Emotional Balance
Neo-Traditionalist
“Men are expected to take on a lot of stuff without showing emotion. There is some value to that. And my example comes from my dad. He’s the kind of person when my grandparents died, and everyone is wailing, especially his sisters, and the women around him. He’s a guy who is kind of a shoulder for everyone to lean on. He gets things together, gets everyone together, figures out where the funeral is going to be, what everything’s going to cost, and kind of coordinates everyone…the point is you need someone to do that. And my observation is that more commonly, that’s been the males in that situation, in that they get to process things, but usually they’ll step up…they’re more task oriented to solve the problem at hand. So, seeing my dad – that was a more masculine role to take to kind of process the death that way. And to me, that’s kind of what I see more being the masculine kind of perspective.”
Participant Age: 26
Participant Locale: British Columbia, Canada
Relationship Status: Partnered or Married
