“Interrupted Mycelia".

An analysis of masculinities, mental health, emotions, and the potential of transformative justice

Abstract

This article critically examines the relationship between masculinity, emotions and mental health, challenging cis-hetero-patriarchal and neoliberal narratives that shape how men are socialised to experience and represent their distress. Drawing on theoretical approaches from queer theory, critical phenomenology, transformative justice and critiques of capitalist realism, this work reflects on the systemic dynamics that root male suffering in a context of privilege and emotional repression. Transformative justice is proposed as a radical approach to addressing and deconstructing the processes through which violence — both to others and to oneself — is embedded in male socialisation. The article highlights the importance of rethinking vulnerability and emotion as political tools that offer possibilities for building new relationships and forms of solidarity. This perspective seeks to dismantle cis-hetero-patriarchal hierarchies by inviting a transformation not (only) of individual behaviours, but also of the social structures that sustain them.

Keywords: masculinities, mental health, emotions, transformative justice.