Toxic masculinity

Ok_Night_7767 · 2025-06-12T18:10:24+00:00

Masculinity is not toxic. The behavior of individuals can be, but toxicity is NOT correlated with gender.

SgtSplacker · 2025-06-12T18:20:12+00:00

People that don't like men use this phrase.

Icy-Picture-192 · 2025-06-12T19:13:43+00:00

Masculinity has never been toxic and femininity has never been toxic. It all comes down to bad people

Glittering_Web_480 · 2025-06-12T17:37:13+00:00

Vile femeninity is to blame.

jjj2576 · 2025-06-12T17:23:44+00:00

My muscles are all about Positive Masculinity & Good Vibes.

OnlyCommentWhenTipsy · 2025-06-12T18:28:10+00:00

4th wave feminism is what's actually toxic, so of course they find masculinity oppressive.

Men have created such a sophisticated society of luxury and comfort that feminists actually think they don't need men anymore. Fine, go mine your own minerals, and build your own roads and bridges, bitch. Go get enlisted, put out fires, and collect your own garbage. How's that for some toxic masculinity lol

ValiXX79 · 2025-06-12T17:44:57+00:00

This term was used back in the 70s by science to explain the violent behaviour of male inmates. In the recent years, it got in the mainstream, but there's no such thing. Both teams are toxic, not sure why only men are blamed.

These-arent-my-pants · 2025-06-12T18:38:09+00:00

No, masculinity isn’t always toxic. The whole term is a buzzword used to demonize men being masculine.

KarateInAPool · 2025-06-12T17:22:21+00:00

Toxic femininity is the only thing that’s concerning. If you want to forgo all that “toxic masculinity” has given us, go live like some Paleolithic peasant in the woods.

mrkpxx · 2025-06-12T18:55:45+00:00

Only people who call men toxic are toxic.

LiveIndividual · 2025-06-12T19:49:49+00:00

Toxic masculinity doesn't even exist. It's a fake term.

The_Adm0n · 2025-06-12T19:50:41+00:00

No. If you are being toxic, you are not being masculine.

annoyinglyAddicted · 2025-06-12T20:04:51+00:00

The feminist are also using the term "male gaze" to control what is acceptable to be part of the club. They are labeling anything remotely catering to men—or even normal behavior—as inherently evil. For example, a bisexual woman on Tinder sub Reddit complained about getting matches only from men and no matches from women. A typical feminist response blamed her "normal" pictures, claiming they catered to the male gaze, and suggested women’s photos need to "tell a story" while men just need to look good. This double standard demonizes men’s natural preferences and pressures women into contorted self-presentation, turning a simple dating question into a battleground for ideological nonsense.

WhereProgressIsMade · 2025-06-12T18:20:15+00:00

The definition I like is when you observe the behavior or men and women and then try to summarize and generalize the differences you see. So by this definition any man conforming to the typical and average range of men is masculine.

Another definition that is sometimes helpful is considering what heterosexual women are attracted to. I forget the name of the guy in 50 shades and I haven't read or watched it, but from the bit I know, I'm guessing at least some of it would overlap with what gets called toxic. I do know it sold a lot of copies mostly to women.

MensHour · 2025-06-12T19:28:42+00:00

This goes back to women’s liberation, now retrospectively called 2nd wave feminism. They started with the Marxist Feminist idea that women are oppressed by men. Everything was men’s fault even when we hadn’t done anything. The bias to DV and partner murders being male on female. It not only ignores gay or lesbian violence but women’s increasing violence.

There’s also gamma bias as documented by the Men’s Psychology Network in the UK. Man dies - played down - maybe even his fault or he deserved it. Woman dies - front page - news at ten - she’s a total victim.

Feminists see nothing good about masculinity or bad about femininity when the truth is we’re all part of the human race.

Also if you want to look at women’s violence have a look at the abortion statistics and tell me women are only caring and never selfish.

rabel111 · 2025-06-13T03:29:29+00:00

Toxic masculinity is feminist hate speech. Anyone who suggests it is a genuine term, an academic term or a misunderstood term, is just a sexist pig.

