Facebook - "Stop letting chicks with no dad tell u wat a real man is"
Elijah Wood on Twitter - "i think you’ve missed the definition of what a man is. masculinity alone does not make a man
in fact, it’s got nothing to do with it"
Apparently there is no semantic meaning to "man"
Meme - "Hey guys, I'm trying to unlearn toxic masculinity, but didn't realize how much of my thinking it's affected. I could use some encouragement."
"Stop letting women tell you what it means to be a man"
"The term "toxic masculinity" is often introduced to sceptics as having less to do with masculinity itself and more to do with the environment men were raised in. This is obviously not the case or else they wouldn't be calling masculinity toxic."
"Anyone who tells you that "a real man does this, that, or the other" has no interest in real men. They only desire to control you through shame. Don't give up your free will to satisfy someone else."
Students rail against ‘toxic masculinity,’ but don’t have any idea what it is - "Gillette made waves with its recent anti-toxic masculinity ad, encouraging men to be "better" than they have been in previous generations. Emma Meshell of Campus Reform headed to Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., where she asked students for their thoughts on the viral Gillette ad, as well as their opinions on toxic masculinity. As predicted, many of them supported the ad, but also appeared to have zero clue as to what "toxic masculinity" actually is or means."
Oh great, now Sherlock Holmes is an example of "toxic masculinity" - "The college sophomores who run Salon must be having a slow week"
jOuRnALiSt says women distrust health experts due to "sexism," while men's distrust springs from "tOxiC mAsCuLiNiTy" - "You may remember columnist Arwa Mahdawi from a few months ago, when pictures of her contradictory Woke jOuRnAliSm made the rounds on the internet... Mahdawi lamented how criticisms of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's haircut were sexist reminders of the oppressive patriarchy in which we live.The problem is, a month earlier, Mahdawi wrote an article telling us why we should be "afraid" of Ivanka Trump's new haircut... Instead of issuing an apology (or at the very least not write hypocritical opinion hit pieces masquerading as real journalism), Mahdawi doubled down on her Woke contradiction spree by opining on why so many women don't trust the COVID-19 vaccine. Her answer? Why, the rampant sexism of society, of course!Back in May, however, she wrote a piece on why so many men don't follow the advice of the healthcare industry – in that case relating to masks – and said such action was the result of tOxiC mAsCuLiNiTy."
Men in name only: New study shows testosterone levels in American males are dropping dramatically. Why would that be? - "Men’s testosterone is supposed to decline naturally with age, but this study, which was presented last October to the Sexual Medicine Society of North America, showed a shocking decline in the levels of cohorts of young American men throughout since 1999. The authors tested the serum testosterone (total amount of testosterone present in the blood) of 4,045 men aged between 15 and 39—making sure to control for confounding factors such as age, race, and level of physical activity—and still the results were unmistakable. In fact, they have been slashed by over one-quarter in the last two decades.This is hardly surprising news. Data showing how sperm counts have fallen has been widely reported in recent years. Since the testes produce both testosterone and sperm cells, it is probable that the causes overlap partially or entirely. Laptops too close to the crotch, anyone?... Whereas once American workplaces were crucibles of masculine competition, worshipping a single God—real-world business success—and ruthlessly capitalistic in their incentive structure, now they are anything but. Even the private sector is strangulated by sprawling human resources departments holding bosses to ransom over innocuous jokes, and thereby incentivizing mediocrity and absolute subservience as a career trajectory. It is easy to see how the natural aggressive juices of men who have been defanged and declawed at work (to say nothing of their home lives) could be staunched. Americans are getting it in the neck here, but are things even any different in other agribusiness-run hyper-feminized societies like, for instance, Western Europe? Here’s anxiously awaiting a similar study. It would be interesting if the authors next looked at American men’s levels of the female hormone estrogen, as well as American women’s levels of testosterone. Could both have increased?... Not only is low testosterone deficiency linked to a range of negative health outcomes, it is even associated with a higher risk of death—not to mention fertility. One who didn’t know better might say that plummeting testosterone levels are at once the cause of and a perfect metaphor for an existential crisis in American masculinity."
