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Creating a Non-Toxic Masculinity
We continue to see the damaging effects of toxic masculinity. What does non-toxic masculinity look like?
By Paul Hartzer
Welcome to 2017. At long last, 2016 is over.
Last year saw the election of a President seen by many people as representing some of the worst aspects of what it means to be a man: Sexually aggressive (in word, at least), dismissive of women, bullying the vulnerable, and aggressive towards criticism. In the wake of his election, many people engaged in the conversation of rewriting masculinity despaired that it symbolized a step backward in that evolution.
This is the past, though. We can either sit back and mope, or we can stand up and dedicate ourselves anew to the task at hand.
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My starting point: What could positive manhood look like?
It’s easy to look at the more problematic characteristics of traditional masculinity, such as its rejection of emotional displays, its reliance on power through physical prowess, and its objectification of women, and to reject the concept of traditional masculinity overall.
Recently, the phrase “toxic masculinity” has emerged. I often see this being used interchangeably with “traditional…
