Toxic Masculinity--Kylie

Throughout history women have faced constant oppression from men in every aspect of life. Although some may argue that today, women have come a long way in fighting this struggle but it’s become obvious that there is still a lingering sense of tension between the sexes. This tension is exemplified through toxic masculinity. Toxic masculinity has not been officially defined in Webster’s Dictionary, however many have come to define it on their own. For example, tolerance.org states, “Toxic masculinity is a narrow and repressive description of manhood, designating manhood as defined by violence, sex, status and aggression. It’s the cultural ideal of manliness, where strength is everything while emotions are a weakness; where sex and brutality are yardsticks by which men are measured...” The more popular website, Urban Dictionary, defines it as, “exaggerated masculine traits like being violent, unemotional, sexually aggressive, and so forth. Also suggests that men who act too emotional or maybe aren’t violent enough or don’t do all of the things that “real men” do, can get their “man card” taken away.” Like all humans, men struggle constantly with the pressures of fitting into social norms and to do “what everyone else is doing.” As a society, we cannot continue to put these pressures on men because the effects are not just toxic to other men themselves, but to women also. Toxic masculinity, on many occasions, teaches men that crying or expressing emotions is a sign of weakness or makes you less of a man, its toxicity displayed as instead of sharing, or seeking help, they bottle things up and try to act “tough” placing an immense amount of stress on their mental health. This issue can even be as extreme as being the leading cause of rape. Obviously

this is no excuse for rapists, however, the more we continue to support this behavior, the longer this line of toxic masculinity will continue.
Another example of toxic masculinity can be seen between fathers and their daughters. By pressuring their daughters into fitting this stereotype for women that has been the same for decades, they are only pushing them away. When daughters bring attention to the frustration and pressures that are caused by their fathers, they mainly tend to brush off those feelings and disregard them, as they do their own. Men commonly use the term “hysterical” to describe women. Hysterical originated from the Greek word hysterika, which literally means Uterus. They believed that women could have womb defects which caused physical and psychological symptoms of distress which was why they called women hysterical. This could also be the reason behind the cultural idea that women are just less capable of being as reasonable as men, this mindset is a core example of toxic masculinity. I encourage women to help put a stop to the long line of toxic masculinity by encouraging men to share their feelings and being cooperative in relationships. By this I mean, don’t tiptoe around trying to please them, stop letting them be the know it all that they think they are, be the strong, independent, badasses that we have come to be. Men, I encourage you to cry a little more, care a little more, and find ways to better control your anger. Don’t allow your “buddies” to control what you do or what you say because you could potentially ruin important relationships in your life. Toxic masculinity has more recently come to the attention of today’s society and needs to be addressed. The first step in making a difference, is to acknowledge that it is relevant and from here we work towards ending this outdated issue.