Books reviews: How Toxic Is Masculinity?

Clippings from news sources involving fashion freedom and other gender equality issues.
Faldaguy
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Books reviews: How Toxic Is Masculinity?

Post by Faldaguy »

Probably not a lot of support for either author from SC members, but a handful of interesting comments. I'll write most of it off to the press to publish or perish in academia -- I'm not heading to the bookstore or logging into Amazon, but if you want to stir some rational ire a bit -- this seems to fit right into several of our recent threads.


https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022 ... asculinity
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Re: Books reviews: How Toxic Is Masculinity?

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My time spent in academia taught me just how misandric and insane mainstream feminism has become. Please don't be under any illusions - radical feminists are no friends of the male of the species and that is why so many former radfems have come to eschew this cult. One of the ways that any emerging political faction uses to promote its creed is to invent its own vocabulary and feminism has done so with a number of anti-male expressions and concepts: "toxic masculinity" is just one, but there others like "mansplaining", "male gaze" and "rape culture". They also redefine existing terms to mean something quite different - an example of this is "misogyny", which means a pathological hatred of women while feminists have tried to extend the meaning to include men using terms like "babe".

I had originally believed that feminism was a benign belief system which meant seeking to protect women from inequality, discrimination and mistreatment, but my time working with feminist texts taught me how naive and ignorant I had been. If anyone talks to me about "toxic masculinity", I will challenge them in a very direct way. Masculinity is an innate characteristic of male human beings just as dark skin s an innate characteristic of Sub-Saharan human beings. Linking either with toxicity is pure bigotry.
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Re: Books reviews: How Toxic Is Masculinity?

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I thought it kinda interesting, giving a view of the confusion going on in that area. I won't be reading either book though :)
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Re: Books reviews: How Toxic Is Masculinity?

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Put bluntly, and in the language of PC, 'Toxic Masculinity" amounts to "Hate Speech", and under the "rules" of PC should be banned.
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Re: Books reviews: How Toxic Is Masculinity?

Post by moonshadow »

How toxic is masculinity?

It's not. Some people are assholes, some people aren't. Gender has nothing to do with it.
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Re: Books reviews: How Toxic Is Masculinity?

Post by jamie001 »

I believe that toxic masculinity is one of the worst problems facing society today. All of the school shootings in America are committed by the male sex. As a result of toxic masculinity, boys are taught at an early age about acceptable forms of expression. These acceptable forms of expression typically include anger and aggression, followed by taking action with verbal and physical violence to accomplish their goals.

Toxic masculinity is alive, well and thriving in America, so don't tell me that it doesn't exist the next time you hear about another school shooting perpetrated by a male that cannot deal with his emotions!

We need to take action and start raising boys to understand that expression of emotions that are considered "feminine" acceptable.
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Re: Books reviews: How Toxic Is Masculinity?

Post by Stu »

Excessive display of emotions is a negative behaviour regardless of your sex. It is perfectly normal for boys to display their emotions less than girls because we are fundamentally different - thanks to evolution.

Masculinity is never "toxic" any more than dark skin is "toxic". We would never dream of using an expression like "toxic blackness" even where there were, for example, statistics to show black people were significantly over-represented the perpetrators of violent crime. That would be called "hate speech" and "bigotry" - and rightly so.

I believe there are innate differences between the sexes and these differences can be taken to extremes and become negative. Let's STOP calling natural human characteristics "toxic". It is hate speech.
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Re: Books reviews: How Toxic Is Masculinity?

Post by Brad »

The New York City MTA (agency that runs subways and buses in NYC) ran ads advising men not to "manspread"; that is sitting with legs open wide making it more difficult for others to use the adjoining seats. https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/s ... =all&w=568 I found these ads offensive as they were directed only at men. Women have been known to manspread too. They have also been known to cross their legs resulting in the crossing leg impeding traffic in the aisle in front of them. Or they have put their purse or bags on an adjoining seat so others can't sit there. Why are the men being picked on?
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Re: Books reviews: How Toxic Is Masculinity?

