Male obsolescence is growing; signs of failure and alienation among young men and the popularity of misogynistic and violent male ‘prophets’ have led many to conclude that ‘toxic masculinity’ is on the rise. Michael Kimmel questions the efficacy of this concept for truly understanding and remedying the issues men face today.

I’m not much of a fan of “toxic masculinity.” I don’t mean the cluster of behaviors, attitudes and traits that are thrown together and broadly defined as “toxic.” I mean the phrase itself. Perhaps even the idea of the phrase itself.

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The term “toxic masculinity” is often used to describe everything that’s wrong with men. It’s a cluster of ideas and values that are dangerous and destructive, values that promote antisocial behavior, violence, and the denigration of women, LGBT people and other minorities.  It’s used to describe everything from misogynist Men’s Rights Activists, gun owners, Trump supporters all the way to hunters, soldiers, and Republicans more generally. It’s become a catchphrase, flung around haphazardly like “privilege.” 

This is invariably contrasted with “healthy” masculinity or the “good kind” of masculinity – the sort of masculinity that nurtures and cares for others, that supports women and LGBT people, is environmentally friendly, a loving dad and a Democrat.  

When something bad happens – a school shooting, a terrorist attack, a racist Trump tweet – we often attribute it to toxic masculinity. And it seems that we believe that toxic masculinity is something you “have,” not something that you do; indeed, the Urban Dictionary differentiates between being masculine and toxic masculinity precisely in this way: “one can be masculine without having toxic masculinity.”