Testosterone levels in modern men are lower than in the past - "This wasn't just limited to Americans either; a Danish study found similar results. Anecdotally, sex counselor Ian Kerner told CNN that he's noticed "an increasing number of young guys are complaining of sexual concerns, such as diminished libido and erectile problems, more commonly seen in older men."... One study, published in the spring, found that people with a testosterone deficiency (defined as less than 300 nanograms of testosterone per deciliter) were at greater risk for obesity, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, diabetes, and other diseases. It's important to note that this is correlational data; it's very difficult to definitively prove that low testosterone causes these negative outcomes. But the odds are that doing the activities that keep your testosterone levels up will also help prevent these very undesirable conditions."
Least Masculine Society In Human History Decides Masculinity Is A Growing Threat | The Babylon Bee - "As society becomes increasingly dominated by nerds, hipsters, and computer programmers, people have fixated on what they think is our biggest problem: masculinity."
How Feminism Is Driving The Growing Trend Of Anti-Women Subcultures - "Imagine yourself as a woman who had been disappointed by her romantic history. She turns her bitterness towards all males by deeming men to be horrible, irredeemably predatory scum. She became this way after being indoctrinated by an ideology that preaches the inherent evilness of masculinity and therefore must be destroyed. We’d call her a bitter man-hating, radical feminist. The MGTOWs are essentially the same... my buddy explained how despite persuading his friend against becoming MGTOW, he was still sympathetic to his friend’s excuse for doing so. In his words “Men are disgusted with women in almost every way today and are finding happiness in just cutting them out of their lives.” He continues, “And I can’t really argue against anything they (MGTOW) say because I relate to it all myself.” I pressed harder to ask if he could elaborate on exactly what he meant by that. “Look around you. Every girl acts like a dude and has to have more guy friends than her actual boyfriend. Relationships are no longer partnerships. They’re just mutual debauchery based on meaningless sex and fickle mind games. And in most relationships, I see the women being an overbearing * constantly humiliating their dudes.”... wanted to hear the uncensored truth from him because he (unlike the women hating MGTOWs, Incels, and PUAs) had never viewed women in this way before. He was brought up in one of those traditionally wholesome, family oriented, Christian household, whereby the reverence for women was ingrained in him since a young age... I realized we’re in a turning point of history where men no longer held a reverence for women like they did in a previous generation. What changed? Why is this happening?The answer is blatantly clear. Men are losing their reverence for women because feminist ideology promotes the culture of anti-male nihilism through the feminization of men. By extension, it is actively destroying everything that is sacred about women since it robs femininity and masculinity of any meaning. For instance, when my friend mentioned his observation of wives and girlfriends humiliating their partners, this is, in essence, a reflection of the larger cultural trend where women are encouraged to emasculate men... When the child’s own father is incapable of raising his children, he hands over his responsibilities as a father to “the village” — namely, the government — which will assist the child’s all-capable mother to raise his offspring. In doing so, the man also relinquishes his adulthood because he accepts his role as the eternal boy. He’ll never have to grow up, and he’ll never become a man. It is not a coincidence that feminism brands strong, capable, action-oriented masculinity as toxic because feminism scorn men for being men. The excesses of the Puer Aeternus psychology, in turn, created the woman-hating subcultures of the MGTOWs, Incels, and PUAs. These manboys behave in hideous, imbecilic, vulgar and obnoxious fashion — in short, they’re borne out of their defective philosophical mother — the radical feminist."
Interestingly this is in Evie Magazine, "the next-generation digital publication for young women by women covering the most interesting and important subjects of our lives"
Bed Tundy on Twitter - "Gotta love the “toxic masculinity” crowd. They say that because of toxic masculinity we can’t show emotion yet when we get upset about being painted as a bunch of abusive sex pests that’s our toxic masculinity showing"
Newtown Fire Station forced to apologise over sign defending masculinity - "Firefighters have taken a break from putting out fires to instead create one of their own by raising an inflammatory sign defending masculinity.Staff at Newtown Fire Station in inner west Sydney were forced to apologise after they updated their sign to read: 'House fires are toxic, our masculinity isn't'."
And yet, we are told, condemning "toxic masculinity" doesn't mean you're condemning masculinity as toxic
Toxic masculinity message in front of Aussie fire dept. forced down, sparking outcry: 'STOP apologizing' - "It's worth pointing out that the Newtown Fire Station is known for placing humorous, witty public service messages outside its building, along with some social commentary
Given that half the examples promote progressive values, this is a great example of the liberal circular firing squad
Geoffrey Miller on Twitter - "American Psychological Association responds to our Twitter criticisms of their anti-male statement by doubling down with preachy, vague, gender-feminist, social-justice rhetoric ('masculinities come in many forms' ; we must respect all genders' etc). They fail to distinguish masculinity from psychopathy, for example. Psychopathic behavior by males is framed as mostly an outcome of patriarchal conditioning & masculine stereotypes, rather than a mental disorder in its own right. Equates being a 'real man' with being evil."
