[SageRaven]

I'd hazard a guess it's due to two things, each not necessarily independent. First, males in many countries are prone to societal "honor" and may kill themselves in times of great shame (poor Indian farmers loosing everything to shady Monsanto salesmen and then drinking pesticide). And second, women are often mothers, and while a suicidal man tends to not "think of the children" women (being mothers and all) do consider the fates of their children, and likely forestall killing themselves out of compassion/concern for their offspring.

Given the shit the world generally dumps on women, I'd say the female gender is simply built of sterner emotional stuff than their male counterparts.

[hack_edu]

Plain and simple, across and countries and all historical periods, males act more dangerously. They put themselves in physically dangerous situations more often than women, and die in mid-life at a much higher rate. Male children are more likely to live until adolescence, but after their 20s their portion of the population falls back in line with that of females.

[stephengillie]

This sounds a lot like the idea former N.O.W. boardmember Warren Farrell wrote in Why Men Earn More:

that bias-based unequal pay for women is largely a myth, and that women are most often paid less than men not because they are discriminated against, but because they have made lifestyle choices that affect their ability to earn.

http://www.amazon.com/Why-Men-Earn-More-Startling/dp/0814472...

[SageRaven]

I buy that. However, we're talking about suicide, not dangerous behavior in general.

[vijayr]

that they actually get sympathy for, instead of being told to 'suck it up' and 'be a man' when they attempt to find help.

This makes sense. I suppose women ask for help more, and sooner than men (and probably get it too). Does anyone know, what is the percentage of men vs women, who actually go to psychiatrists? That might give some idea

[derleth]

> Given the shit the world generally dumps on women,

that they actually get sympathy for, instead of being told to 'suck it up' and 'be a man' when they attempt to find help.