Toxic Masculinity

M. Whitehead Stephen

Description

Humankind is at the tipping point in its greatest-ever revolution - a revolution in gender relationships, gender identities and gender power. Women are confidently on the rise while men and their behaviours are under scrutiny like never before. At the core of this historic shift lies 'toxic masculinity'. You'll have heard the term, but do you know what it means? Where does TM come from? Who has it? How does one catch the TM virus? What does it look like? What does it mean for women, love and relationships? Is it the only masculinity out there? And, most importantly, how can we get rid of it? This fascinating, insightful and engaging book provides all the answers while exploring the most pressing issue of the 21st century. Informed by the author's 30 years of research into men and masculinities and the latest global studies, this book is the definitive examination of modern man and a must read for anyone concerned with the future of men, gender and sexual relationships.

Sujets

• Sociologie, société et politique
• Gender studies

Informations

• Publié par: Andrews UK
• Date de parution: 29 avril 2021
• Nombre de lectures: 3
• EAN13: 9781789821895
• Langue: English

Extrait

Toxic Masculinity
Curing the Virus: Making Men, Smarter, Healthier, Safer
Stephen M Whitehead




Published in 2021 by
AG Books
www.agbooks.co.uk
Digital edition converted and distributed by
Andrews UK Limited
www.andrewsuk.com
Copyright © 2021 Stephen M Whitehead
The right of Stephen M Whitehead to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without express prior written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted except with express prior written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright Act 1956 (as amended). Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damage.
The views and opinions expressed herein belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect those of AG Books or Andrews UK Limited.




For Gavin, Jay and Robert



Acknowledgements
So many individuals have been a positive part of my own masculinities journey that it would be impossible to list them all, though I acknowledge each of you now. Some of you are mentioned in the text, most are not. I owe every one of you a debt of gratitude.
As for this book, I am very grateful to the following for their comments, suggestions and for taking time to read early drafts and for their reviews of the book: Denry Machin, Sigrid Twibell, Roy Moodley, Carlton Rounds, Patrick Lee, Jing Yi Tan, Caroline Whitehead, Steve Cropper, and Gabriela Corbera. Thanks to Sheila French and Anissa Talahite for contributing to the original idea for a book on modern masculinity and the rise of women.
Finally, my thanks to Eva Pascal and Adam Dedman for the conversations we had over a decade ago during which for me at least, the concept of ‘toxic masculinity’ first got named and discussed.



Foreword
This book began its genesis many decades ago, long before I had any inclination to study, write, and question the gender norms which existed in my life from birth onwards. It has taken shape over seven decades, it is still taking shape though at some point one has to stop thinking, reflecting and start writing. Well, I have to.
I started writing Toxic Masculinity in the autumn of 2018 and the ebook version was subsequently published by AG in November 2019. This paperback version was published nearly 18 months later and for the most part is identical to the ebook version. In which case, you’ll notice some important and relevant global events are not referred to or examined: the global covid-19 pandemic and the appalling responses to this crisis by many male politicians; the 2020 US Presidential election and the attempt to deny the democratic result; the George Floyd murder (USA); the global Black Lives Matter protests; the attack on the US Capitol by Trump supporters; the Sarah Everard murder (UK); the Boulder, Colorado shootings (USA); the first incel terrorist charge filed in Canada; and the rise in racist attacks and hate crimes against Asians, exemplified by the shootings in Atlanta, (USA) in March 2021.
That is one of the problems with toxic masculinity – it keeps on going, inflicting more pain. Every day, every week, every month, the deluge of male hate, violence, and anger continues more or less unabated.
At time of writing this Foreword, yet another example of Toxic Masculinity is surfacing and impacting global consciousness, especially in the UK. That is the overwhelming evidence of a ‘rape culture’ in UK schools, with many thousands of reports of sexual harassment, abuse and assault of female pupils posted on the www.everyonesinvited.uk website.
We seem to be living through an age of disillusionment and while that is sad maybe it is inevitable, if not essential. We have to let go of our myths and illusions and face reality if we are to mature as a global society and as individuals. Unfortunately, when it comes to confronting the toxic masculine culture at large in our schools, the illusion we have to let go of is the innocence of our children. The next generation of male rapists, murderers, abusers, torturers are in our schools right now. And they are already practicing for being toxic men. Do we recognise the problem? Are we happy with this situation? What are we going to do about it?
We cannot blame the children. We adults must take responsibility for the continuation or erasure of toxic masculinity in our lives, in our communities, in our world. No one is going to do this for us. We must act and do so now. This book is merely adding to the growing chorus for change as well as indicating where and how that change should come about if we are to progress the civilising process referred to in these pages.
But there is also evidence of progressive masculine values taking deeper root in society – not all men are a problem indeed a growing number are very much part of the solution and active in resisting toxic masculine values. And as for collapsed masculinity, introduced and examined in this book, even the Chinese government is now forced to recognise it as a distinct masculine identity. Though the Chinese government’s somewhat predictable response is to see the emergence of more ‘feminine Chinese males’ as a big problem and one to be dealt with by ‘developing more manly values in schools’. Will China’s male leaders succeed in replacing collapsed masculinity with toxic masculinity in their young men? One would hope not, though from a sociological perspective it will be fascinating to see them try.
Stephen Whitehead
April 2021