The Feminist Mission to Undermine Heterosexuality - "There is a rich literature of anti-male diatribes—often in the form of utopian (or dystopian) fantasies, or bizarre tracts such as Valerie Solanas’s 1968 SCUM Manifesto (SCUM = The Society for Cutting Up Men), or the writings of Mary Daly, Sally Miller Gearhart, Marilyn Frye, Andrea Dworkin, Catharine MacKinnon, and numerous others whom I labeled heterophobes in the mid-1990s.. Specifically, heterosexuality was renamed heteronormativity, to separate it from its biological basis, and set it firmly in the realm of socially constructed artifices in much the same way that the term cisgender is now being used. Such views quickly gained traction in the new field of Women’s Studies that developed in the 1970s. Still, fierce conflicts occurred between different kinds of feminists in the early years: anti-pornography vs. free speech, pro-sex vs. anti-sex, and so on, but rarely was there a direct challenge to the growing anti-heterosexual bias in Women’s Studies. An attitude of appeasement (perhaps born from guilt) on the part of heterosexual feminists was a component from the beginning. The idea that rape is about power, not sex, was readily accepted and soon became an unquestioned orthodoxy—unhelpful in understanding or preventing rape–and the definition of rape and sexual assault continuously broadened.But antagonism toward men (in particular, white men) hadn’t yet spread throughout the university. It did so over the years via expansive and poorly defined campus sexual harassment rules, which routinely denied the accused due process, along with policies aimed at impeding personal relations wherever there existed “power differentials,” which in fact characterize virtually all relationships since human beings are rarely identical in their positions, skills, and attributes, and “power” resides in numerous forms. The demand for “verbal consent” at every stage of sexual intimacy, which began as an oddity in a few progressive schools, is now taken as normal and desirable by many people.In other words, it wasn’t just rape that was “really” about power; everything was... political movements must have antagonists, for alliances are often forged and maintained by sharing intense negative feelings. This is a major reason why there persists such exaggerated rhetoric today of women’s vulnerability at the hands of men and the patriarchy, scare statistics about a “rape culture” on campus, and a tireless search for microaggressions. These are all necessary to rally the troops... feminist cohesion is always likely to be threatened by women’s attraction to men.Hence an elaborate ideology and intense group pressure have been—and still are–applied to keep women from consorting with the enemy. Early on, heterosexual feminists acquiesced, shamed into not flaunting their (politically suspect) heterosexuality. Yet the rampant misandry seen today doesn’t seem to have succeeded in eliminating heterosexual attraction, any more than social pressure in the past managed to eliminate same-sex attraction.Perhaps, however, heterosexuality can be driven underground."
Conversion Therapy Isn’t the Cure for ‘Toxic Masculinity’ - "“Too many boys 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, where manliness is about having power over others,” the comedian Michael Ian Black lamented in February. “They are trapped, and they don’t even have the language to talk about how they feel about being trapped, because the language that exists to discuss the full range of human emotion is still viewed as sensitive and feminine.” Inspired by Mr. Black’s essay, two New York Times writers offered conversion therapy in the form of a lesson plan. It’s supposed to prevent mass shootings.We guys, evidently, find ourselves caged in a world without emotion or even language. We are accounted for as evolutionary throwbacks. Adapted to hunting mammoths, our services are no longer required in a world of yoga studios, chai lattes and universal love. This too—the gentle hint that men are baboons as much as humans—is quite a traditional way of devaluing very large groups. This trend has transcended think-pieces and entered real life. The “Boys to Men” program in the Maine public schools retrains middle- and high-school boys away from pathological machismo... These interventions use a hyper-general idea about a whole population—call it a stereotype—as an explanation for specific phenomena. It isn’t much more insightful than blaming mass shootings on “society” or “social media.” Seldom can anyone explain how masculinity specifically affected the shooters or put them in motion. Unless they can make that connection directly, the critics of masculinity haven’t explained anything. And I would caution against sheer stereotyping or bigotry as a plausible style of inference. Taking a few problematic people and tainting whole groups as inherently flawed, inferior or pathological—it’s never ended well. Nor should boys be trained in femininity. There isn’t any reason to believe it will ameliorate the problems, and it isn’t anyone’s job. We ought to leave each person’s gender to himself or herself. That the conversion therapy is directed in this case at a “dominant” group does not make the thinking clear, the ethics decent or the treatment effective."
