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In talks about toxic masculinity, the only alternative that is given is “don’t be toxic.” Very rarely does anyone define what a positive, healthy, masculine trait is. Anytime someone attempts to define a masculine trait, such traits are just said to be gender-neutral.
Eventually, it comes to the point where the only “uniquely masculine traits” are negative, and that masculinity itself becomes rejected like the baby being thrown out with the bathwater. Instead of trying to simply get rid of toxic masculinity, we need to provide an alternative.
If we want to actually eliminate toxic masculinity, we need to actually come up with a definition of healthy masculinity that isn’t just femininity. We need to point out thatjust as there are positive traits which are nigh-exclusively feminine, there are positive masculine ones.
I posit a challenge to everyone reading this thread, that they should identify what a healthily masculine male should be in terms of actual definitive statements as to what/who they are rather than in regards to what/who they aren’t.
