How Does Toxic Masculinity Affect Mental Health?

Toxic Masculinity is a label commonly used to refer to the aggressive and negative aspects of masculine traits, which were deemed a good thing to have or to be in the bygone era. This term has broadened over time and is now used in everyday speech as well as academia.

Frequent use of the term toxic masculinity can lead to its misinterpretation by some people as to its meaning and cause even more misunderstanding. The reason for this is the complexity behind the underlying notion of “traditional” masculinity. It can be difficult for some people to change their age old archaic thinking and think beyond the negative aspects of the olden times and outdated male values. To change such outdated thinking of what is supposed to be masculine traits or “manliness,” one needs have complete understanding of the meaning of toxic masculinity and why it still remains.

The meaning of toxic masculinity is based on the idea of olden days’ masculinity traits, which consisted of entitlement, hyper-competitiveness and aggression. However, the meaning of toxic masculinity has evolved and changed over the past years. According to a study, definition of toxic masculinity is the “the constellation of socially regressive [masculine] traits that serve to foster domination, the devaluation of women, homophobia and wanton violence.”

However, in today’s society the term toxic masculinity is often used to describe over the top masculine characteristics that have been glorified and accepted by various cultures. This harmful definition of masculinity places considerable importance on the idea of “manliness” based upon: strength, sexual virility, dominance, self-sufficiency and lack of emotion. If a man possesses this particular set of characteristics, then he is thought to be “manly,” in the olden times that is. Sadly, there are some people in today’s time who still go by this thinking. According to these ancient toxic masculine values, any man who does not have these above traits in sufficient quantity is not a “real man.”

Overemphasis of these outdated characteristics can cause disrupting imbalances in a person who is trying to match up to these expectations. Some of the examples of toxic masculine values are: entitlement, aggression, suppressing emotions/showing no emotion; decreased empathy; sexual aggression/control; isolation; hyper-competitiveness; dominating or overbearing; a tendency for glorifying violence and sexism and chauvinism.

A good example of this is if a man shows his emotional side, then someone tells him to “man up;” and hide his emotions making it sound that a man who is displaying his vulnerability or emotions is “unmanly.”

One more common example is the phrase used “boys will be boys,” which supports traits such as aggressiveness or carelessness and this causes damage to young boys’ behavior. Instead, young men should be taught about responsible behavior, politeness, how to be a gentleman and the importance of owning up to ones’ mistakes does not make them any less of a man.

These types of expressions give a good idea of what the society and the different cultures have traditionally seen in males. However, it is high time for a much needed change in these obsolete views, which cause a lot of harm by embellishing this ridiculous notion of masculinity resulting in toxic and harmful attitude regarding such behaviors.

In today’s society, the gender roles and the perception of masculinity is thought to be an amalgamation of behaviors that are dictated by different factors, such as: religion, age, sexuality, race, culture and class.

So, the definition of masculinity can be taken in various forms. Something which is seen as masculine by a particular society or subculture can be rejected by others, which means that the idea of what constitutes masculinity is fluid now instead of the old age rigid set of rules.

The origin of the phrase “toxic masculinity” was in the 1980s during the mythopoetic men’s movement, which was founded by men for men, with the intention of giving men an outlet for their expression of what was deemed as “manliness.” There were some groups of men who felt they could not express these old age traditionally masculine behaviors in today’s society, which viewed these behaviors as damaging. So, they started this movement where its members believed that if they are not able to act on these toxic manly characteristics, then it could ultimately manifest as aggression or chauvinism towards women and society.

The definition of toxic masculinity, which was defined by the mythopoetic men’s movement, was unwelcomed by many as it suggested that being a man or masculinity has only one form and this simply is not the case.

The old traditional masculine values were originated thousands of years ago, when the early humans used a particular trait, such as strength to take charge or to exert dominance and to be “manly.”

The successful men in the olden era were thought to be those who could hunt and fight and along with this, the desirable traits in a man included ruthlessness, aggression along with physical strength. These types of toxic thinking and behaviors have stayed put for centuries; and all along the history the dominant male rulers have come into power by defeating others.

This toxic pattern started to change after the 1980s and 1990s when this ancient perception of male behaviors became incompatible with the idea of the new age society. Despite the change in the views of the contemporary society in defining of male behaviors, still there are certain subcultures and groups of people who still follow these “expected norms” of masculine traits.

This results in masculinity turning into “toxic.” It is this need for men to behave in a certain way as dictated by an ideology that has long become obsolete and harmful. A man who believes in these old age norms and who doesn’t meet these over the top masculine traits feels insecure when it comes to his masculinity and this results in either masculine traits exaggeration or lashing out as a way of compensating of what they think they are lacking and re-establishing their “manliness.” This lashing out in particular is what causes dangerous behavior, to the surrounding people and to the man himself.