The American Psychological Association goes to war against boys and men - "For an interesting contrast and a kind of “control” to the APA’s guidelines for treating boys and men, we turn to the 2007 APA Guidelines for Psychological Practice with Girls and Women. Here we find no criticism whatsoever of femininity, traditional or otherwise, but we do learn about the many “stressors” in girls’ and women’s lives... Hmm. Many of these stressors apply equally to boys and men. Intimate Partner Violence is largely bilateral (and rates are statistically elevated amongst lesbians.) Nobody is more subject to “devaluation” in our culture than white heterosexual men. Men also suffer from “limited economic resources.” Same for “relationship disruptions.” What does “unrealistic media images of girls and women” mean? In my reading of the media, men are often portrayed as stupid, incompetent and/or immature. Women are very often portrayed as smart, sexy, high-achieving and confident.The general idea promoted in these Guidelines is that women are victims. We are told they are seven times more likely than boys to be depressed, and nine times more likely to experience eating disorders. Is that men’s fault? There is no literature to my knowledge that gives evidence of any such causal link, but the APA does actually make a stab at blaming men anyway... they are giving licence to impressionable psychologists to encourage their women patients to blame the men in their lives for disorders that can have numerous other influences, including a certain kind of perfectionism one finds more often in girls than boys (which boys and men did nothing to create), and negative relationships with mothers or female peers. Or here’s a thought: All this depression and anxiety “may” come from female ideologues, who as educators and role models: routinely tell girls they can “be anything” and “have it all,” which causes anxiety when “all” fails to emerge, as it almost invariably does; who encourage girls to explore their sexuality without letting emotion get in the way of healthy pleasure, but fail to warn them that promiscuity can leave them feeling sad and empty and humiliated; who valorize abortion, but fail to warn of abortion’s frequent psychological impact; who deplore early commitment, even when a young woman and man happen to be right for each other; who encourage misandry by belittling or ignoring men’s legitimate concerns, or fail to acknowledge men’s legitimate contributions to society; who value career ambitions over motherhood; who confuse girls regarding the difference between being wooing and sexual misconduct; and of course who persuade girls and women that if they are unhappy, the reason never lies within, or from poorly-considered choices, but is always the fault of a “traditional” male asserting his privilege, or “social construction” that thwarts their self-realization... Instead of exploring the possibility that feminism, the most influential ideology of our era, has apparently not led to an increase in girls’ and women’s mental health and – this time I am serious, not sarcastic— “may” very well be at the root of much of female unhappiness, they double down and theorize that “the continuing presence of more subtle forms of sexist and racist bias” are in play.
Jordan Peterson: It’s ideology vs. science in psychology’s war on boys and men - "The American Psychological Association (APA) recently released its Guidelines for Psychological Practice with Boys and Men... Gender, Cisgender, Gender Bias, Gender Role Strain, Masculinity Ideology, Gender Role Conflict, Oppression, Privilege, Psychological Practice, and Gender Sensitive... There’s absolutely no indication in the guidelines that these concepts, or their definitions, constitute the axioms of a primarily political viewpoint. Instead, they are presented as if they are foundational, scientifically credible and beyond question.Yet there is no consensus among psychologists, for example, about the definition, let alone the existence, of, for example, “masculinity ideology.” There is also no agreement that gender exists solely in the form of “roles” that are learned (as opposed to innate) — although all reasonable scientists agree that much of human behaviour, including that related to sex, is learned. And there is nothing intellectually credible and certainly nothing “scientific” — and therefore worthy of definition in a document purporting to discuss psychology — about American feminist and activist Dr. Peggy McIntosh’s polarizing concept of “white privilege.”... The document opens with the claim that “socialization for conforming to traditional masculinity ideology has been shown to limit males’ psychological development, constrain their behavior, result in gender role strain and gender role conflict, and negatively influence mental health” – a claim derived in no small part from the “research” published by the very people who wrote the guidelines, and one presented, like the definitions, with no indication whatsoever that this claim by no means constitutes anything resemblng established scientific fact.Let me translate this opening salvo into something approximating clear and blunt English. The authors are claiming that men who socialize their boys in a traditional manner destroy their mental health... “Men are overrepresented in prisons, are more likely than women to commit violent crimes, and are at greatest risk of being a victim of violent crime (e.g., homicide, aggravated assault; Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2015).” So, it’s not only that men who encourage their boys to be “self-reliant, strong and manage their problems on their own” destroy the mental health of their children; they also produce adults who are a primary menace to their families and society... there is no scientific evidence that aggression, per se, is learned. Like fear, pain, hunger and thirst, rage is instinctual. The biological evidence for this is crystal clear and unshakeable... Aggression is easy. Civilized behaviour is difficult. It is the integration of aggression that is learned. And it is primarily men who teach it, particularly to aggressive boys. How do we know this?It’s simple – and it is this simple fact that is absolutely damning to the claims in the APA document. What kind of families produce violent young men? Fatherless families. The pernicious effect of fatherlessness is exceptionally well-documented"
If someone wrote about blackness what the APA wrote about masculinity...