Introduction
Teach men to be peaceful and the world will follow
I have been writing about men and masculinities for 30 years. This is my twelfth book. Each book has been part of an ongoing research not only into men but also the theories and dynamics of gender identity. Throughout these decades I have also been studying myself.
From the start of my journey into men and masculinities I realised that no man can or should venture into this field unless he has first declared himself to be a (pro)feminist. That is, he is fully aligned with the central tenets of feminism. Why? Because gender identity work is not apolitical. It is fundamentally about power. Gender is not now and never has been, neutral. And nor is sexuality. This is not a biological issue, it is a social one. Therefore, if you are a straight man and you wish to help change the traditional gender order, challenging and overturning hegemonic masculine values, attitudes, practices, then do so from a feminist standpoint. Any other standpoint means you are merely contributing to the problem.
At the same time, (pro)feminist men are not here to colonise feminism. We are here to strengthen it. And the best way to do so is to first recognise our relationship to that which we are investigating.
This is not me going off into some anxious hand-wringing guilt trip, it is simply me noting the truth of what I write about. Males are not born destined to be a problem. But many millions become a problem because of their sense of masculinity and how it manifests in actions and attitudes, not least towards women. No man can claim total innocence in this. We are all culpable to some degree.
But after three decades of research and writing, I can now see positive change on the horizon. This is signalled in the rising power of women and in the growing critique and discussion about men and masculinities. Imagine humankind to be a person taken to hospital with a long-term critical illness. The diagnosis must first identify and name the problem before it can set about treating it. That is where humankind is at right now. It has finally named the problem: toxic masculinity.
This stage of naming toxic masculinity engenders voices from all sides, of all genders and sexualities, to cry “foul” or “no more”. There is a lot of ‘calling out’ and no doubt there is a lot more calling out to come. But this definitely needs to happen before we can get to the next stage in this process, which is to help males become healthier, smarter and safer.
It is, therefore, a noisy time to be writing about men. Which is in marked contrast to the deafening silence which surrounded the critical study of men back when I began my research, 30 years ago.
A benefit of ageing is that it allows one to acquire a widening perspective. I can recall the types of masculinity and femininity dominant in the UK in the 1950s, when I was a young boy. How times change. We thought the 1960s were the epicentre of a social revolution. Little did we realise, that decade merely signalled what was to come. If the sixties were about a male awakening, then the first two decades of the 21st century have seen a global female awakening. A sub-text throughout this book is this change in women; in their attitudes, expectations, confidence and sense of independence. And when we talk of independent women, what we really mean is women independent from men. This is without doubt the greatest social and political revolution ever to impact humankind. Humans have been around in some form or another for a very long time, but only now are we seeing the female of the species stand up and demand that men change. Only now are we seeing women, in every country, unite in opposition to male power, male violence, male aggression, masculinist assumptions of superiority. Alongside this are the millions of young women who do not assume the label ‘feminist’ but who nevertheless are making feminist decisions; e.g. choosing whether or not to get married, have children, get divorced, live