First of all, men dying early from overdoses, suicide, risky behavior, certainly IS a topic worth discussing. It needs to change.

In discussing the topic, however, several people (including me) have pointed out that it’s a problem only men can solve. They need to be more emotionally open, more willing to ask for help, more vulnerable to friendships and emotional connection with other men and women they don’t want to sleep with. Such suggestions are heavily downvoted and met with “can you imagine if people said that to women about women’s issues?!?”

But here’s the thing. Women’s issues are being raped, beaten by their husbands, murdered, treated like dirt in the workforce, having the safe spaces they carve out for themselves invaded, being discounted when seeking medical care, being paid less for doing the same work, being expected to take care of everyone else instead of themselves. Except for maybe that last point, they are all issues that are being done to them by men. Women can’t stop men from being violent.

And women-only spaces are typically used to commune, to feel safe. Men-only spaces are used to exploit and consume women. They aren’t equivalent.

But the issues for men are largely being done to themselves by themselves. Suicide and drug addiction are self-inflicted. Women can’t stop men from harming themselves any more than they can stop them from harming women. It’s not an equivalent problem.