**Toxic masculinity, in its promotion of unattainable standards of 'manliness', does seem to play a significant part in the higher rates of male suicide.** - The term 'toxic masculinity' originates from [the mythopoetic men's movement of the 1980s and '90s] (https://nymag.com/article/2016/06/how-poet-robert-bly-started-the-drum-thumping-mens-movement-of-the-90s.html). Here, it meant the wrongful feminisation of men and boys. Today, we think of it more as the outdated normalisation of male macho behaviour - like emotional suppression and physical aggression. - Today, both masculinity and femininity are increasingly [thought of as the products of social relations and behaviours] (https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2019/02/toxic-masculinity-history/583411/) - not as fixed identities. But traits that are linked to an essential masculinity or femininity do still persist. This might even be in our [unconscious enforcement of them] (https://www.pacey.org.uk/news-and-views/pacey-blog/2019/august-2019/gender-stereotyping-in-early-years/). - The traits linked to an essential idea of masculinity are usually to do with self-reliance and a lack of emotional expression, and they might well account for the higher rate of male suicides. There is an interesting gender paradox here - [men are more likely to die by suicide, but women are more likely to engage in non-fatal suicidal behaviours] (https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20190313-why-more-men-kill-themselves-than-women). This is partly because male suicidal methods tend to be more violent - access to means plays a part in this, with [6 in 10 gun owners in the US being men] (https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/06/29/how-male-and-female-gun-owners-in-the-u-s-compare/#:~:text=About%20six%2Din%2Dten%20gun,those%20of%20male%20gun%20owners.). But it's also probably because women, in general, feel more able to talk to friends/family and health professionals about how they're feeling. - Mental health struggles are [linked very closely] (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6165520/) to suicide rates. And this (relatively old) study shows that in the year before they committed suicide, [only 35% of men saw a mental health professional, while 58% of women did] (https://bcmj.org/articles/silent-epidemic-male-suicide). A lack of normalisation around expressing their feelings might also manifest in the [higher rates of male alcohol dependence] (https://www.cdc.gov/alcohol/fact-sheets/mens-health.htm) - it's a known [risk factor] (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15166632/) for suicide and a common method of self-medication. - Overall - gender binaries are in a constant process of dismantling. And there are a [growing number of resources] (https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/our-work/campaigns/mens-mental-health-month/our-work-mens-mental-health) for men who struggle with mental health issues and feel unable to talk about them. But in order to make real change, it's also important to look beyond the catchall term of 'toxic masculinity' and think about the ways we might unknowingly still be enforcing these outdated gender stereotypes.

I certainly agree. However there's a tendency for arguments like this to be used as "men did it to themselves", and less about the fundamental thing it SHOULD be about, which is "we need to change how we view men". The former is trying to dodge what may be one's own responsibility or contribution to the issue. The latter is actually trying to see what progress looks like. For instance, a lot of women who bring up toxic masculinity bring up things like "men tell each other to man up" without thinking of all the ways they themselves have told men to "man up", which often carry more weight. "Male fragility" and "insecure in his masculinity" are common phrases to look out for, here. They pop up in men's issues discussions, but absolutely flood articles regarding "man flu" and that male contraceptive that was canceled in its early stages.

**When looking at the statistics, suicide rates are not only higher amongst men, but they are also rising.** • In 2018 there was 6,507 suicide registered in the UK, three-quarters of these were men (4,903 deaths). This has been the case since the mid-1990s. • The UK male suicide rate was 17.2 deaths per 100,000 represents a significant increase from the rate in 2017. In comparison, for females, it was 5.4 deaths per 100,000, which was consistent with the rates over the past 10 years. • Males aged 45 to 49 years had the highest age-specific suicide rate of 27.1 deaths per 100,000 males. These statistics were from the [Government Office for National Statistics](https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/bulletins/suicidesintheunitedkingdom/2018registrations).