When the term “toxic masculinity” gets bandied about, some males immediately take offense, believing the term assumes that masculinity is toxic in and of itself.
However, that’s not what it means.
The term “toxic” is before the term “masculinity,” which means it’s a form of masculinity. Toxic masculinity can manifest itself as bullying, catcalling, suppressing emotions, maintaining an appearance of hardness, and using violence as an indicator of power.
“Toxic masculinity is what can come of teaching boys that they can’t express emotion openly; that they have to be ‘tough all the time’; that anything other than that makes them ‘feminine’ or weak,” Maya Salam wrote in The New York Times.
One amazing example of a man who exhibits many of the positive characteristics of masculinity (strength, courage, humor) while rejecting its negative the aspects, is actor and former NFL player, Terry Crews (“Brooklyn Nine-Nine).
