Toxic Masculinity 101
By Torri Estes
Toxic Masculinity is a topic that tends to attract snickers or eye rolls when brought up in certain crowds. Why? Perhaps it makes people uncomfortable to look at their own tendencies and see them critiqued.
If you haven’t heard about toxic masculinity before, or you have and just don’t quite know what it means, a working definition would be the extreme pressure some men may feel to act in a way that can be harmful to others, or make people uncomfortable. This leads to problems for all genders as it contributes to an environment that includes sexual harassment, bullying, a reluctance of some males to seek mental health resources, and other societal issues.
You don’t have to look very far to see that “toxic masculinity” has been part of our national conversation for several years. The New York Times and The Atlantic have discussed the issue in their publications. Recently USA Today wrote about a podcast featuring a conversation between former President Barack Obama and rock legend Bruce Springsteen.
“So much of popular culture tells (boys) that the only clear, defining thing about being a man, being masculine, is that you excel in sports and sexual conquest,” Obama told Springsteen, who added, “and violence.”
In order to investigate how this issue could be affecting students at PRHS, I interviewed some teachers and peers for responses regarding how masculinity affects us. To begin, many students identifying as male were not interested in giving a response, so my data is limited. The answers I did receive reflect how sexism can be swept under the rug.
“Do you think your peers treat women or talk about women respectfully?” I asked.
“Somewhat,” a male student said. “Sometimes badly. It’s mostly joking, though.”
The idea that something does not have impact simply because it was “just a joke” facilitates a culture with social norms encouraging the harassment of women and acceptance of it from men. To begin, a 2010 study of workplace humor by Western Carolina University and Washington & Lee Universtiy reported that “74% of the women they surveyed considered sexual jokes and teasing to be harassment, whereas only 47% of the men felt the same.” This is the result of women identifying with the victim being subject to the joke, whereas men see it simply as a “joke.”
A study in the U.K , reported by openaccess.org, reported that 97% of women have experienced some kind of sexual harassment (surveyed women 18 to 24). Reactions from men included shock or disbelief, whereas most women seemed to be unsurprised by the seemingly high number. Women feel the effects of sexism, much of which is camouflaged as “jokes.”
When I took an informal survey of those identifying as female in our student body, the question, “How do you feel about the way men treat women?” produced interesting responses. Some were scary. Some reflected my own feelings.
The first response I received was, “I think it could be better, some (boys and men) are great, but those shouldn’t be rare gems. It shouldn’t be the standard for men to be trash.”
Also:
– “I think that they need to do better, there is literally no standard for the way men behave.”
– “Well, I have a fear of men. They over sexualize women as a whole. This is just a general male attribute.”
Every woman I interviewed said they were far more comfortable around other women, and this fear of men is only maintained by the ideologies of toxic masculinity. Toxic masculinity pushes boys to feel as though they have to be “manly.”
It’s fair to say some women are confused by this attitude. Comments included “Manliness is a weird concept” and “Manliness? No, God no. I don’t find it important at all.” Especially when “manliness” prioritizes fitting in with male peers, participating in the “jokes” and sexualizing women in general.
So, how does this dynamic play out in our school? Teachers have told me that sexist jokes and harassment hurt our academic culture.
“I think that amongst some (boys), learning is less important (as in) ‘I don’t need to be smart to be a man’” said one teacher.
“Yes, I think that students definitely try to maintain images of themselves, and masculinity is one of them. Being tough is certainly more important than being academic sometimes. This could affect someone's grades.”
Regardless of whether you take this issue seriously, you can’t dance around the fact that serious adults in and outside of our school are concerned about about toxic masculinity Less pressure on men to behave in a typically masculine behavior would lead to more willingness to address mental health, safer environments at school, sexual harassment, and room for everyone to express themselves without fear of backlash from peers.
By Torri Estes
Toxic Masculinity is a topic that tends to attract snickers or eye rolls when brought up in certain crowds. Why? Perhaps it makes people uncomfortable to look at their own tendencies and see them critiqued.
If you haven’t heard about toxic masculinity before, or you have and just don’t quite know what it means, a working definition would be the extreme pressure some men may feel to act in a way that can be harmful to others, or make people uncomfortable. This leads to problems for all genders as it contributes to an environment that includes sexual harassment, bullying, a reluctance of some males to seek mental health resources, and other societal issues.
You don’t have to look very far to see that “toxic masculinity” has been part of our national conversation for several years. The New York Times and The Atlantic have discussed the issue in their publications. Recently USA Today wrote about a podcast featuring a conversation between former President Barack Obama and rock legend Bruce Springsteen.
“So much of popular culture tells (boys) that the only clear, defining thing about being a man, being masculine, is that you excel in sports and sexual conquest,” Obama told Springsteen, who added, “and violence.”
In order to investigate how this issue could be affecting students at PRHS, I interviewed some teachers and peers for responses regarding how masculinity affects us. To begin, many students identifying as male were not interested in giving a response, so my data is limited. The answers I did receive reflect how sexism can be swept under the rug.
“Do you think your peers treat women or talk about women respectfully?” I asked.
“Somewhat,” a male student said. “Sometimes badly. It’s mostly joking, though.”
The idea that something does not have impact simply because it was “just a joke” facilitates a culture with social norms encouraging the harassment of women and acceptance of it from men. To begin, a 2010 study of workplace humor by Western Carolina University and Washington & Lee Universtiy reported that “74% of the women they surveyed considered sexual jokes and teasing to be harassment, whereas only 47% of the men felt the same.” This is the result of women identifying with the victim being subject to the joke, whereas men see it simply as a “joke.”
A study in the U.K , reported by openaccess.org, reported that 97% of women have experienced some kind of sexual harassment (surveyed women 18 to 24). Reactions from men included shock or disbelief, whereas most women seemed to be unsurprised by the seemingly high number. Women feel the effects of sexism, much of which is camouflaged as “jokes.”
When I took an informal survey of those identifying as female in our student body, the question, “How do you feel about the way men treat women?” produced interesting responses. Some were scary. Some reflected my own feelings.
The first response I received was, “I think it could be better, some (boys and men) are great, but those shouldn’t be rare gems. It shouldn’t be the standard for men to be trash.”
Also:
– “I think that they need to do better, there is literally no standard for the way men behave.”
– “Well, I have a fear of men. They over sexualize women as a whole. This is just a general male attribute.”
Every woman I interviewed said they were far more comfortable around other women, and this fear of men is only maintained by the ideologies of toxic masculinity. Toxic masculinity pushes boys to feel as though they have to be “manly.”
It’s fair to say some women are confused by this attitude. Comments included “Manliness is a weird concept” and “Manliness? No, God no. I don’t find it important at all.” Especially when “manliness” prioritizes fitting in with male peers, participating in the “jokes” and sexualizing women in general.
So, how does this dynamic play out in our school? Teachers have told me that sexist jokes and harassment hurt our academic culture.
“I think that amongst some (boys), learning is less important (as in) ‘I don’t need to be smart to be a man’” said one teacher.
“Yes, I think that students definitely try to maintain images of themselves, and masculinity is one of them. Being tough is certainly more important than being academic sometimes. This could affect someone's grades.”
Regardless of whether you take this issue seriously, you can’t dance around the fact that serious adults in and outside of our school are concerned about about toxic masculinity Less pressure on men to behave in a typically masculine behavior would lead to more willingness to address mental health, safer environments at school, sexual harassment, and room for everyone to express themselves without fear of backlash from peers.