Imagine being a boy today . The average boy is behind girls at every level of education. Boys are more likely to have their schoolwork impacted by ADHD and Autism Spectrum Disorders. They are 16 times more likely than girls to find school difficult due to being colour blind. Boys are more likely

As I psychologist, I’m concerned about mental health, especially the mental health of men and boys because it’s been overlooked for so long. Because there was so little interest in how much the negative discourse around masculinity impacts boys, my colleagues and I ran a survey. We found that around 85% of respondents thought the term ‘toxic masculinity’ is insulting, and probably harmful to boys.

My latest research has just been published. It assessed the views of over 4000 men in the UK and Germany, and found that thinking masculinity is bad for your behaviour is linked to having worse mental wellbeing. [… And] positive views of masculinity are linked to better mental wellbeing.

This is why we oppose the usage of the term toxic masculinity and any negative generalizations of men as a gender.

  • Dienervent@kbin.social
    1·
    1 year ago

    While it’s true that the term was coined during men’s movements of the 80s/90s, it had a different contextual meaning then: more like a counterfeit male code to be contrasted with the idea of a true “deep” masculinity.

    This is true, but also I think these guys really hated the Arnold Schwarzenegger types. Even if they had a healthier idea of masculinity that they wanted to promote. It’s possible that the term itself was born out of hatred.

    Generally, if someone’s telling me that something is “toxic”, I just assume that they’re trying to sell me something that I really shouldn’t buy unless I have some serious proof to the contrary.