Toxic Masculinity Is What's Ruining Us

 Toxic masculinity has been around for ages but has recently come to light in the media. There have been many documentaries, films, and articles that discuss the toxicity of what it’s like to be a man in modern times and the dangers of it. Jackson Katz shows his viewers an insight on the daily battles men have to fight in his film Tough Guise 2. Through his film, he encourages that men and women both should challenge the way society views masculinity. Articles such as “The Boys are Not All Right” and “Not Your Father’s Masculinity” reinstates Kratz’ views and adds their own insights to the matter, as well. 

As discussed in Tough Guise 2, boys are introduced to toxic masculinity at a young age- ranging from watching movies depicting men as violent, strong, gun lovers to being called derogatory names. “Old masculinity”, the masculinity in older generations, has been drifting away- to which is causing men today to feel as though they have to prove themselves to the society that we live in. 

In “The Boys are Not Alright”, the author dives into deeper matters of what toxic masculinity has/is causing. Men and boys often feel secluded within themselves; they don’t feel as though they can share their emotions, thoughts, feelings, and needs with other men and even women. Women are usually the ones now-a-days to shut men down, telling them that they need to act more “masculine” and showing emotions are “too feminine”.  Many boys and men “are trapped in the same suffocating, outdated model of masculinity, where manhood is measured in strength, where there is no way to be vulnerable without being emasculated, [and] where manliness is about having power over others” (“The Boys Are Not Alright”). Keeping these negative feelings in is what’s causing men/boys to shoot up schools. The author of “The Boys are Not Alright” tells their readers that men need to share their emotions and feelings just like women do. It shouldn’t be “femine”, but men should also be able to use feminism as an inspiration too. The article “Not Your Father’s Masculinity” furthers these statements by discussing that masculinity is evolving- as everything else in the world always does. They are urging for us to leave the “old masculinity” behind because it’s toxic in this ever-changing new world. Of course there will always be differences between men and women -that’s what “creates the tension and delights” (“Not Your Father’s Masculinity”) between them- but we’re all humans with thoughts, feelings, and needs. Ignoring that statement is what’s killing us.