The is no such thing as toxic masculinity. But its use is a handy way to identify feminists who hate men and boys.

AXL6 · 2025-06-12T17:38:00+00:00

How come they never label taliban as Toxic masculinity ?

FriendlyNeighburrito · 2025-06-12T17:42:46+00:00

I think masculinity is whatever a man thinks or decides it is. It is our term.

gaut80 · 2025-06-12T23:43:18+00:00

If all masculinity is toxic then the problem is not masculinity, it's the people speaking of it.

CryHavoc3000 · 2025-06-12T19:11:41+00:00

No, only Man-Haters think Masculinity is Toxic

Living_Accountant_67 · 2025-06-12T19:05:49+00:00

in this gen, the only toxic thing is modern feminism, the female narcissism and delusion. The toxic femininity.

theoutbacklp · 2025-06-12T21:18:56+00:00

It gets used like a catch-all explanation for anything negative involving men: Longer prison sentences, dangerous jobs, higher suicide rates. And instead of acknowledging systemic problems or offering real support, the answer is just toxic masculinity. It’s like saying men are responsible for their own suffering because of how they’ve been socialised, without looking at how society actually treats them. And if a man is the victim of violence? Still somehow his fault because another man’s toxicity did it.

sre01 · 2025-06-12T22:56:25+00:00

Don't engage on the enemies terms. It's a shifting term that changes depending on what they want to say. Don't acknowledge it, don't use it, don't allow it to be used against you.

neutralityparty · 2025-06-12T22:57:22+00:00

It's fake news. Feminist made because they are losing the narrative.

ThrowALifeline89 · 2025-06-13T07:57:49+00:00

Basically it is a made up set of rules that boys and men are expected to follow. If you refuse to do so society will punish you for it. Standing up to it is difficult but is is the right thing to do. These rules do not exist to help you; they exist to keep you in line.

phrunk7 · 2025-06-12T20:05:15+00:00

Toxic masculinity is an oxymoron.

shingaladaz · 2025-06-12T20:17:32+00:00

It’s just masculinity. Society has made it toxic.

Is it toxic for a male lion to have a multiple females in the pride and is it toxic for them to mate with them all? It it toxic for those males to defend their pride through combat?

Switched to humans and these behaviours are considered toxic masculinity.

Humans are too intelligent for their own instincts and have developed a society that doesn’t match them.

the_virginwhore · 2025-06-12T23:28:18+00:00

No, it isn’t always toxic at all! That’s why “toxic” has to be added as a modifier in the first place—if it was always toxic, it would just be called masculinity.

Toxic masculinity specifically refers to those aspects that cause harm. Most of masculinity is good! But some facets of modern masculinity contribute to the male suicide epidemic, the loneliness epidemic, the male crime rate, and just… general unhappiness amongst men. Toxicity poisons society and men themselves.

Healthy masculinity is the alternative, and you don’t hear that phrase as often because it’s really only used in contrast to toxic masculinity. Most of the time, healthy masculinity is just called masculinity. Because that’s what most of masculinity is.

RbugMZ · 2025-06-13T06:35:35+00:00

No, it's not always toxic. From a feminist perspective, "toxic masculinity" doesn't mean "all masculinity = bad"; it's referring to certain harmful gender norms. I guess there are some feminists who use it to mean that masculinity is bad, but that's incorrect and they're either misinformed or purposely being hostile or something.

Examples of toxic masculinity (or, to put it in better terms "societal gender norms that harm men"):

-emotional repression ("man up", "real men/boys don't cry"): leads to mental health issues, negatively impacts emotional development, and makes it difficult to form healthy relationships

-normalization of violence/aggression as part of manhood

-being praised for or having their worth determined by number of sexual partners

-homophobia, policing gender expression, viewing "feminine" traits as negative (men/boys being bullied for liking "girly" things like dance, make-up, the color pink, etc.)

