Toxic Masculinity Is Holding Us Back

   Gender has become a popular topic of discussion in today's society, but these conversations are most often centered around feminism, we have failed to capture the bigger picture of another important issue: toxic masculinity. Jackson Katz of Tough Guise 2 argues "dominance functions best when unexamined", and this has proven to be true, the conversation on toxic masculinity has yet to even begin openly without criticism , meanwhile the issue continues to become more serious. Vulnerability and emotion are not accepted, yet violence and cold, hyper dominant personalities constitute being a man? It is obvious that we are in need of a change. 

    We have placed an enormous amount of pressure on young and old generations of males to embody our society's broken image of what a "true man" is. We have convinced them that only through violence, disrespect, power, and sexual exploitation of the women around them, that they will be accepted, that their manhood will hold value. Men have been stripped of the ability to truly show their emotions, leaving many without a "model of masculinity that allows for fear or grief or tenderness or the day-to-day sadness that sometimes overtakes us all", stated by Michael Ian Black author of "The Boys Are Not All Right". I personally notice this in real life, it is much more acceptable for a woman to open up about mental health versus a man.

      Despite the great progress we have made regarding gender identity and acceptance in our society, we must be more supportive towards men of all ages and backgrounds when it comes to their emotions and provide more resources for men to speak on how they feel in a safe, judgement free place.