lundi 23 février 2015

A Look At The Seldom-Discussed Male Perspective On Divorce

By Olivia Cross


When people discuss marriage dissolution, they most often do so from the woman's vantage point. There is a great deal of time and effort expended on understanding the negative effects divorces can have on wives, but very little mention of the repercussions for men. This shouldn't come as a surprise, since there are many very cultural and societal reasons that explain the lack of attention given to the male perspective on divorce.

Most men learned at an early age that men are expected to keep their feelings inside. Society has ways of making men feel inferior when they discuss emotional issues, so most avoid any serious discussions of that nature with their other male friends. That leads to them internalizing their sadness. Because of male silence on the matter, society has falsely come to believe that divorces impact men far less than they impact women. It's not at all true.

Simply put, men often feel like complete failures after a divorce. And for the average male, that kind of failure can destroy his self-image. After all, most men feel as though who they are is defined by their success or failure in various aspects of life. When their marriages break down, they are suddenly confronted with the worst failure of them all: the failure to make a that union work.

This failure can cause men to lose their sense of identity. When a man gets married, his status as husband typically becomes the centerpiece of his entire identity. This is often true even when a man has a highly successful career and a variety of other hobbies and interests. When marriages crumble, many men struggle to redefine themselves and figure out who they'll be outside of that union.

The father-child relationship can make that loss of identity even more pronounced. Mothers often end up with the lion's share of time spent with the kids, which can make it difficult for fathers to maintain their attachments with the children. That often leads to feelings of grief over the loss of paternal familiarity, and a growing level of anger.

That grief creates an entirely new set of problems, since many men are ill-equipped to properly manage such deep sadness. Women spend lifetimes developing social bonds that are often based upon the sharing of intimate thoughts and feelings. Men are often taught that such interactions with other men are a sign of weakness. Without a proper way to vent those feelings, divorced men hold their emotions in, and can end up drinking heavily or engaging in other harmful activities.

That path often leads to depression. And regardless of how severe that depression might be, t almost always leads to isolation from friends and family. Sometimes, depression can become so intense that men suffer from headaches, hypertension, or other ailments. Worst of all, most men end up enduring these travails all by themselves.

For many years, society has focused on how divorces impact women, and paid little attention to men. The struggles of those men to rebuild their lives in the wake of marital catastrophe will continue until society at last recognizes the grief men experience and finally affords them the understanding they deserve.




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