Why is There a Gender Gap?

It is important to note that throughout this article, the terms “men,” “women,” “boys,” and “girls” refer to individuals who were assigned a particular gender at birth. This is because we are discussing gender socialization, a separate topic from identity. We do not intend to disregard anyone’s identity, but rather to focus on the impact of societal and gender-related influences on socialization.

Likelihood of Being Victimized (Particularly in Childhood)

One of the primary causes for the development of these disorders – particularly Dissociative Identity Disorder – is the experience of repeated sexual trauma in early childhood. Statistics vary from study to study, but all agree that young girls are disproportionately abused in this way at higher rates than young boys. There are, of course, issues of societal pressure to silence male victims and under-reporting. Still, the numbers are clear: more female children are being targeted and abused. Therefore, more women are likely to develop these disorders.

The Stifling of Conversations About Men’s Mental Health

As we have these conversations about the disproportionate rate at which women are victims of sexual abuse, we also need to have a conversation about men’s issues that might be preventing them from being included in these statistics.

Men are socialized not to talk about being victims. They’re supposed to be the protector – even the aggressor – never the victim. Especially when it comes to any kind of sexual violence, men will be much less likely to come forward because of how they are socialized. In addition, men are socialized away from talking about mental health. Therefore, men are less likely to be diagnosed with anything, let alone be in treatment long enough to receive a complex diagnosis.

These factors need to be understood and taken into account when discussing the gender gap. There is a gender gap, and these factors don’t close it – there are still many more women who are sexually abused than men, and there are still many more women with dissociative disorders. But it’s important to recognize that there’s going to be a pretty big piece missing from any study or statistic because of the socialization of men and boys around mental health.

Being Socialized Towards Different Trauma Responses

Fight, Flight, Freeze, and Fawn are the four main categories of trauma response. Growing up, boys and girls are socialized to respond differently to a traumatic scenario. Boys are socialized to respond with Fight, maybe Flight, rarely Freeze, and never Fawn. Girls, on the other hand, are socialized very differently. Girls are socialized to respond with Fawn, Flight, or Freeze, and rarely Fight.

Dissociation is less likely to develop naturally in a child’s tool belt of coping mechanisms if their response to traumatic situations is to Fight. Dissociation is more likely to develop in people with Freeze responses – though possibly also in those with Fawn responses in some specific situations. Therefore, due to the socialization of women and men/boys and girls in society and our trauma responses, women will be more likely to develop dissociation as a coping mechanism when in a traumatic situation.

Sources

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