What does it mean to be a man in our society?
Traditionally, there has been a set of attributes, behaviours and roles that have established the masculinity ideal. These include traits such as strength and an ability to cope as well as the capacity to be the breadwinner and protector. However, recent cultural and political shifts have made this ideal more difficult to achieve. For example, globalisation and recession have dealt men a number of blows. Furthermore, as gender roles have equalised, men's roles within the family have also undergone change. So, the traditional routes to manhood are perhaps becoming obsolete. A new set of masculinity traits has emerged as a result of these changes that call on men to be more emotionally available. Little wonder then that some are experiencing confusions and contradictions within themselves about how to be men. David Schwartz identifies these as forming a crises of masculinity whereby the difficulty of trying to live up to the ideal is causing men to suffer from ever increasing levels of anxiety.