Dear Men: Toxic Masculinity Is Imprisoning Us, and It’s Time to Set Ourselves Free
Author: David Greenwald
Hypermasculinity is a psychological term for the exaggeration of male stereotypical behavior, such as an emphasis on physical strength, aggression, and sexuality. “ Rejecting male critiques, as a man, was a pretty easy burden for me to bear. I am white, straight, and cisgender: I never had to deal with the abuse and marginalization that faces people of color and the LGBTQIA+ community,” says the author. The problem that young boys face is the fact that at every turn, the masculine path is clearly set in front of them. Strength, anger, endurance, violence, stoicism. This is for boys, this is for girls. Don’t dress like this, don’t watch this, don’t listen to this. Don’t, don’t, don’t. What could possibly happen, dudes? Could it be that you might experience a wider view of the human experience? Could it be that women are people and sensitivity is a universal quality? The effort to define manhood is a source of artificial strength, a buttress against crumbling walls. Men who aspire to such stereotypes are searching for a safe and simple path, the same way people turn toward religion or any form of dogma.
I wrote this article because as a feminist, I know that breaking down the toxic social expectations around women is work intended to free them. To allow them to experience life and been understood as the whole and complicated people we all are. I know that men are just as trapped and just as much in need of liberation. That is, if they can face their fears of anything coded as feminine, gay, or merely different. Aren’t men supposed to be brave? Men don’t have to be anything. You just have to be you
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