Boys and men from generation Z are more likely than older baby boomers to believe that feminism has done more harm than good, according to research that shows a “real risk of fractious division among this coming generation”.
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On feminism, 16% of gen Z males felt it had done more harm than good. Among over-60s the figure was 13%.
The figures emerged from Ipsos polling for King’s College London’s Policy Institute and the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership. The research also found that 37% of men aged 16 to 29 consider “toxic masculinity” an unhelpful phrase, roughly double the number of young women who don’t like it.
“This is a new and unusual generational pattern,” said Prof Bobby Duffy, director of the Policy Institute. “Normally, it tends to be the case that younger generations are consistently more comfortable with emerging social norms, as they grew up with these as a natural part of their lives.”
Link to study: https://www.kcl.ac.uk/news/masculinity-and-womens-equality-study-finds-emerging-gender-divide-in-young-peoples-attitudes
This is exactly why it’s not a helpful term. We are all suffering from it, all genders alike but in different ways.
The phenomenon referred to as toxic masculinity is a trait of society, not individuals. It’s the sum of all destructive societal expectations placed on men, the whole “don’t cry, repress your feelings, you must be the strong one” thing. It causes men to be emotionally repressed and potentially violent or self-destructive, and also causes society to associate leadership and strength with men alone, contributing to a glass ceiling effect for other genders.
A lot of people hear “toxic masculinity” and associate it with “men bad”, that’s why it’s not as constructive a term as it could be.
“A lot of people hear “toxic masculinity” and associate it with “men bad”, that’s why it’s not as constructive a term as it could be.”
Specifically, people have been told that it means masculinity is toxic rather than a specific type of masculinity.
It sits in the same realm as “mansplaining” to me. There’s an actual academic background behind it that’s largely fair and reasonable, but I mostly see it misused as a way to attack men
YES! Mansplaining isn’t just a man explaining things.