Masculinity and Mental Health

Masculinity a mental health issue? You've got to be kidding us! Making headlines this weekend is a new statement from the University of Texas at Austin, stating that masculinity is a mental health issue. While the university has since backtracked amid social media backlash, the initial statement and wording of their backtrack still leave a lot of lingering questions about their intent. You can find their "apology" here.The idea is to prevent, and/or reduce sexual assault on campus. Great idea. We don't know a single person that doesn't want those kinds of actions or behaviors stopped/remedied. Just so we're clear, we do know that "masculine men" aren't the only ones capable of such behavior right? Maybe include that in your statement? And call us crazy, but isn't painting "masculine men" a little too broad of a stroke?Without getting all internet outraged over this, it's actually important that we recognize that masculinity is not the issue. Being an asshole is. Being an asshole has never changed, and the crazy thing about being an asshole is that both genders are equally guilty of it, even those of you that identify as Apache attack helicopters or Unicorn princesses. Everyone can be an asshole. It's not masculinity that is the issue.If we look across society today, the fact is that sheer common courtesy and respect for your fellow human being has gone out of the window. No longer are people allowed to have different ideas, opinions or solutions. There is only one way and sadly those who do not fall in lockstep with that one way are labeled as enemies of the greater good. We're not going to dive too deep down the rabbit hole of who is unfortunate enough to get castigated in the court of public opinion, we're pretty sure you already know.Unless something is truly serious, we don't want to stoke the fires of internet outrage, but this...this is bothersome and it leads us to question why this program is labeled as it is. Since we're in the culture of being inclusive and accepting and all, why don't they just call it "Be a Better Person 101"? Doesn't fit an agenda, oh ok. Makes sense.Masculinity can mean a lot of different things to a lot of people, but the idea that it, in and of itself is a negative trait to possess is utterly ridiculous and childish. When a man does something wrong, it's not masculinity going awry, it's him being a horrible person. When a woman does something wrong it's not femininity gone awry, it's her being a horrible person. That's why we use different words, to describe different actions. The words masculinity and femininity are used to describe the virtues of the respective genders, not tear them down.Remember folks there is a difference between being masculine and being an asshole. Being masculine doesn't make you an asshole, being an asshole makes you an asshole.