Not precisely. I don't think that they're more decisive or resolved to carry through with it. It's all about that choice about how they're going to do it.
Guns are quick and easy, but painful. They leave brain matter all over the place and a big puddle of blood. (sorry, I know that's gory). Point is, men are more familiar with guns on the average so for them it's a sure thing.
Women on the other hand, are going to think about how they'll be found. They're going to be more sensitive about being found in a mangled state because women are more familiar with trauma survivors feel from seeing a mutilated, disfigured, or maimed body. They're going to think about the clean up. Plus, I believe women fear pain more than men, again due to the trauma of living in a world that habitually destroys female bodies. Being, on the average, less familiar with guns, they will not select guns because they don't usually have the immediate access to them. Studies also show that when suicides are attempted it's often a quick decision. The ability or inability to act in the moment is a huge factor in success or failure. What if the gun misfires? What if you flinch and just injure yourself? What if you don't load it right? How and where will you get one in that moment without arousing suspicion? These are the sorts of things that will lead women to a different means of suicide than guns, rather than that they are hoping to be found or less resolved to follow through.
If you think about it in another light, perhaps it takes more resolve to swallow a bottle of pills than it does to pull a trigger once. Because you can't swallow them all at once. You have to do it again and again and again till they're all gone. I think the resolve is more or less equal, both genders are choosing the best option for success given their lives and socialization. It just happens to work out that more lives are saved on the average when it takes longer to die. Pills give that time and slitting wrists give that time. Bullets and hanging do not.
Apologies if the discussion is too macabre. It's not exactly the most pleasant of things to think about or discuss. It's natural to want to make sense of why someone would do such a thing when we lose a loved one to suicide. I also recognize this particular theory is out there making the circuit. I just think it's reductive and an easy out. It conveniently blames women for men's failing mental health while absolving them of responsibility to take care of themselves. It's a political punch against feminism. It doesn't follow the train of thought through. In other words, if we're agreeing that men are killing themselves because masculinity has been vilified but we recognize that the modern definition of what masculinity means and how to be it have been harmful to other groups, particularly women ... are we saying that women should just continue to deal with rape culture, the epidemic of violence against them, loss of reproductive rights, and the never-ending harassment just so that men can feel good about themselves? Because that's where that goes, and it's incredibly manipulative. So, I won't be accepting that. No way.
They need to find a way to define themselves outside domination, control, and violence. Full stop. Call it toxic masculinity, call it wounded masculinity; I don't care. What it gets called isn't the point, and all the yammering around that is just another distraction. It's not about being male or being masculine. It's about being a balanced human being. And isn't it interesting that all the while bemoaning how masculinity has been vilified, the "wounded" ones continue to demonize femininity?
You can't have it both ways. If men don't want to be considered and treated as an enemy of women, then they need to stop acting the part. They need to speak out against those that do, instead of going along with it.
Wish I could share the article. I read that several years ago and was surprised by the percentages which is why I remembered it, but I've no idea where I read it from as I read a lot. I've seen it repeated here and there though, or similar.
