What We’re Talking About When We’re Talking About Toxic Masculinity

Are we going deep enough when we’re looking at toxic masculinity?

Photo by Chris Liverani on Unsplash

Earlier this year, I was surprised to learn that the term “toxic masculinity” was originally coined by the Men’s Movement in the 1980s and 1990s. All this time, I honestly thought “toxic masculinity” was a feminist academic term to describe men who are assholes without calling them assholes.

“Toxic masculinity” refers to traditional patriarchal and societal constructs and expectations of boys and men that encourages competitiveness, domination, conquering, and zero-sum thinking, while denying boys and men the tools to develop cooperation, sensitivity, and emotional intelligence. It was a recognition by the founders of the Men’s Movements that this particular protein shake of manhood did more harm than good, led to depression, disassociation, and violence not only to other genders but to men themselves.

This is an important and necessary deconstruction and examination of the definitions of “manhood” in our societies. It has woven its way into everyday speech, and almost every adult that comes across the term understands, at least in general, what it means. I think that’s a good thing.