The Myth of Toxic Masculinity

Article here. Excerpt:

'The lead article in APA’s flagship journal this month (Di Bianca & Mahalik, 2022) calls for a redefining of masculinity from what it calls “hegemonic masculinity” (meaning toxic masculinity) to something more, well, feminine.

Oppression and violence are blamed on toxic masculinity, and boys, according to the article, should be raised in “relationships of empathy, mutuality, and empowerment.” No, they don’t mean sports teams, dojos, or the military, although it’s unclear why not, since those organizations certainly provide relationships of that sort. What they mean is that boys should be less, you know, boyish.
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When people talk about toxic masculinity, they don’t mean masculinity at all. Usually, they mean paranoia, sociopathy, malignant narcissism, or some form of self-righteous vindictiveness. These are as common in women as in men, although in men, these ills are more likely to be expressed as physical violence (though still at a low rate). But to blame the violence on the maleness rather than, say, the paranoia of the perpetrator is like blaming robbery and murder on the race of the perpetrator. When faced with the image of a school shooter, if you hate men, you see a man. If you like men, you see a paranoid person. If you hate Black people and look at violent crime data (a disproportionate number of robberies and murders are committed by Black people), you see race when you look at perpetrators rather than rage.'