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Key points
- Men are judged as less heterosexual for acts that don't affect the judgment of women.
- Men who believe their masculinity is precarious are more likely to experience erectile difficulties.
- Attending to the harmful effects of these beliefs is important to encourage health in men.
“Precarious masculinity” is a psychological concept which reflects findings that men are, in general, more concerned about maintaining and possibly losing their masculinity, compared to similar fears in women. Past research has found that men are far more likely to feel like they must constantly defend, protect and demonstrate their masculinity. So, for instance, if a man can’t get a date, or loses a fight, or even finds out that his female partner is faking her orgasm, he is likely to feel like “less of a man.”
As you might imagine, these beliefs are more common in cultures with more traditional, rigid ideologies around masculinity and gender roles. Precarious masculinity also interacts with sexual orientation and perceptions of sexual orientation. Women may engage in sexual contact, such as kissing or even oral sex with other women, without as many judgments that they are gay or homosexual. However, men who engage in similar contact with other men are commonly assumed to be “not completely heterosexual,” if not outright gay.
Two recent research studies explore these effects further, investigating the ways in which beliefs that masculinity is precarious impact judgments of others, oneself, and the sexual functioning of men.
From Flirting to Sex:
Bosson, Rousis and Wilkerson investigated whether the precarious manhood effect around heterosexuality extended to nonsexual behaviors, such as dancing, flirting, blowing a kiss, and how these effects related to characteristics in the perceiver (the person making the judgment).
In their research, they had men and women read vignettes, describing individuals who were portrayed as heterosexual but then engaged in behaviors such as dancing with a same sex friend, blowing them a kiss, kissing a same sex friend on the lips, up to engaging in oral sex with the friend.
Across multiple tests and multiple samples, the researchers found that when the character in the vignette was male, the study participants were far more likely to judge the male as not heterosexual, compared to the same vignettes involving females. This finding was true for both the explicitly sexual behaviors and for the “flirtatious behaviors.”
Interestingly, the ambiguous flirtatious behaviors had a larger effect, compared to the outright sex. Men and women who engaged in same-sex oral or casual sex were seen as less heterosexual than men and women who merely engaged in flirtatious behaviors. But, the flirtatious behaviors, perhaps because they are more difficult to clearly interpret, caused the participant perceivers to make a greater assumption of non-heterosexuality.
These findings, that men are much less able to engage in the same behaviors as women without being judged as non-heterosexual, were universally consistent across various factors, such the perceivers’ gender, geographical locations, religiosity, etc.
Link to Sexual Functioning:
Not only do men suffer greater risk of having their sexual orientation questioned based on even nonsexual behaviors, but men who experience sexual difficulties judge themselves, and are judged by others, as being less manly. Even the need to use medications such PE5 inhibitors (e.g., Viagra), can lead to judgments that someone is less of a man for using such treatment to achieve an erection.
Walther, Rice and Eggenberger investigated whether men who hold such beliefs are at greater risk of experiencing these sexual dysfunctions. Essentially, could these beliefs be a self-fulfilling prophecy?
Here, they tested 507 adult, cisgender men, assessing their history of erectile functioning, as well as their degree of agreement with beliefs that masculinity and manhood are precarious and can be lost. They also assessed how much these men conformed to traditional masculinity ideals in their daily lives.
The researchers found that, indeed, men who hold more beliefs that their manhood is precarious and can be lost were substantially more likely to report decreased sexual functioning and higher erectile difficulties. Conforming to traditional masculinity ideals did not predict sexual dysfunction.
So, the findings indicate that the belief that one’s manhood is vulnerable and insecure may contribute to erectile difficulties, whereas being a traditional man with traditional male ideals and attitudes was not predictive of sexual dysfunctions.
Modern Manhood
A great deal of current social dialogue is attending to the “problems with males” and discussing the impact of male figures such as Jordan Peterson PhD. or Andrew Tate on young men. The notion that masculinity must be defended, protected, and that if you don’t act a “certain way,” then you’re not a real man, appears to have insidious, damaging effects. It appears that, at least in these effects, it’s not the constrained, rigid masculinity ideals that are at the root of problems, but the anxiety-producing, undermining idea that men can lose their masculinity which contributes to psychological and sexual difficulties. Even nonsexual behaviors can lead to being judged as less of a man, contributing to high degrees of self-monitoring, which likely create more psychological struggles.
Men are at greater risk of these types of judgments than are women, and appear to suffer greater ills, including sexual dysfunctions from them. It is noteworthy that many online discussions around male sexual dysfunction emphasize these elements, with arguments that ability to get an erection is evidence of true masculinity and successful manhood. Given that it is likely men already questioning their masculinity and struggling with sexual functioning who are drawn to these groups, the emphasis on precarious manhood beliefs may further exacerbate these difficulties.
