SUPPRESSING VULNERABILITY: THE IMPACT OF TOXIC

MASCULINITY ON MEN’S EMOTIONAL EXPRESSION

OF PAMANTASAN NG LUNGSOD NG SAN PABLO

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

(broad ideas about social construct: world, ph) gender role in general w/o
comparing sa gender ng female. Jump directly sa masculinity.

A social construct is a notion or viewpoint that's shaped and spread by society.

According to American sociologist George Herbert Mead in his book "Mind, Self, and
Society" (1934), we humans, being social creatures, create our own realities through
our interactions with one another. Building on Mead's ideas, sociologists Peter L.
Berger and Thomas Luckmann introduced the term "social construction" in their
influential book "The Social Construction of Reality: A Treatise in the Sociology of
Knowledge" (1966). This groundbreaking work helped bring social constructionism to
the forefront of sociology. Since then, social constructionism has gained widespread
recognition and been extensively studied, with different interpretations emerging over
time. In 2012, psychologist Dave Elder-Vass published "The Reality of Social
Construction," arguing that social constructionism isn't at odds with realist social
theory; rather, it complements it. According to Elder-Vass, both perspectives offer
valuable insights into how society functions and have their places within sociology.
According to Galbin’s research in 2014, social constructionism focuses on the
artifacts that are created through the social interactions of a group. When society
assigns significance to certain things, they become norms that shape how individuals
perceive and navigate their world. These norms essentially act as guideposts for
understanding and interacting within society's shared reality. In everyday life, when
people interact with each other, they create ideas and beliefs together. These shared
ideas make up what we know and understand about the world around us. This
process of sharing and shaping ideas through social interaction is what we call a
social construct.
Masculinity embodies the spectrum of behaviors, practices, and beliefs endorsed
by a society to define and shape the roles and expectations placed upon men. It is a
complex socio-cultural construct, ingrained with the conviction that adhering to its
prescribed standards is essential for a man to attain validation and acceptance within
his community or society at large. According to Heilman and Barker (2018) the social
status of being considered as a real man is not automatically applied to all adults that
are identified as men. Instead, the social status must be achieved first by meeting
many difficult and contradictory standards, such as being physically strong, a provider
of financial, and not impervious emotional rock. This problem causes men to struggle
with rising societal expectations, feeling pressured to comply to demanding norms
that have been created.
When delving into discussions surrounding masculinity, toxicity always lurks in
the background.As men strive to meet these expectations, the pressure builds,
frequently resulting in the development of toxic behaviors and attitudes. According to
the study of Dinh (2022), we can infer that toxic masculinity is developed from the
efforts to meet masculinity’s standards that are formed by society. Men are
conditioned to limit their emotional expression and maintain an appearance of
constant strength in order to meet societal expectations. Moreover, with the
availability of masculine norms, it becomes a social rule to avoid femininity and
expressing emotion (Levant and Kopecky, as cited in Merdeka and Kumoro, 2018).
Mabrouk (2020) stated that from a young age, young boys are always compared
to girls in a negative context when they are crying. It created the statement Boys Don't
Cry which has a negative connotation.
Theoretical Framework
The theoretical underpinning of this study is the Social Construct Theory of
Thomas Hobbes which ....

Conceptual Framework
Research Paradigm
This study is conceptualize with a purpose of knowing the relationship between
Toxic Masculinity to the Emotional Expression of Men.

Independent Variables Dependent Variables

1. Profile of the Respondents

 Name
 Age
1. Emotional Expression
2. Toxic Masculinity
 Frequency and Intensity
 Hegemonic  Emotional Suppression
 Complicit  Interpersonal Relationship
 Marginalized
 Subordinates Masculinities

Figure 1 shows the independent variables and dependent variables of the study.

Statement of the Problem

This study aims to find out the impact of Toxic Masculinity to the Emotional
Expression of Men in Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng San Pablo.
Specifically, this study aims to answer the following questions:
1. Is there a significant relationship between the respondents profile to Men’s
Emotional Expression?
2. Is there a significant relationship between Toxic Masculinity to Men’s Emotional
Expression?

Hypothesis
1. There is no significant relationship between the respondent’s profile to Men’s
Emotional Expression.
2. There is no significant relationship between Toxic Masculinity to Men’s Emotional
Expression

Significant of the Study

This study can contribute to the following:

To students. This study will provide awareness among student on how social
construct would affect Emotional Expression.

Scope and Limitations

This study focuses on the Suppressing Vulnerability: The Impact of Toxic
Masculinity to the Emotional Expression of Male Students in Pamantasan ng Lungsod
ng San Pablo. All of the respondents of this study are the students from Pamantasan
ng Lungsod ng San Pablo, and will be conducted inside the campus only.
The study will not extent to the other problems that are not related to Suppressing
Vulnerability: The Impact of Toxic Masculinity to the Emotional Expression of Male
Students. Each of the respondents will answer the same questions that are given. The
result of the study will only be applicable to the respondents of the said research and
will not be used to the students who are not belong to the population.

Definition of Terms
The following terms are arranged alphabetically and operationally defined for
better understanding of the variables of the study.
 Masculinity - it is a wide range of behaviors, practices, and beliefs that society
promotes to define and influence the roles and expectations assigned to men.

Toxic Masculinity- developed from the efforts to meet masculinity’s standards

that are formed by society that became harmful.