boys — or atypical and more like the answers from girls.

This was followed by a cognitive task to measure aggression.

Parents also answered questions to help measure puberty – for example if they had noticed a change in voice or the start of facial hair growth for their child.

Analysis revealed that adolescent boys in mid-to-late puberty responded with aggression when they felt like their gender was threatened.

Aggression was found to be heightened among boys whose motivation to be a ‘man’ was due to pressure from others.

Senior author Andrei Cimpian, from New York University, said: ‘Men’s aggression presents challenges for societies across the world, ranging from public safety to intimate personal relationships.

‘By identifying when and why certain boys begin showing aggressive responses to masculinity threats, this research is a first step in preventing the development of ‘fragile’ masculinities — masculinities that need to be constantly proved and reasserted — and their many negative consequences among adult men.’

The findings, published in the journal Developmental Science, also revealed that the boys most likely to feel pressure to be ‘manly’ were those who parents held stereotypical beliefs about men’s status and power.

Lead author Adam Stanaland said: ‘Beyond just aggression, manhood threats are associated with a wide variety of negative, antisocial behaviours such as sexism, homophobia, political bigotry, and even anti-environmentalism.

‘Our findings call for actively challenging the restrictive norms and social pressure that boys face to be stereotypically masculine, particularly during puberty and coming from their parents and peers.’ 

The boys included in the study were aged 10-14.