Is Masculinity Really Toxic?
I
By Wallace G. Smith
t’s a confusing time to be a boy. Some tell us that the word “boy” is a nonsense word—just one small dot on a continuous spectrum of “gender” choices. Others tell us that “boy” is a well-defined word, but that it can apply to those of either sex, male or female, depending on how they feel or choose to “identify.” And then there are those who declare that the collection of tendencies that often characterize boys and men—what many call “masculine traits”—are potential sources of harm, both to themselves and to those around them. Such people would define these personality traits and gender-based predispositions as “toxic” characteristics to be overcome. In fact, some claim that such masculine traits risk causing mental disorders, and that societal intervention is necessary at the earliest stages of life to ensure that boys avoid embracing these traits as ideals, lest they bring permanent harm to their psyches and become violent abusers of those around them.
The confusion caused by all of this extends beyond boys. It is a confusing time for men, in general, and for the girls and women in their lives who love them. Is masculinity—the collection of traits commonly and traditionally associated with men—a source of mental illness? Is masculinity toxic? How would we know? There is clarity to be found on this issue, but not among many considered to be “experts.” Masculinity as Mental Illness Earlier this year, the American Psychological Association (APA) released an attention-getting new publication: Guidelines for Psychological Practice with Boys and Men. In it, the APA vaguely describes “a particular constellation of standards that have held sway over large segments of the population, including: anti-femininity, achievement, eschewal of the appearance of weakness, and adventure, risk, and violence. These have been collectively referred to as traditional masculinity ideology” (pp. 2–3).
May-June 2019 | Tomorrow’s World 5
