What Is Toxic Masculinity?

During your travels around the internet,

you may have bumped into the term

“Toxic Masculinity.”

It usually shows up in connection with

particularly abusive male behavior--

so, things like harassment, homophobia,
sexism, or violent outbursts.

But what does it really mean?

Well, let’s find out.

(Intro music)

Now, since there tends to be so much
confusion and defensiveness

surrounding these two words, I think

we might need to start off with a really
clear example. You know, something

that we can all agree on.

Okay, yeah.

but honestly I think he needs his own video

so maybe something else would--

Biff: What do you think you’re doing?!

---- ok, that’s gonna work.

This charming fellow is Biff from
the Back to the Future series.

Biff: Hello, hello, anybody home?

Biff: Huh? Think, McFly, think!

Ok, so let’s start with the word
masculinity itself.

Very broadly speaking, masculinity is
a set of behaviors and practices that

have traditionally been associated
with men and manhood in our culture.

And that includes both
positive and negative things.

“Toxic masculinity,” on the other hand,

is a loose term that’s used to refer
to a subset of those behaviors

which are harmful or destructive.

It’s often used as a sort of shorthand

to describe behaviors linked to
domination, humiliation, and control.

It’s marked by things like emotional
detachment and hyper-competitiveness --

Lorraine: Look Biff, somebody already
asked me to the dance.

Biff: Who? That bug George McFly?

Lorraine: I’m going with Calvin Klein, ok?

Biff: Calvin Klein? No, it’s not okay.
You’re going with me. Understand?

Lorraine: Get your cooties off of me!

Biff: When are you gonna get it through your
thick skull, Lorraine? You’re my girl.

It’s also connected to the sexual
objectification of women, as well as

other predatory sexual behaviors.

Biff: You know you want me to give it to you.

Lorraine: Shut your filthy mouth.
I’m not that kind of girl!

Biff: Well maybe you are, and you
just don’t know it yet.

Jonathan: It’s also linked very closely with
aggression, intimidation, and violence.

Biff: Do you wanna take a poke at me?

The modifier “toxic” is used to highlight

the fact that these kinds of behaviors

carry with them some potentially serious
and even deadly consequences.

Much of this type of masculinity is
relational, and as such, it's mostly

defined in opposition to anything
culturally associated with women.

Which is why toxic masculinity is driven
by this overwhelming fear of emasculation,

that is to say the fear of being perceived by
others as “feminine” and therefore “unmanly.”

Many of the most popular male heroes in
movies are depicted as engaging in

at least a few of these toxic behaviors.

James: There, now let’s both play.

Jonathan: But because they’re the good guys,

their actions are framed as admirable
displays of strength, power, and manhood.

James: Dink, meet Felix Leiter.

Dink: Hello.

James: Felix, say hello to Dink.

Felix: Hi, Dink.

James: Dink, say goodbye to Felix.

Dink: Hmm?
James: Man talk.

Jennifer: It’s like Doc’s always saying--

Marty: Yeah yeah, I know: “If you put your
mind to it, you can accomplish anything.”

Jonathan: And even when those behaviors

are not celebrated, it’s often framed as
acceptable or normal and then excused

as just “guys being guys” or “boys being boys.”

Just to make sure there’s no misunderstanding

I want to make something absolutely clear.

This term is not a condemnation
of men or manhood.

Because again “toxic masculinity” only
refers to a particular set of harmful

actions and cultural practices.

And none of those behaviors are inherent
or biological traits of men.

There is nothing toxic about just being a man,

but some men do act in toxic ways.

So in other words “toxic masculinity” is
not something that men ARE,

but rather it’s something that some men DO.

Alright. So, let’s return to our friend Biff here.

Now Biff is an obvious buffoon.

I mean, he's a schoolyard bully.
He’s like a cartoon villain.

His actions are easy to spot and
understand as damaging because

really toxic masculinity is what
defines him as a character.

Biff: You heard him, girls. Party’s over.

At every point in Back to the Future
there might as well be a giant neon sign

hanging over Biff’s head that says,
“Hey, this is the bad guy.”

So that’s really easy, but things
are rarely so clear cut.

In the real world all kinds of men can
participate in toxic masculinity.

Including seemingly normal guys who might
also be nerdy or charming or witty or intelligent.

Since toxic masculinity is a set of behaviors,
and not a biological trait, the real men who

participate are not really one dimensional
character archetypes like Biff.

And they usually don’t do all of the things on the list.

Okay, well, sometimes they do,
but usually that’s not the case.

There is a mistaken impression out there

that “toxic masculinity” means that everything
about masculinity is somehow toxic.

But that is not the case.

In fact, the term “toxic masculinity” is used
very deliberately to try to differentiate

the more damaging or destructive male
behaviors from more positive male behaviors.

When it comes to this term, it’s really
important to understand that it’s used

to reinforce the fact that there are many
different types and formulations of masculinity,

or as RW Connell puts it,
different masculinities.

And since there are many ways to practice
masculinity, we as men, can choose not to

engage in the more toxic behaviors, and
instead choose to pursue more positive,

empathetic, and cooperative
forms of masculinity.

Now we only just scratched the surface here,

but I’ll leave some links and resources

in the box below if you want to learn more.

I hope this video did give you a better
understanding of this term

and maybe help clear up some of the
misunderstandings about it.

If you’d like to see more videos related
to media and manhood,

just hop on over to my Patreon page and

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