"Might As Well Carry a Purse With That Mask..."
By Amy Stewart, LMFT, CST
In a post that is in no way at all related to current events or politics, it seems like a good time to briefly revisit the concept of toxic masculinity and the way it’s functioning to endanger emotional health, relationships and the mortal safety of humans everywhere.
What toxic masculinity is not:
A man-hating demonization of all things masculine.
What toxic masculinity is:
The set of values and traits that we’ve all been socialized into believing traditionally make a real man- strength, independence, power, lack of emotional expression, confidence and invulnerability. Essentially embracing the opposite of any trait that whiffs of femininity- weakness, dependence, vulnerability, and, thus, the ability to ask for help, display empathy and show compassion for anything outside of oneself.
At present, we have a front row seat to the performance of this masculinity model daily. Whether these principles are spewing from a twitter account or apparent in the sweeping drama of a defiant mask removal, eschewing the idea of our interdependence and abdicating our relationship to and responsibility for our fellow humans has taken center stage.
For more conversation about how this is impacting us at present:
The History of Sex’s “Toxic Masculinity and Masks in the Age of Covid-19”
Or for a virus-free in-depth exploration from the before times, check out:
