The "big four"causes of death in this country are heart disease, cancer, cerebrovascular disease, and accidents.

     The only one of the "big four" causes of death that takes the lives of more women than men is cerebrovascular disease, or stroke. The reason: stroke is an age?related disease. To put it plainly, most men don't live long enough to die of stroke. The traditional masculine code sees to that.

     Consider the statistics on accidents??the fourth leading cause of death in this country?? which also take the lives of far more males than females. Studies indicate that death rates from car accidents alone are almost three times higher for males. This differential can be attributed in part to the fact that men do more driving than women do, particularly When conditions are hazardous, and in much larger part to the gender?role training that teaches men it's manly to flirt with death.

     That's why men pay higher car insurance premiums than women do. Insurance companies know from their statistics that males -- especially young males -- are more likely than females to speed, to forget or refuse to use seat belts, and to take other unnecessary driving risks.

     Combine these statistics on death by car accident with the statistics on death by other accidental causes and what we come up with is that males are somewhere between three and four times more likely to die in accidents. And this doesn't even include homicides, which are another cause of fatalities among males -- especially young inner?city males -- and which can be traced to traditional male gender-role training.

     Males learn that aggression and violence are not only acceptable but that they should take pride in aggression and violence because that's how they prove themselves men. Males are taught to be tough, daring, fearless, assertive, to respond to threats with anger, and never back down from challenges -- all of which conspire to propel males into life-threatening violent situations and prevent them from retreating or fleeing once they're in them.

     Even in drinking and drug-use patterns, traditional gender-role training will win out. Males are, according to the traditional code, supposed to take risks. They're supposed to flaunt danger. They're supposed to challenge authority and be bad. The results of recent studies indicate that men are now beginning to stop and think more carefully before acting in accordance with some of these traditional masculine dictates. But this shift is happening slowly.

     A large-scale 1989 study conducted by the National Institute of Mental Health found that anti-social personality disorders were more common among young men than women and that behavioral problems were much more common among boys than girls.

     When anxious, frustrated, threatened, or dared, in other words, an unfortunately large percentage of males are still reacting in accordance with traditional masculine dictates that require they act out aggressively rather than risk the shame attached to admitting fear or vulnerability.

     The average male life span is seven years shorter than the average female life span -- currently 72 years for males, compared to 78.9 years for females. Mother Nature didn't stack the deck against males. Culture and conditioning does that.

     If men want to pin the blame somewhere, they should pin it on their gender-role training and on the traditional masculine code to which they've been trained to pay undying allegiance. Or maybe we should call that dying allegiance because that's what the code requires of males.

     The unfortunate truth is that many men -- young and old -- would still sooner die than risk being judged unmanly.

     If these issues concern you, you might be interested to know that the Committee on the New Psychology of Men for the Florida Psychological Association is forming. Recently, Modesto Hevia, Psy.D. of Orlando has joined, and brings an expertise in Latino men. I would like to invite other interested members of FPA (both men and women) to join the Committee to explore these issues. Please send me a note about your interests in this area. The easiest way to get in touch with me is email (levant@uakron.edu).

     ** Dr. Levant is dean of the Center For Psychological Studies at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, and author of several books, including Masculinity Reconstructed (Dutton, 1995).

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