Strangely the APA says masculinity is pathological, but not transgenderism
Gillette and the war on masculinity - "Courage, stoicism and bravery were once considered virtuous, not ‘problematic’. To many men and women this is still the case.Today, masculinity is demonised as toxic. As a result, all its positive associations – many of which are fundamentally necessary for society to function – are derided. If a house is on fire, if a festering pile of rubbish needs removing, if a risky business decision needs to be taken, if my life needs defending – I want a man or woman who is brave, resilient, strong and courageous to step up"
We Need Stoicism More Than Ever: A Response to the New APA Guidelines - "The APA lists “stoicism”—alongside “competitiveness, dominance and aggression”—as one of the tenets of traditional masculinity. And, while there are certainly moral and psychological arguments against dominance and aggression (both inherently negative emotions, which motivate individuals to gain power over others) the APA’s attack on stoicism is misguided and harmful... a heaping dose of stoicism—both as a general demeanor and a philosophical practice—is exactly what American men and women need right now.We live in an increasingly hysterical society, plagued by constant outrage, political upheaval and an abiding, ubiquitous feeling of cultural despair. Driven by bombast and fury in our politics and culture, we’ve entered a period of tribal warfare, defined by self-righteousness and by blind solidarity with our cultural allies and fear and hatred of our supposed cultural enemies. This is having a measurable impact on both our culture and our individual psyches: politics is driving people into therapists’ offices, and depression, anxiety, drug use and suicide are skyrocketing.These unfortunate trends are encouraged and exacerbated by a cable news outrage industrial complex"
The claim that it is only "toxic" masculinity that is being attacked is false
Blaming Masculinity Will Only Make The Male Crisis Worse - "the APA should be a science-based organization, but its guidelines lack hard science. Ruben and Raquel Gur, Tracey Shors, Louanne Brizendine, Sandra Witelson, Daniel Amen, and the hundreds of scientists worldwide who use brain scan technology to understand male-female brain differences do not appear in these guidelines. Practitioners like myself and Leonard Sax, M.D., Ph.D., who have conducted multiple studies in science-based practical application of neuroscience to male nurturance in schools, homes, and communities, are not included. Included are mainly socio-psychologists who push the idea that maleness is basically socialized into “masculinities” that destroy male development... In the same way that it is misogynistic to claim femininity is inherently flawed, it is misandrist to claim that masculinity is also thus.
The unending war against masculinity and men | The Spectator - "The word ‘transgender’ occurs more often (56) than ‘masculine’ (53). This isn’t impartial, evidence-based advice. It’s a manifesto... The effect of telling men that their desire to protect and provide is ‘sexist’, as well as persuading women they’re better off without us, has been to unleash an epidemic of family breakdown. A whopping 25 per cent of American children are being raised by single mothers. No doubt the APA thinks boys who grow up without fathers are better off. After all, they’ve been spared exposure to noxious male role models. But the grim reality is they’re more likely to drop out of school, become alcohol and drug addicts and end up in the criminal justice system.Meanwhile, the men who’ve been told that they’re no longer needed spend their lives playing video games, getting addicted to opioids and, in increasing numbers, committing suicide. The average life expectancy of American males last year was 76, down for the second year in a row. If the APA is looking for toxicity, it should start by examining itself."
