{"id":12633,"date":"2024-02-07T21:53:23","date_gmt":"2024-02-07T21:53:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.golive.clarku.edu\/news\/2024\/02\/07\/letting-go-of-gender-pressure\/"},"modified":"2025-05-19T09:26:29","modified_gmt":"2025-05-19T13:26:29","slug":"letting-go-of-gender-pressure","status":"publish","type":"story","link":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2024\/02\/07\/letting-go-of-gender-pressure\/","title":{"rendered":"Letting go of gender pressure"},"content":{"rendered":"\n \n

Masculinity as performance, not personality<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/iframe><br \/>\n <\/p>\n Michael Addis\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\">Many people consider masculinity an inner essence or set of specific personality traits that define manhood. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/academics\/undergraduate\/programs\/major\/psychology\/\" aria-label=\"major in psychology\">Psychology<\/a> Professor <a href=\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/faculty\/profiles\/michael-addis\/\" aria-label=\"professor bio\">Michael Addis<\/a> has a different understanding. His research indicates masculinity is a performance a person gives to reinforce their gender in alignment with societal and cultural norms.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\">“There’s no doubt that many of the things that that boys and men have been taught to do to perform their masculinity can be harmful to themselves and to people of other genders as well,” says Addis.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\">Men who avoid being vulnerable in their relationships to appear masculine can live for decades with no emotional support, says Addis. Increased isolation could contribute to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/nchs\/products\/databriefs\/db483.htm#section_2\" aria-label=\"cdc data\">rising suicide rates among U.S. men<\/a> ages 40 to 55, he notes.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\">“There’s a whole range of positive experiences related to emotional awareness, intimacy, and connections with other people,” says Addis. “All of these things are helped by letting go of the pressure to be a certain way because of your gender.”<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>Challenge. Change.<\/strong> is produced by Andrew Hart and Melissa Hanson for Clark University. Listen and subscribe on <a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/4UuYAjq1d3Hq45cjwxoCNL\" aria-label=\"listen on spotify\">Spotify<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/challenge-change\/id1608025510\" aria-label=\"listen on apple\">Apple Podcasts<\/a>. Find other episodes wherever you listen to podcasts.<\/p>\n<div class=\"csidebar \">\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>Recent episodes<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-47988 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024_Curtis_Chin_Podcast_Recording_JAN_16-43-300x200-2.jpg\" alt=\"man at table with microphone\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\"><a href=\"https:\/\/clarknow.clarku.edu\/2024\/01\/31\/tales-of-a-chinese-restaurant-kid\/\" aria-label=\"listen\">Growing Up in a Chinese Restaurant with Author Curtis Chin<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/clarknow.clarku.edu\/2023\/09\/20\/resiliency-roadblock\/\" aria-label=\"listen\">Investigating the Young Adult Mental Health Crisis with Professor Jeffrey Arnett<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/clarknow.clarku.edu\/2023\/04\/26\/what-about-our-rights\/\" aria-label=\"listen\">What LGBTQ+ Parents Say When Told “Don’t Say Gay” with Professor Abbie Goldberg<\/a><\/p>\n<p><\/div><\/body><\/html><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Masculinity as performance, not personality<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":12634,"template":"","meta":{"story_color":"#525250","story_headerImg":12634,"section_label":"Challenge. Change. Podcast","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[223,246,245],"displayed_author":[237],"featured":[],"topic":[150,160,334,175,316,176,177,273],"class_list":["post-12633","story","type-story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-clark-community","category-health-wellbeing","category-social-sciences","displayed_author-melissa-hanson","topic-faculty","topic-faculty-research","topic-gender","topic-major-in-psychology","topic-mental-health","topic-podcast","topic-psychology","topic-social-change"],"yoast_head":"\n<title>Letting go of gender pressure | ClarkU News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2024\/02\/07\/letting-go-of-gender-pressure\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" 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