The term toxic masculinity is used by some people to refer to all the so called masculine traits; whereas, for some people this term is used by them as a way to put down the entire male gender itself. Looking from a sensible standpoint, it can be safely said that masculinity is not toxic in itself. What is perceived to be as masculine can easily consist of balanced healthy traits and a man can adopt them or have them and live happily within society.

Toxic masculinity is considered dangerous as it restricts the growth of man and also the meaning of a man or what is constituted to be “manly.” This results in conflict within the person himself and his surroundings.

Toxic masculinity also puts lot of stress on the man who is not able to meet these so called manly traits. The man thinks that he will only get appreciation and acceptance by the society if he meets these ridiculous masculine traits.

If the toxic masculinity is not controlled, then the behaviors of the boy or the man can spiral out of control and cause many problems which include: domestic violence; bullying; substance abuse; discipline problems at school or work place; psychological trauma; academic challenges; sexual assault; risky behaviors; jail/ prison time; suicide and lack of genuine connections and friendships.

There are some theories which say that having toxic masculinity can affect a person’s physical health too. Toxic masculinity also prevents a man from seeking out help for any potential health problems, as he thinks that the world will think him as a needy and inadequate person and seeking help doesn’t fit into the man’s and the society’s idea of being “masculine” or “manly” and he will be considered as “less of a man.”

The mental health of the man is greatly affected by toxic masculinity when he cannot or does not meet these so call manly characteristics and feels a lot of pressure to do so. When a man tries to adhere to these over the top masculine traits then it causes lot of mental stress. Boys and men who are “forced” to adopt these so called manly traits tend to suffer from adverse effects, such as: stress; depression; issues with body image; substance abuse and poor social skills.

Additionally, when suffering from these mental health issues, Toxic masculinity also encompasses of the fact that a man who seeks help or talk about his feelings and emotions is considered to be unmanly or needy. This increases the risk of worsening mental health problems when a man does not seek professional help for it or even talk with their family and friends.

Expectations from sexual partners, family, religious identities and societal pressures cause lot of strain on men who are struggling with their masculine identity. There are some religious, political and social groups who do give certain guidelines for a healthy type of masculinity; however, it is always best if a man sticks to their own personality and his definition of what is masculine and follow what he is comfortable with as long as it is not harmful to him and others.

The modern definition of masculine or being male compromises of various human experiences, such as: kindness; interdependence; softness; cooperation; vulnerability and expressing different emotions without any hesitation. However, it does not necessarily means that one has to shun every traditional masculine trait. Some of the better conventional masculine characteristics, such as adventure, strength are helpful for some men in defining their own masculinity.

One should bear in mind that these particular traits are not the only ones that completely define masculinity, but are actually a small part or a segment of a man’s personality and identity.

One more thing to remember is masculinity is not a thing, which can be instilled in a person by any society or any set standards or any religious group etc. Every boy and man should feel liberated enough to define their own identity and whatever they choose to perceive as masculine.

This is why it is important to integrate and expand these new age concepts into a person’s mindset with regards to their idea of masculinity. This will help them understand better and accept themselves as well as others for who they are without the additional baggage of health problems.

Changing or eliminating toxic masculinity does not occur overnight. This is a gradual change, but the more the society starts to define their own definition of masculinity and also embrace various human experiences in definition, it will hopefully bring greater changes on a larger scale.

Personally, it can be easy enough for an individual man to read and educate himself regarding changing his perception towards masculinity, but one should always encourage others too, to embrace this change. One step toward this could be as simple as encouraging a family member or a friend to share their feelings or emotions regarding toxic masculinity without any criticism or judgment. Doing this is taking one step in the right direction towards a healthy mindset where it comes to being a man and gender roles. Questioning deliberately and working against these traditional masculine traits also helps the individual himself and the people around him to redefine what constitutes masculinity or to be a man. It is important to change the obsolete and potentially harmful thinking pattern created by toxic masculinity in the bygone era.

Toxic masculinity is based on the exaggerated visions of the archaic masculine traits, which are now completely ludicrous in today’s modern era. These old age ideas puts stress on the man and forces people to accept a limited view of what it means to be manly or masculine and this can be very dangerous for those boys or men who cannot match up to these supposed manly standards.

Some men or boys can lash out when they are unable to meet these “masculine” standards resulting in dangerous or questionable behaviors.

For this reason it is important to re-define the term masculinity and what it means to be manly. One should completely discard the harmful traits of toxic masculinity and accept only which are healthy and beneficial to the man and the surrounding people. Every man should work towards finding their own version of manliness and embrace it and not let the society pressure him to think otherwise or to be someone else. The healthy definition of being a MAN is actually to be a GENTLEMAN and not a caveman as described by the age old version of male characteristics.

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