It’s Time to Stop Blaming Men for Their Mental Health Woes - "many men’s mental health campaigns focus attention on men’s supposed silence and reticence to discuss problems. This can lead to a harmful narrative that blames and berates men for their mental health woes, implying that their own behavior is the root cause. This approach is known as ‘victim-blaming’ in public health, and is studiously avoided in women’s mental health campaigns, where social context is often acknowledged as a key determinant of mental health.Indeed, my own research indicates that media portrayals of women with mental illness tend to be much more empathic and sympathetic than portrayals of men with mental illness, which tend to be harsh and punitive. Famed Stanford University Professor Philip Zimbardo rightly calls this an ‘empathy gap’, where societal sympathy for men is in short supply... numerous men in my own research studies have noted that they have tried talking about their mental health issues, but few men or women in their social circle have been prepared to listen. Some even report that family and friends have simply told them to 'man-up', or worse still ostracized them as black sheep.So who is really to blame for men's alleged taciturnity?... much research suggests that many men prefer action-based modalities of healing over talk-based modalities. This includes regular exercise, which has been shown to effectively reduce depressive symptoms. Likewise religious and traditional healing based on prayer, ritual or ceremony can be effective in improving men’s mental health, especially for minority, immigrant and aboriginal men."
APA & Traditional Masculinity: Backlash against New Guidelines Unavoidable - "the assault on traditional masculinity — while liberating to men who don’t fit traditional norms — is itself harmful to the millions of young men who seek to be physically and mentally tough, to rise to challenges, and demonstrate leadership under pressure. The assault on traditional masculinity is an assault on their very natures... according to the actual, enduring guidelines (not the public-relations response), “traditional masculinity” actually includes a number of very common, inherent male characteristics. Are boys disproportionately adventurous? Are they risk-takers? Do they feel a need to be strong? Do they often by default reject stereotypically “feminine” characteristics. Yes, yes, yes, and yes... The APA issues guidelines that do indeed target traditional masculinity as commonly understood. Then, under pressure, they issue a statement that redefines the term. This is a form of “motte-and-bailey” argument."
Training the Masculinity Out of Children - "During my PhD, I studied soldiers specifically trained to kill people. However, I found that the masculinity displayed by these professional warriors to be more complex than expected. On the one hand, these men seem to possess the attributes of a hyper-masculine male: toughness, aggression, dominance, and suppression of fear. On the other, they accept the realities of being a soldier, which require the individual to be subservient, obedient, and almost totally dependent, which are traditionally not masculine traits. This is to say nothing of the well documented and complex displays of platonic love among soldiers in war, who one minute may be charging a gun nest to protect one another, and the next may be sharing intimate and detailed stories of loss, regret, and fear.Masculinity is complex, and understanding it requires sophisticated discussions that shed light on those components of masculinity that are harmful and those that are benign or beneficial... Sommers contends that when we pathologize masculinity as a malevolent force to be extirpated, it is like saddling young boys with original sin. The result? Universities are setting up re-education programs for male students that hope to recondition them to ‘unlearn’ the toxicity that teaches them to rape and be violent."
Students told term ‘be a man’ represents toxic masculinity - "‘Lesson made it seem like masculinity was an unacceptable human trait’ ... Students who “identify as male” were shown a docudrama film about masculinity. The film, titled “The Mask You Live In,” was part of the lessons warning students that the notion of masculinity comes with harmful side effects, he said... Other sessions involved informing students of various conduct policies and campus life programs.Upperclassmen who volunteered to assist with orientation performed skits and monologues for the first-year students. A portion of these involved performances by the ty Peer Educators that touched upon “diversity and inclusion topics related to the student experience,” according to Kiera Kant, associate dean of college life at Gettysburg College.Goodman said skit topics included microaggressions, gender identity issues and the Confederate flag."
