ABSTRACT

This chapter examines structural and cultural conditions that make the lives of men more dangerous, less healthy, and more precarious than the lives of women; or what D. Benatar calls “the second sexism.” It highlights that while boys and men get privilege in many capacities, they also suffer in many ways. The chapter argues that masculinity itself is the root cause of much of men’s social disadvantage. It explores men shift into more inclusive forms of masculinity, some of the harms of masculinity subside or dissipate altogether. Some of the accidents and accidental deaths that men experience are attributable to occupational hazards in the dangerous and dirty industries. Men are constructed to enter into physical violence in order to save a male or female victim in a hostage situation. Men, and not women, are drafted into wars to kill and be killed by other men. Men and not women, go down with the ship.