Thoughts on Toxic Masculinity

Good points here. There is no such thing as "toxic masculinity." There are only individual bad behaviors. Being a male does not automatically condemn one to such bad behaviors. Even the social and cultural norms imposed on men don't require bad behavior. Each person can take individual responsibility for how he wants to present himself.

There was a time when we thought that women were "less than." In many countries, this is still the case. We also thought that black people were "less than" and this isn't the case, either. It's possible (and important) to claim our masculinity and the things that make us male without being a negative factor in society.

We should not be less male, but better males.

Good thoughts.

In my mind, "toxic" is just another epithet used in meaningless and unproductive name-calling. This doesn't spur moral progress, but in fact impedes it.

Name-calling and shaming _never_ help, but sometimes you can put yourself in a state of having a pure heart, talk with kindness to someone who is doing something wrong, and change the world.

If the term toxic masculinity is sexist, then masculinity, itself, is equally sexist.

Consider that statement with sexes reversed. Is it still true? Because I never hear of women being 'toxic'. The term is just name calling, and has a history of a specific agenda. We can move forward with unsilvered tounges.

When I see people use phrases like "toxic masculinity" I always inject the idea of "toxic Muslim faith". It maps so directly to the language people use around masculinity, and yet most people who would use the phrase "toxic masculinity" want to see themselves as tolerant.

There are a lot of negative aspects of Muslim faith, terrorism being one, that are reinforced by cultural pressures and stereotypes associated with Muslim faith. To simply focus on individual bad behaviors by people who happen to be Muslims is to ignore the societal and cultural weight of Muslim faith and the negative feedback loops a Muslim can feed upon when finding their identity. They persist in part because they signal conformity to an outdated template of Muslim faith.

But there is a big problem if we use the phrase "toxic Muslim faith". It does not spur moral progress, common understanding, or empathy. It is impossible to use the phrase without Muslims getting triggered by it, even if they agree that terrorism is a real problem among Muslims. A Muslim that hears the word "toxic Muslim faith" will uncritically, and not unjustifiably so in my view, see it as an attack on all Muslims and Islam and not just the subset of negative Muslim behavior and culture among Islam practitioners.