Post by moonshadow »

Brad wrote: Tue Aug 09, 2022 7:24 pm Why are the men being picked on?
Because regarding social issues, men generally don't stick together. They only stick together in matters of war or actual fighting (e.g. police departments, etc)
Brad wrote: Tue Aug 09, 2022 7:24 pm The New York City MTA (agency that runs subways and buses in NYC) ran ads advising men not to "manspread"; that is sitting with legs open wide making it more difficult for others to use the adjoining seats. https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/s ... =all&w=568 I found these ads offensive as they were directed only at men. Women have been known to manspread too. They have also been known to cross their legs resulting in the crossing leg impeding traffic in the aisle in front of them. Or they have put their purse or bags on an adjoining seat so others can't sit there.
I don't manspread anyway, but not because of some feminist Karen's issue with it... it is rather uncouth, and not befitting a proper gentleman or ladylike guy. I generally either sit with my legs together or crossed femininely when wearing a skirt. Thus, if we actually had more gentlemen in society and less blunt, grunting, oafs, those signs wouldn't even be necessary.

By the way, going back my full 40 years, I've recalled traditional, well dressed men in churches, funeral parlors, and wedding venues, wearing properly tailored suits and such, would sit on chairs and benches with their legs properly crossed.... it's just gentlemanly.
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Re: Books reviews: How Toxic Is Masculinity?

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moonshadow wrote: Tue Aug 09, 2022 9:22 pmBy the way, going back my full 40 years, I've recalled traditional, well dressed men in churches, funeral parlors, and wedding venues, wearing properly tailored suits and such, would sit on chairs and benches with their legs properly crossed.... it's just gentlemanly.
Most everybody regards it now as "unmanly" to cross one's legs, but it was an entirely common idiom in the early part of the 20th Century, and I have seen lots of pictures of guys of "status" sitting for group photographs, and a good 2/3rds of the the ones in the front row have their legs crossed.

On mass transit, where space it at a premium, I won't cross my legs, but merely keep my knees together (and, if I can, my legs cocked off to one side) to allow more space for others. It's called, "being polite" (also an obsolete idiom it seems).
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Re: Books reviews: How Toxic Is Masculinity?

Post by Coder »

crfriend wrote: Tue Aug 09, 2022 10:24 pm
moonshadow wrote: Tue Aug 09, 2022 9:22 pmBy the way, going back my full 40 years, I've recalled traditional, well dressed men in churches, funeral parlors, and wedding venues, wearing properly tailored suits and such, would sit on chairs and benches with their legs properly crossed.... it's just gentlemanly.
Most everybody regards it now as "unmanly" to cross one's legs, but it was an entirely common idiom in the early part of the 20th Century, and I have seen lots of pictures of guys of "status" sitting for group photographs, and a good 2/3rds of the the ones in the front row have their legs crossed.

On mass transit, where space it at a premium, I won't cross my legs, but merely keep my knees together (and, if I can, my legs cocked off to one side) to allow more space for others. It's called, "being polite" (also an obsolete idiom it seems).
I’ve always crossed my legs when I sit, no one ever told me it was unmanly - I swear I only found out about it being unmanly from the internet.
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Re: Books reviews: How Toxic Is Masculinity?

Post by rivegauche »

This thing about crossing your legs being feminine must be American. No such interpretation in UK. I often cross my legs however I am dressed and no one has ever made a comment about it.
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Re: Books reviews: How Toxic Is Masculinity?

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rivegauche wrote: Wed Aug 10, 2022 12:18 amThis thing about crossing your legs being feminine must be American. No such interpretation in UK. I often cross my legs however I am dressed and no one has ever made a comment about it.
I have no idea where it originated, but we in the US -- at least in the professional echelons -- have always had a tradition of it. It's a bit more unusual now than it was 75 years ago, but I recall seeing pictures of my grandfather's matriculating class of MDs photographed in the late 1930s and most all the guys in the front row of the photo had their legs crossed. Quite demurely, I might add. Guys knew how to bring that off, and weren't ashamed of it! It was very common then.
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Re: Books reviews: How Toxic Is Masculinity?

Post by jamie001 »

Toxic masculinity is alive and well! Here are just several examples:

Stop crying and acting like a girl!

Man up!

Boys don't "you fill-in the blank"!

You throw like a girl!

You are such as pussy!

Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus

Men don't wear "insert name of clothing or accessory typically worn by women"

The list goes on an on... As you can see, men policing each other is Toxic Masculinity.
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Re: Books reviews: How Toxic Is Masculinity?

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jamie001 wrote: Fri Aug 12, 2022 1:47 pmToxic masculinity is alive and well! Here are just several examples:
Macho B.S all the way. That's not masculinity in action.
As you can see, men policing each other is Toxic Masculinity.
And if somebody's behaving like that I'll call 'em out on it. Real men do not behave that way.

Do not hand the radical "feminists" live ammunition and their victory by repeating their hate speech. Full stop.
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