Rachel B. answered • 05/14/21
Spanish, ESL, Literature: Conversation, Homework, Exams, Friendship
Toxic masculinity is a type of perpetuation of gender roles, but where the specific roles it perpetuates only do damage to men from the inside out. These roles can include rejecting emotions that make them feel vulnerable and rejecting anything that could "threaten" their preconceived and exaggerated notion of masculinity.
Emotions are natural. Emotions are complex. Emotions are what make us uniquely human. Our emotions are a reaction to various stimuli and events, and our emotions can be expressed in various forms: laughing, crying, screaming, raising an octave in your voice, sweating, blushing, etc. Unfortunately, society has pushed this notion onto us that certain emotions and the forms in which they are expressed are limited and different from one gender to the other.
Because society believes that women are the "emotional" sex, it has positively enabled women to be open about their feelings, talk to peers and loved ones about their problems, and feel vulnerable when their emotions overwhelm them. Physical aggression is often not a consideration for women in handling their problems, and even if they need to be physical, it is often not in a form of violence against another person. Talking about problems is very healthy for one's well-being and relationships, but for men with a toxic masculinity mindset, they feel isolated. Their emotions are foreign to them, and they do not know the healthy ways to process them and handle them. Vulnerability is scary, and they are more scared about being "emasculated" as a result of admitting they feel vulnerable than any other result that could come from opening up. Rejecting something natural and human is unhealthy, harmful, and potentially dangerous to the man himself and the people around him.
Toxic masculinity also creates a severe limitation in exploration of a man's identity and interests. Currently, it is more socially acceptable for women to break norms and enter male-dominated spheres carrying out roles, hobbies, or skillsets that traditionally were only exclusive to men. On the other hand, there is still a lot of stigma against men entering the female-dominated spheres. First of all, there are the internal forces within the man himself that make him feel emasculated if he were to enjoy the liberal arts, take part in non-aggressive sports, have an interest in fashion/beauty, express empathy or physical affection, be respectful of all women, or explore his sexuality with other men (even if he is heterosexual). Then, there are the external forces by peers shooting him down with very derogatory language, attacking him with words such as gay, homo, girly, pussy, etc. They also could grow up alongside other male figures who explicitly tell him "how to be a man."
At the end of the day, toxic masculinity is more than just a type of gender identity. It is a suffocating cage punishing men for being human.
