Is the pressure to “act like a man” a real thing and where does it come from?

This was a tough conversation. I’m very thankful these three guys were brave enough to have it on the record with me.

 

The one thing they all agreed on is that there is certainly societal pressure to “act like a man.”

 

But Brandon Mahoney pointed out that there is also this idea of “toxic masculinity” to be avoided.

 

(Which makes me wonder if the message is to act like a man but no too much.)

 

Gary Fredericks – who spent many years working on Wall Street made the comment that the pressure isn’t just to win but to crush your competition in the process.

 

Stewart Wiggins brought up the pseudo-machoism in the military and in sports – sickness, injury, concussion, breaks, sprains? Doesn’t matter you play through it.

 

(I want to say there isn’t the pressure to do that anymore but I don’t think it’s true. When the NFL session ended and you heard the announcers praising guys to “want it” badly enough to play through injury and bad mouthing players who won’t.)

 

And does the idea that men should act like men go hand in hand with the idea that a woman who is confident and good at something can emasculate a man? (Can someone please explain to me how I am responsible for making sure a man feels good about himself and can “act like a man”?)

 

When Gary said that he has always been attracted to intelligent and independent women, both Brandon and Stewart were nodding. Does it take a man who is confident in himself not to be threatened by a confident woman?

 

Are we still telling boys they aren’t allowed to cry?

 

Is masculinity seen as a bad thing? Is holding a door open no longer a good thing?

 

When someone says, “be a man” or “act like a man” what are they actually telling a man to do?

 

If the conversation after we turned the recording off is any indication, there is A LOT to be discussed on this topic and we, as a society, are not doing a good job having open dialogue about it.

 

Connect with the panelists:
Stewart Wiggins: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stewart-wiggins/

Induna Advisors – where he offers Fractional Chief Operating Officer services and Brings resources together to help scale your business.

 

Brandon Mahoney: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drstartup/

Co Founder of Launch Point Labs, National venture firm where he is the expert in creating sales departments. He is known as Dr Startup

 

Gary Fredericks: https://www.linkedin.com/in/garyfredericks/

CEO of On Point Partners where they provide back-office services for small businesses

 

Dr Robyn Odegaard: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robynodegaard/

Concierge High Performance Psychologist providing luxury level support to executives, entrepreneurs, celebrities, dignitaries and athletes as well as the Facilitator of the Quick Hits podcast

 

Want a summary of the Quick Hits I post every week, plus the links to the LinkedIn pages of each of the panelist to show up in your in-box every week? Just let me know where to send it: https://drrobynodegaard.com/quick-hits-notifications/

 

 

  #QuickHits are designed to exercise your brain by letting you listen in on an unscripted conversation to get other people's thoughts on pertinent subjects. If you would like to join a conversation or have a topic you would like to hear discussed, please message me. https://www.DrRobynOdegaard.com

 

#beaman #toxicmasculinity #incel #mansman