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During your travels around the internet,
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you may have bumped into the term
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“Toxic Masculinity.”
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It usually shows up in connection with
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particularly abusive male behavior--
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so, things like harassment, homophobia,
sexism, or violent outbursts.
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But what does it really mean?
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Well, let’s find out.
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(Intro music)
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Now, since there tends to be so much
confusion and defensiveness
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surrounding these two words, I think
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we might need to start off with a really
clear example. You know, something
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that we can all agree on.
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Okay, yeah.
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but honestly I think he needs his own video
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so maybe something else would--
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Biff: What do you think you’re doing?!
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---- ok, that’s gonna work.
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This charming fellow is Biff from
the Back to the Future series.
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Biff: Hello, hello, anybody home?
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Biff: Huh? Think, McFly, think!
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Ok, so let’s start with the word
masculinity itself.
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Very broadly speaking, masculinity is
a set of behaviors and practices that
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have traditionally been associated
with men and manhood in our culture.
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And that includes both
positive and negative things.
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“Toxic masculinity,” on the other hand,
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is a loose term that’s used to refer
to a subset of those behaviors
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which are harmful or destructive.
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It’s often used as a sort of shorthand
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to describe behaviors linked to
domination, humiliation, and control.
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It’s marked by things like emotional
detachment and hyper-competitiveness --
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Lorraine: Look Biff, somebody already
asked me to the dance.
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Biff: Who? That bug George McFly?
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Lorraine: I’m going with Calvin Klein, ok?
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Biff: Calvin Klein? No, it’s not okay.
You’re going with me. Understand?
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Lorraine: Get your cooties off of me!
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Biff: When are you gonna get it through your
thick skull, Lorraine? You’re my girl.
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It’s also connected to the sexual
objectification of women, as well as
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other predatory sexual behaviors.
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Biff: You know you want me to give it to you.
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Lorraine: Shut your filthy mouth.
I’m not that kind of girl!
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Biff: Well maybe you are, and you
just don’t know it yet.
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Jonathan: It’s also linked very closely with
aggression, intimidation, and violence.
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Biff: Do you wanna take a poke at me?
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The modifier “toxic” is used to highlight
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the fact that these kinds of behaviors
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carry with them some potentially serious
and even deadly consequences.
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Much of this type of masculinity is
relational, and as such, it's mostly
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defined in opposition to anything
culturally associated with women.
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Which is why toxic masculinity is driven
by this overwhelming fear of emasculation,
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that is to say the fear of being perceived by
others as “feminine” and therefore “unmanly.”
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Many of the most popular male heroes in
movies are depicted as engaging in
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at least a few of these toxic behaviors.
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James: There, now let’s both play.
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Jonathan: But because they’re the good guys,
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their actions are framed as admirable
displays of strength, power, and manhood.
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James: Dink, meet Felix Leiter.
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Dink: Hello.
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James: Felix, say hello to Dink.
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Felix: Hi, Dink.
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James: Dink, say goodbye to Felix.
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Dink: Hmm?
James: Man talk.
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Jennifer: It’s like Doc’s always saying--
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Marty: Yeah yeah, I know: “If you put your
mind to it, you can accomplish anything.”
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Jonathan: And even when those behaviors
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are not celebrated, it’s often framed as
acceptable or normal and then excused
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as just “guys being guys” or “boys being boys.”
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Just to make sure there’s no misunderstanding
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I want to make something absolutely clear.
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This term is not a condemnation
of men or manhood.
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Because again “toxic masculinity” only
refers to a particular set of harmful
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actions and cultural practices.
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And none of those behaviors are inherent
or biological traits of men.
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There is nothing toxic about just being a man,
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but some men do act in toxic ways.
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So in other words “toxic masculinity” is
not something that men ARE,
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but rather it’s something that some men DO.
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Alright. So, let’s return to our friend Biff here.
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Now Biff is an obvious buffoon.
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I mean, he's a schoolyard bully.
He’s like a cartoon villain.
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His actions are easy to spot and
understand as damaging because
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really toxic masculinity is what
defines him as a character.
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Biff: You heard him, girls. Party’s over.
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At every point in Back to the Future
there might as well be a giant neon sign
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hanging over Biff’s head that says,
“Hey, this is the bad guy.”
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So that’s really easy, but things
are rarely so clear cut.
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In the real world all kinds of men can
participate in toxic masculinity.
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Including seemingly normal guys who might
also be nerdy or charming or witty or intelligent.
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Since toxic masculinity is a set of behaviors,
and not a biological trait, the real men who
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participate are not really one dimensional
character archetypes like Biff.
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And they usually don’t do all of the things on the list.
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Okay, well, sometimes they do,
but usually that’s not the case.
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There is a mistaken impression out there
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that “toxic masculinity” means that everything
about masculinity is somehow toxic.
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But that is not the case.
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In fact, the term “toxic masculinity” is used
very deliberately to try to differentiate
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the more damaging or destructive male
behaviors from more positive male behaviors.
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When it comes to this term, it’s really
important to understand that it’s used
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to reinforce the fact that there are many
different types and formulations of masculinity,
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or as RW Connell puts it,
different masculinities.
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And since there are many ways to practice
masculinity, we as men, can choose not to
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engage in the more toxic behaviors, and
instead choose to pursue more positive,
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empathetic, and cooperative
forms of masculinity.
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Now we only just scratched the surface here,
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but I’ll leave some links and resources
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in the box below if you want to learn more.
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I hope this video did give you a better
understanding of this term
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and maybe help clear up some of the
misunderstandings about it.
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If you’d like to see more videos related
to media and manhood,
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just hop on over to my Patreon page and
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help fund the Pop Culture Detective Agency.