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Epstein, Trump, War, Climate Crisis, Is Toxic Masculinity to Blame?
Calling it toxic masculinity must be considered very carefully
There is far too much confusion about the term “toxic masculinity.” The greatest misunderstanding is that is assumes masculinity, itself, is toxic. Of course, this is no more true, than, saying that because we hear the phrase “red pill,” all pills must be red.
People are weird about adjectives
However, people are even more weird about perceived threats to the very idea of masculinity, and cultural insecurity around gender roles, and equality. In an Atlantic article last February, one gem that could be gleaned was this:
Amid this heated discourse, newspaper and magazine articles have blamed toxic masculinity for rape, murder, mass shootings, gang violence, online trolling, climate change, Brexit, and the election of Donald Trump.
It depends entirely upon who is asking, and who answers, as to whether we can blame toxic masculinity for things like societal violence, domination of the planet and fossil fuel pollution — which has given us the climate and extinction crisis. We can even pin entire movements such as Brexit, on powerful men behaving badly. Deeper analysis always reveals an in-group and out-group mentality that often rears its sexist…