Toxic Masculinity: How Can We Stop This?

By: Daniel Bejan, Briana Naranjo, and Savannah Parker

Toxic Masculinity has been around for years. Due to the stereotypes men face in society, many are brought down and can’t express themselves. Toxic masculinity is what men are taught to believe is “manly.” An example of this is that you can not act “feminine.” Other examples are, they are told to “act tough,”  “be macho,” “don’t cry, you look like a girl.” For many boys/men, this has been the stereotype ever since they were born. Many people believe that toxic masculinity should not exist and that now people are allowed to express themselves no matter what gender they identify as. Others, on the other hand, don’t have the same opinion since for years men had always been the “manly” ones. 

Over the years, the media has had its opinions on toxic masculinity. One big controversy that happened in 2020 was Harry Styles on the cover of Vogue Magazine. Harry Styles was the first-ever male to wear a couture gown on the cover of Vogue. This gown sparked tremendous controversy in the media. Many Harry Styles fans and other celebrities stood up to the hate Harry was receiving. Candace Owens, an American conservative author and political activist had much to say about Harry. Harry Styles replied to her tweet by posting on Instagram with the caption “Bring back manly men''.  

Another opinion that went viral was Logan Paul’s. Logan Paul is a YouTuber, actor, and boxer and said this in a podcast with his friends:

Logan: What is 'manly' to you? What does it mean? Is 'manly' being comfortable in your own skin, and being comfortable with who you are, regardless of what people think about what you're wearing?

George: I think it's great for people to try new things, and I think it's great for people not to judge other people. 

Logan: Just like you are now?

Many people sided with Logan Paul, some saying “for once Logan Paul is actually right”. This is only one of the many situations that occur in the media. 

In the 19th century, men wore heels and dresses. In the past wearing skirts was a big thing. Many ancient costumes were based on skirts because they were easy to construct and this created huge freedom for people in the 19th century. One example of people wearing skirts in the 19th century were the soldiers of the Roman Empire, they had to wear short skirts. As the years began to go by, people began to judged men for wearing skirts and heels. The aforementioned shouldn't be happening in our society because it is faulty and rude.

 

Recently we've given out a survey based on this topic. Some of the questions asked were, “what do you think toxic masculinity is? Or, Is it a good or bad thing?” But the one question that counted the most stated, “opinions on toxic masculinity?” Many people answered with similar responses, such as “it prevents men from expressing themselves.” Followed by “it’s just being generally disrespectful to anyone.” Based on the responses 60/64 people believe toxic masculinity is a bad thing. One response that really stood out states,

“There is no reason for a man or boy to have to dress more "masculine" because someone else wants them to. If they feel comfortable enough with those clothes on their body to wear them they shouldn't be ashamed or said to change because of it. If they want to wear something that's more ‘feminine’ then they can. There shouldn't be any gender on clothes or if a guy wants to act more ‘feminine’ (which I believe also shouldn't be gendered) it's fine.”

On the other hand, another student had a different approach to the topic, “If you act like a woman, then how does that make you a man.” Responses like these really stood out to us. It showed how different students in our grade had different opinions on the topic, even if the majority of students believe that toxic masculinity is harmful.