My Thoughts on Toxic Masculinity

The overall message of the documentary Tough Guise 2 perfectly describes what toxic masculinity truly is, a socially constructed expectation of masculinity as inherently violent, invulnerable, and unemotional. However, as I watched the documentary I was presented with new information that shines light on how american media and pop culture so often reinforces these stereotypes. I have always felt that the stereotypes around masculinity were fueled by generations of outdated culture and social norms that people refuse to change, but I now realize that this is due to multiple external factors that continue to normalize these dangerous ideals of manhood. Examples from the documentary include mainstream media and the entertainment industry being ignorant of their failure to empower a new generation of young men by continuing to play into the narrative that men should be emotionless and aggressive.        

    The media time and time again lacks the ability to hold men accountable for their actions which also stems from their inability to criticize the toxic behaviors that men are pressured to conform to. We will only be able to redefine masculinity when the media, who influences the majority of our society, stops making excuses for men regarding violence in our country and recognizes that it’s due to the normalization of harmful male behavior. The entertainment industry which seems to profit off of glorifying violent masculinity, is also responsible for enforcing the social norms that are hard for men to break away from. Movies and television seem to uphold the idea that masculinity needs to reaffirm itself through language and culture by belittling women and utilizing violence to maintain power. In order to end toxic masculinity society as a whole needs to become more accepting of other types of men, which can only be achieved by the denormalization of misogynistic and violent behavior.

    The articles “Not Your Father’s Masculinity” and “The Boys Are Not All Right” are both centralized to one idea, that men are trapped in the same outdated cycle of masculinity and it needs to be changed. Nonetheless, the articles also contrast each other due to the fact that both highlight different struggles that men face when trying to redefine the meaning of manhood. Michael Black argues that boys do not have the proper outlets or resources to even begin to define what it means to be a man, while Matt Labash shows clear examples such as GQ magazine attempting to challenge the traditional views of masculinity. As I read Black’s article about men being broken and lost in their venture to define manhood, I felt frustrated in his pleas to start a conversation on the damages of masculinity. While he is correct that men have not had the same experience with redefining gender norms like women have, my perception of his writing made me think that he felt there has been no conversation about redefining male gender norms when lately there have been so many people who have helped to empower all types of men. This brings me to Labash’s article where he recognizes the efforts of popular publications to introduce “new masculinity” but mainly focuses on the fact that these efforts do not showcase the voices of a diverse and varied group of men. I agree with his argument that traditional men are often left out when representing the “new man” which effectively halts the conversation from being expanded, because so many men feel they are not being represented. This could be a contribution as to why men haven’t had huge movements that will allow them to fully redefine themselves. 

    Tough Guise 2 and both articles are evidently about toxic masculinity, violence, and challenging gender stereotypes, but ultimately leaves us with new information that helps us understand the many factors that contribute to the struggle to redefine manhood. They show that men are victims to an outmoded male guise that they continue to try and break through by starting new conversations and expanding their ideals of masculinity.