Here I'm going to argue that the whole concept of "toxic masculinity" is built on a fallacy
here's how the logic works: they make a comparison between men and women boys/girls and they see that men on average underachieve in education, commit suicide more and live shorter but since they already have this prejudice that men are privileged and everything is rigged in their favor they think it's just an individual barrier that is causing this phenomenon so they pathologized masculinity and concluded that if boys were more like girls all these problems would be solved. imagine if in the 60's MLK told women that if they just acted like men they would close the gender gaps
It’s easier to blame men than to see men as victims. male socialization is often blamed for men’s mental health issues. It’s obvious that behaviors can impact health, and some health behaviors show sex differences. However, the idea that masculinity is to predominantly to blame for men’s health problems is woefully reductionist when other factors that impact men’s health are not taken into account. The term ‘victim-blaming’ refers to the tendency to focus on the individual as the source of their problems, without due consideration of other contributory factors, and approaches to men’s health that pathologies masculinity can be seen as victim blaming. This view of men can be seen as creating, or exacerbating, the gender empathy gap, and part of a wider unconscious bias regarding men called gamma bias. In contrast, approaches to women’s health are generally conducted with more sensitivity to the social factors that impact their health behavior. how thy see this is that men commit suicide more because they don't cry enough, boys underachieve because they don't act like girls and live shorter because masculinity kills or whatever. this is utterly untrue
Masculinity isn't the reason behind this. men commit more suicide more and live shorter because government spends more on women health. here's the data from Basic Indicator of Gender Inequality:
Men’s disadvantages are particularly related to health factors, especially in the developed world. Investment in prevention programs and a more coherent approach to male health is key to improving this situation. For example, there are various national and international strategies for women’s health, but few for men’s health. Creating a national and international strategy for men’s health is a first step to reduce gender inequality in this area.
It's a crisis of fathering. Boys are growing up with less-involved fathers and are more likely to drop out of school, drink, do drugs, become delinquent, and end up in prison.
It's a crisis of purpose. Boys' old sense of purpose—being a warrior, a leader, or a sole breadwinner—are fading. Many bright boys are experiencing a "purpose void," feeling alienated, withdrawn, and addicted to immediate gratification. It may also sound provocative but schools do discriminate against boys. we need to stop blaming masculinity for men's problems, it is insidious
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