toxic masculinity

[ tok-sik mas-kyuh-lin-i-tee ]

noun

1. a cultural concept of manliness that glorifies stoicism, strength, virility, and dominance, and that is socially maladaptive or harmful to mental health:

   Men and women both suffer when toxic masculinity perpetuates expectations that are restrictive and traumatizing.

Word History and Origins

Origin of toxic masculinity¹

First recorded in 1985–90

Example Sentences

A politics that trades incessantly on disdaining “white male” this and that and on hyping “toxic masculinity” is as self-defeating as a purportedly “anti-racist” politics that ends up hyping racial identity itself.

From Salon

His monologues resound with right-wing rants and epitomize toxic masculinity in a character he calls Alpha Male.

From Los Angeles Times

We can all join hands and tell the guardians of toxic masculinity to kiss our collective rear end.

From Salon

A few overarching factors likely helped: widespread post-pandemic malaise, popular dissatisfaction with Joe Biden’s soft-spoken presidency, and an animated double-down on toxic masculinity, right as women en masse were rising up against the Dobbs-era rollback of reproductive rights.

From Slate

The only "solution" Trump offers is permission to act out toxic masculinity "in the most belligerent way possible."

From Salon