US university offers course for men to 'deconstruct toxic masculinities' - "A university in the United States has begun offering classes in “constructive male allyship,” providing a space where male students are able to “question and deconstruct toxic masculinities.”Duke University, based in the city of Durham, North Carolina, held its first Learning Community session last week. The women’s centre has organised a nine-week series of seminars, as part of the Duke Men’s Project"
‘Masculinity is not toxic’ — The Guardian and the new Men’s Movement - "men connecting, supporting and challenging each other in a male only environment — is essential for a few different reasons. The first is that men inevitably change their behaviour around women — the second is that finding true brotherhood with other men beyond a place of competition makes all of our relationships better — the third is that there is often far too much pressure placed on intimate relationships to be the sole source of strength — and in our experience most women WANT their men to have deep and close friendships with other men and to bring masculine polarity to relationships... In our experience denying the different polarities of men and women in relationship leads to good friendships and bad sex... “Many of the world’s oldest wisdom traditions, from Buddhism to Taoism to Hinduism, have concluded that the world manifests itself fundamentally as polarities, yin/yang, masculine/feminine."... That’s why Jordan Peterson has become so staggeringly popular — saying the things that young men should have been told by their fathers and their culture but aren’t... Men, on the whole, are sick of discussing rights ad infinitum — what’s more enticing, and what really motivates us, is taking responsibility.We are also not interested in ‘rallying around a cause’ — this points to an overall fixation in the piece around politics and identity, typical of most Guardian articles over the last few years"
Is Toxic Masculinity a Valid Concept? - "Female fiddler crabs and hens prefer males with extravagantly large claws and tails respectively. Ewes (female rams) will mate with the ram that wins the brutal intrasexual head-butting contest. They reward targeted aggression by granting sexual access. Needless to say, there are innumerable other examples of sexual selection that I might describe, but I suspect that you get the general gist. Are rams exhibiting toxic masculinity? Are female fiddler crabs succumbing to antiquated notions of masculinity as promulgated by the crab patriarchy?... In no culture ever studied have women repeatedly preferred to mate with pear-shaped, low-status, tepid men possessing high-pitched, nasal voices. In no documented culture do women’s sexual fantasies revolve around granting sexual access to unemployed, unambitious men who occupy the lowest stratum of the social hierarchy. Instead, women are attracted to “toxic masculine” male phenotypes that correlate with testosterone, and they are desirous of men who are socially dominant, who are strategically risk-taking in their behaviors, and who exhibit patterns of behaviors that will allow them to ascend the social hierarchy and defend their positions from encroachers... When engaging in sexual role-playing in the bedroom, few women ask that their male partners wear their Google C++ programmer uniform. They ask for the fireman suit to make its presence. James Bond, the epitome of “toxic masculinity,” does not cry at Taylor Swift concerts. His archetype is desired by women and envied by men."
The Real Problem With “Toxic Masculinity” - "Both boys and girls need masculine types to toughen them, and feminine types to make them more delicate and attentive. Cross-cultural research has shown that fathers usually favor rough-and-tumble play over fine-motor subtle play. Universally, male caregivers also favor some version of the child-father camping or hunting trip ritual.All cultures recognize the complementarities of men and women, from the anatomical complementarity that makes coitus and reproduction possible, to the complementary ways in which men and women use their strengths to help keep the species alive. The spectrum of masculine and feminine ideal types is also universally recognized as porous... The risk of over-aggression in males and over-nurturing in women is recognized in all societies. The same is true of social cluelessness in males and social manipulation in women... most young people schooled after the 1990s have been taught that all morality is relative, and that everything from sex to power to success is “socially constructed.” This leaves little room for identifying evolutionarily stable patterns of behavior and places the locus of — or the "blame for" — all problems on nebulous “social forces.”The next contradiction is harder to discern. In spite of its relativist claims, the culture of social justice actively promotes one kind of highly rigid morality about power, sex, and human relations. This moral story is then grounded in highly stereotyped models and ideal types of “identity.” All those who are not identified in the “cis-heteronormative white supremacist patriarchy,” then, get to leverage their “disempowered” identity status as a marker of virtue. This is an example of an overly simplistic, logically flawed, “superstitious” moral story... In the traditional men’s huts of the Amazon and Papua New Guinea, ethnographers report that common talk among men centers on the awe-inspiring, terrifying power of the all-swallowing vagina. Gossip from the female hut usually centers on the gullibility of baby-like men who think with their penis. This is the cultural equivalent of the men-in-the-sauna and women-at-the-hair-salon rituals."
Aboriginal campaigner against domestic violence Jacinta Price slams term 'toxic masculinity' - "Jacinta Price, who herself had been in a violent relationship, said demonising men did nothing to address the issue of assaults against women by their husbands and boyfriends... 'As a society, we've got a lot of pressure on our men in general,' she said. 'Being the mother of four sons, I think it's really important that everyone should understand they have a place in society, no matter what.'... Her latest comments about 'toxic masculinity' were made after feminist writer Clementine Ford slammed Studio 10 personality Joe Hildebrand for claiming not all men are to blame for violence against women... A year ago, suicide prevention group Lifeline removed Ford as a keynote speaker after she tweeted 'kill all men' and 'all men must die'."