SEAHO Report - Spring 2019 - 29

SEAHO Feature Articles
Most parents are utilizing social media to create support systems for themselves to deal with this anxiety. In
some cases, they end up creating wonderful spaces to gather information, discuss problems and find solutions.
In others, they spread misinformation, feed off of fear and ramp up other parents anxiety.
When you're dealing with a parent you're not just dealing with them you're also dealing with the cumulative
worries, expectations, and pressures placed on them. Inside they are freaking out that the child they were
responsible for is either, thriving and growing away from them as they should, or is struggling. The only way
we can combat this is to provide as much information as possible, listen when they have questions and or
concerns and treat them with kindness.

Men-in-Residence: Redefining the Standard
Michael Prosia, University of South Florida-Tampa
In the spring of 2018, the University of South Florida made a call out to its staff and faculty: our men are
struggling, and it's time we start doing something about it. Diving into the data, we were seeing a gap.
Normally, the gap might be based on race, ethnicity, or socio-economic status, creating an opportunity to serve
historically marginalized or underrepresented individuals on-campus. This new finding, though, was different.
USF found something unprecedented needing to be addressed.
Our men weren't succeeding and meeting the standards we set for our students. They weren't reaching
graduation in four years, or six years, for that matter. At the University of South Florida, the gap between men
and women graduating is nearly a 20% difference. Our men also weren't being retained from their first year to
their second year compared to their women classmates.
How could this be? Men in our society are privileged, especially our white men, occupying powerful spaces like
Chief Executives of Fortune 500 Companies, or politicians at all levels of government. Men are privileged and
yet something wasn't clicking.
Though for me, I wasn't surprised. Strength. Toughness. Emotionless. Masculine. Our society has built an
image of what it means to be a man, and it tells us how to act every single day. We teach young boys to only
express emotion if that emotion is anger, aggression, or frustration, rather than sadness or despair. We teach
teenage boys to drink alcohol, smoke cigarettes, or use illicit drugs because it's "cool". We teach young men
to find sexual partners at any cost, even if they say "no". These examples of Toxic Masculinity cannot be
overlooked any longer because the effects are felt not only by men, but by all of us.
Toxic Masculinity continually reinforces norms, values, and expectations perpetuating power and dominance
by men. In society today, Toxic Masculinity uses homophobia and misogyny to maintain control over others
(Connell, 2005). This socializes and encourages men to behave in specific ways to further advance themselves
while keeping others down.
Because of how we teach and interact with men as a result of Toxic Masculinity, we often overlook the
concerning statistics about men or play it off as normal behavior. The larger narrative is much more concerning.
Research shows the second leading cause of death amongst boys and men aged 15-24 is suicide. Research

SEAHO Report Spring 2019

SEAHO Report - Spring 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of SEAHO Report - Spring 2019