‘Everywhere you get models of what you should be like’: Ideals of masculinity and therapeutic culture constraining young men’s mental health and gendered subjectivities

This paper presents a novel approach to youth mental health by
examining the connections between young Finnish men’s mental
health, ideals of masculinity, and public discourses of mental
health. Drawing from critical sociological and feminist theories on
gender, power, and therapeutic culture, we apply a thematic
discursive analysis to a questionnaire data (n = 910) about men’s
mental health targeted at young men (primarily aged 15-29). The
findings illustrate how young Finnish men consider ‘traditional’
ideals of masculinity widespread in Finland, restricting the actions
of men, and upheld by narrow representations of gender. In
addition, young men display critical reactions to the public
discourses of mental health, especially the ones they feel are
repeated in the media. These discourses are seen as insufficient
and too individualised, echoing therapeutic culture. Based on our
results, we argue that the highly individualised and gendered
discourses of mental health, deriving from therapeutic culture
and rooted in Finnish cultural and institutional practices, are
inadequate for supporting young men’s mental health. Instead,
these practices can create a vicious cycle where the often-wellintended
efforts can limit and guide young men towards
restricted gendered possibilities to express themselves, talk about
mental health, and seek support if needed.