-misogyny: hatred of women, belief in control or dominance over women, views that women are beneath men, perpetuating harmful stereotypes about women

-asking for physical/emotional help = weakness

-pressure to be overly competitive or dominant, viewing collaboration or taking a non-leadership role as unmanly/weak

-pressure to be the sole or primary provider

It's not that these things are inherent to men or masculinity, it's that society places these expectations on them and it leads to unhealthy outcomes.

KochiraJin · 2025-06-13T07:05:07+00:00

Masculinity is simply the things we associate with men. It includes both the physical and behavioral. It's the inevitable result of our ability to recognize patterns. Its really not a problem unless you forget that outliers and exceptions exist or want everyone to conform to your idea of it.

Hulu_laka · 2025-06-13T09:15:35+00:00

its just a made up term to justify for aggressive and controlling behavior. Most people who use that term dont even know what that actually is. For them if it is against their likings, its toxic.

FujoshiDork · 2025-06-13T19:14:55+00:00

Toxic masculinity is when you think crying or showing emotions means you're less of a man. Not being a beefy chad

Snoo71180 · 2025-06-15T13:56:27+00:00

I asked this exact question and it was taken down given the large contingent of people on Reddit who love using that phrase, or words like incel when they are in no way applicable. Toxic masculinity is a term quite a few women use when they have an issue with a man for various reasons.

I also never received 1 response to a question I asked which was "If so many men are apparently toxically masculine what is "admirable masculinity"? Crickets......meaning that thread was loaded with people who had no love for anything masculine to.the point that not one person could say anything positive about masculinity.

3 women I opened a door for at a restaurant, as common courtesy calls for, walked by me and said "We didn't need your help or your toxic masculinity"? I laughed hysterically as a bunch of people heard it and in no way was that toxic. I could've slammed the door in their faces then maybe that would've been rude......still not toxic lol. It was a great example of misandry in person

Reasonable-Recipe352 · 2025-07-01T20:48:54+00:00

Toxic masculinity is the ideal that men should be aggressive, dominant, and emotionally cold(especially towards other men)

musicnote22 · 2025-06-12T21:08:33+00:00

Toxic masculinity is when someone has toxic mannerisms tied to the fact that they’re a man. Like a dad shutting down his daughters dreams because he deems it unladylike, or assuming he’s entitled to a woman’s body simply because he’s a man (rape) or believing he knows more than a woman entirely based off the fact she’s a woman, like a boy trying to lecture a scientist about science thinking he knows more simply because he’s a boy. Not all masculinity is toxic, but it goes hand in hand with toxic feminism which is usually just misandry

Femi_gnatzee_hunter · 2025-06-12T20:30:37+00:00

Yes, masculinity is toxic, but only to men themselves, not women.

Masculinity is an unreachable standard that is set for men only, it orders men to serve women's every whim, slave away at work, and die in war. It is an anti male concept that is meant to make men slaves.

However, when feminists say "toxic masculinity", they mean it as an attack on ALL men, and also they falsely frame the issue by presenting "positive masculinity" as the solution, which is the same slave collar as normal masculinity, only repainted.

erik_reeds · 2025-06-12T17:57:29+00:00

i don't know how it wouldn't be true based on how it's academically defined. the funny thing is that i see posts on here complaining on basically a daily basis about things that can more or less be explained by its effects, yet people are really insecure about seeing the word "toxic" in front of something they seem is always positive

anywho masculinity for me is about being empathetic and silly and doing impractical things for one's own reasons, but i reckon everyone has their own definitions

TearsOfGalaxy · 2025-06-12T17:27:44+00:00

Unfortunately, I see toxic masculinity in 98% of men. What they believe and do stems solely from culture and patriarchy. They call all of this biology, the thoughts they have about testosterone are very harmful and lead to violence

Title	Toxic masculinity
Author	Tumtitums
Upvotes	48
Comments	91
Date	June 12, 2025 5:03 PM UTC (1 year ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/MensRights
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/MensRights/comments/1l9rsgb/toxic_masculinity/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/MensRights/toxic-masculinity.1554585 https://theredarchive.com/post/1554585

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