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Before the twentieth century, most women's intense relationships were with their children and with other women. Few expected sexual satisfaction, and their spouses often sought sexual enjoyment outside marriage. It would have been unusual for a woman to insist that her husband restrict his work commitments so he could spend more time with the family; his greatest contribution was supplying economic security.
Twentieth century women developed a taste for the advantages previously seen as masculine prerogatives. With greater access to education, improved methods of contraception, and the related ability to work outside the home, women pushed for social changes, both at home and in society, including greater participation by men in family life and women's further development outside the family. The increasing rate of divorce throughout most of this century was due in part to women's greater financial security and to their heightened expectations for marriage. Nowadays, women expect greater equality as well as emotional support, meaningful communication, companionship, and mutual sexual enjoyment.
Our society still too often expects men to be independent, strong, aggressive, and impervious to emotional stress. But note that boys are nine times more likely than girls to be hyperactive, young men five times more prone to suicide, and four times more likely to be homicidal. Men have much higher rates of substance abuse and antisocial personality disorder—they explode where women implode.
Obviously, many men need psychotherapy, but the very factors that produce many of their behaviors and emotional problems make it much harder for them to admit that they have difficulties in seeking professional assistance or believing that treatment can help them. Pollack and Levant have done a great service by bringing together leading figures in the psychology of men to explore the causes of men's emotional problems and provide specific techniques to help therapists overcome men's resistanc