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“Is it Hard to be a Man in North America?”
Presented by Tanya Long

In Spring 2023, the program Ideas on CBC Radio 1 presented a three-part series called Man Up: The Masculinity Crisis. According to the series, in recent decades social scientists have noted a trend: men are dropping out of the workforce, their addiction rates are climbing and their suicide rates are much greater than women's. 

There is much evidence to suggest that men are in trouble.

- Suicide. In Canada 4500 people commit suicide yearly, or 200 people per day. Every day more than 200 people attempt suicide. Suicide rates per capita in the US are similar. Over the past two decades the rate for men has been consistently at least double,  if not triple, that of women. 
- Addiction. An estimated 21% of Canadians, about 6 million people, will meet the criteria for addiction in their lifetime. More than 2/3 of these are alcohol or tobacco related. Alcoholism is greater among men - 10 - 20% of men suffer from alcoholism versus 5 - 10% of women.  Other addictive substances include opioids, cannabis, prescription drugs and illegal drugs. 62% of people requiring treatment for substance abuse are men (AddictionHelp.com, Addiction Statistics Canada updated June 16, 2023).
- Violence. Men are more aggressive than women in general. Masculine ideals - repression of emotions, pressure to conform to social expectations of dominance and aggression - make it more likely that men will engage in bullying, assault, verbal aggression and fighting. According to the US Department of Justice, men commit violent crimes more than 3 times as often as women. 

Much of male violence is directed at women - domestic violence, sexual assault, murder. 2.5 women are killed by gender-based violence every day in Canada. Thousands more are physically, psychologically and emotionally abused. Last summer more than 30 municipalities declared gender-based violence an epidemic (Toronto Star Jan 15, 2023). Men's violence against women is not new but consider these:

--Incels. An online subculture of mostly white, male heterosexuals who cannot get a romantic or sexual partner. They blame women for their failures and endorse sexual and non-sexual violence against women. Since 2014 they have committed multiple mass killings mostly in North America such as the van attack in Toronto in April 2018 when Alex Minassian killed 11 people and injured many others, motivated by misogynistic terrorism. Estimates of membership range from thousands to hundreds of thousands of individuals. 

-- Andrew Tate. Is an American/British influencer who has been dubbed "the king of misogyny." He describes himself as absolutely misogynistic and sexist. In 2023 he was charged in Romania with rape, human trafficking and creating an organized crime group to sexually exploit women. It is estimated that his online ventures generate US $5 million every month and that his followers number 8.5 million on X.

Questions:

• What is going on with men? What are the causes of all of these symptoms of distress?

• Is the advancement of women to blame? Why?

• What can be done to deal with this issue?

• The men in our HAT group do not fit the model suggested above. Why not?

• What do you know that makes you different and how did you learn that?

  Let's discuss.