Toxic Masculinity

     Toxic masculinity is when the age old idea of what it means to be masculine becomes harmful. The documentary Tough Guise 2 as well as the articles we read attempt to dive deeper into the extent of how we are affected by this ideology. People are finally questioning why boys are often much more violent than girls and more likely to be involved in instances such as school shootings. The article “The Boys are Not All Right” seems to be about the concept of toxic masculinity but could also be about how men are trapped in an outdated model of what it means to  “be a man” where many are struggling to find their identity. Boys are raised with the idea that they must always be strong and manly which causes them to hide their emotions and bottle them up inside. Whilst enduring the rough parts of childhood such as bullying they don't have anyone to help guide them through their heavy emotions. Recently, there has been a conversation about how boys should be more vulnerable with their emotions and have an opportunity to let this  “masculine“ guard down. However, many men don't feel comfortable with this new expectation and sudden change in what is acceptable for how a man should act. They feel as if their voice has been completely lost in the conversation and they have become an afterthought. I think there is an obvious problem with the way in which boys are treated but it is also not reasonable to expect a total change in all men tomorrow. Society must work together to help boys have a smoother transition into adulthood and finding themselves which will help us to avoid unnecessary violence.