The question was: "Would you say you had problems with self-esteem? Is it harder for men to admit, because it's "owned" by women? Is it a facet of having too much time on one's hands?"
I'll tackle this a little at a time. I have had problem with self-esteem, but no more than anyone else. Low self-esteem is not a bad thing every once in a while, especially if you actually screwed something up, in which case it only makes sense. Those who never, ever have low self-esteem tend to arrogance, and in the extreme, scary disorders. Of course, it goes without saying that chronic low self-esteem is no good for anyone. By anyone, I mean the person with the low self-esteem as well as those who deal with them.
It may be harder for men to admit to because it is seen as a weakness that men aren't supposed to have, but I think it is just as likely that men don't quite realize what the problem is, or that there is even a problem. Women do own LSE in the sense that most women can openly state that they or other women suffer from it and have at least an even chance of someone telling them that it's okay, and that they aren't alone. The self-esteem movement of the 80s and 90s taught us that everything that is wrong with women stems from that. I don't mean to belittle the problem by any means; there seems to be precious little self-esteem in women these days. But, as I have stated before, "Too fat, too skinny, too poor, too rich, too smart, too stupid, too blonde, too white, too black. Too fucking bad." You can only bitch for so long before the bitching becomes completely useless and counterproductive to everyone.
I don't think it is a facet of having too much time on everyone's hands, really. We've had self-esteem issues ever since we created hierarchy in one way or another. Hmmm, that part was really short.
Unrelated: a big shout out to my mom, who turns 69 today!
