“Toxic Masculinity” in the age of #MeToo: ritual, morality and gender archetypes across cultures

UnHope20 · 2021-10-15T08:10:31+00:00

Purpose This paper aims to take the “toxic masculinity” (TM) trope as a starting point to examine recent cultural shifts in common assumptions about gender, morality and relations between the sexes. TM is a transculturally widespread archetype or moral trope about the kind of man one should not be.

Design/methodology/approach The author revisits his earlier fieldwork on transnational sexualities against a broader analysis of the historical, ethnographic and evolutionary record. The author describes the broad cross-cultural recurrence of similar ideal types of men and women (good and bad) and the rituals through which they are culturally encouraged and avoided.

Findings The author argues that the TM trope is normatively useful if and only if it is presented alongside a nuanced spectrum of other gender archetypes (positive and negative) and discussed in the context of human universality and evolved complementariness between the sexes.

Social implications The author concludes by discussing stoic virtue models for the initiation of boys and argues that they are compatible with the normative commitments of inclusive societies that recognize gender fluidity along the biological sex spectrum.

Originality/value The author makes a case for the importance of strong gender roles and the rites and rituals through which they are cultivated as an antidote to current moral panics about oppression and victimhood.

This may be the most controversial article I've posted here to date. What do you think, is there merit to his ideas or is he completely off? I'd love to hear from you guys. Please let me know what you think.

Title	“Toxic Masculinity” in the age of #MeToo: ritual, morality and gender archetypes across cultures
Author	UnHope20
Upvotes	11
Comments	1
Date	October 15, 2021 8:07 AM UTC (4 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/Male_Studies
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/Male_Studies/comments/q8jqwd/toxic_masculinity_in_the_age_of_metoo_ritual/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/Male_Studies/toxic-masculinity-in-the-age-of-metoo-ritual.1216164 https://theredarchive.com/post/1216164

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