Typically, men are stereotyped as dominant ‘alpha’ males. They are either seen as protectors or predators. What they are not really seen as are victims. When it comes to abuse of any kind, people usually think of women not men. This way of thinking is toxic, especially for men who are hurt and are afraid to ask for help. 

A victim is a person who is harmed, injured, or dead as a result of a crime, accident,or other event or action. Going off of the definition of a victim, it’s difficult to understand why men are often overlooked as victims or potential victims. 

While there is no stereotype about men being condemned for being a victim, there are of men being the protector and savior, not the one that needs saving. These stereotypes come from the history of men being seen as warriors and not showing any weaknesses, coming off very masculine. The way people view men and how they act may prevent the victims from asking for help. 

Men are hesitant to seek help because they are afraid no one will believe them, getting judged for being too weak to overpower their abuser. Men should not be judged for not being able to fight back. In a fear response, those who are in danger either have a flight or fight response, or in extreme cases of fear will have a freeze response. People shouldn’t expect all men to fight back when they are in danger. Everyone reacts differently and people should not expect certain responses from men based on their gender and how society thinks they should act. 

Another reason they may be so hesitant is because of their pride. Men are very prideful when it comes to their masculinity. They want to come off as strong and when something tragic happens to them it may hurt their pride, making them feel weak. There is nothing wrong with feeling ashamed for feeling weak, I believe it helps us grow and learn from our experiences. For Brad Simpson, he took a while to heal from the trauma of being sexually abused/manipulated thinking since he’s a man he has to face his problems and get over it. That’s not the case, healing takes time no matter your gender. 

Being a female, I can say there is bias when it comes to being seen as a victim. We are often seen as more delicate and weak compared to males. How both genders are viewed should change because being a male shouldn’t dictate how you act, the same for females. 

When interviewing Robert Botello, a senior here at pitman, I asked about ways to improve how men are viewed when it comes to being a victim. 

He replied, ¨ WelI for starters, it should be more aware and addressed. Culture is slowly changing and slowly but surely, masculinity is being less and less strict.” 

Educating people on not categorizing victims based on gender is something that should be done regularly. If people were more educated on this, then society would be more open to seeing men as more than just the hero and predator character.