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THREAD: Men, Masks, How the Man Box is Getting Us Killed -- Man box culture, our domination-based culture of masculinity, is a bullying hierarchical pecking order. Boys and men maintain their status by taking abuse from those above them and dishing it out to those below /1
Paul Kivel conceptualized the "Act Like a Man Box" in the early 1980's, by asking high school boys what the rules were for being a man.
* Hide all emotions
* Treat women as less
* Be tough, never admit self doubt, fear
* Police and bully other boys who don't conform /2
* Hide all emotions
* Treat women as less
* Be tough, never admit self doubt, fear
* Police and bully other boys who don't conform /2
There are more rules, but these are central during a pandemic. Because man box culture is domination-based, it relies on constant internal policing and bullying to insure conformity from men inside and outside the man box. All boys and men know they are being watched/policed. /3
The results for failing to conform to man box masculinity be be as small as micro aggressive jokes, "What are you, a girly man? Haha!" up to and including violence and murder. But the policing in male circles, even among long time friends, is constant. /4
This leaves men more concerned about having their masculinity policed then they are about caring for the people in their communities, a degree of social disconnection fostered by our emphasis on individualism, going it alone and so on. "Women do care giving, men are tough." /5
Men who refuse to wear masks to protect us and themselves collectively from the spread of Covid-19, have been trained from infancy to perform "toughness", or face immediate bullying and policing from other men who seek to move up past them the domination hierarchy. /6
Narrow definitions of masculinity in man box culture are designed to police conformity in men. Policing conformity is how power moves to the top of any rigid hierarchy. Those on top like Trump don't care about the well being of those below them. That's how they got to the top. /7
So, men in man box culture will not and can not wear masks during a pandemic because it:
a) Makes them vulnerable to loss of dominance status
b) Implies caring about others (feminine trait)
c) Signals a willingness to set individualism aside /8
a) Makes them vulnerable to loss of dominance status
b) Implies caring about others (feminine trait)
c) Signals a willingness to set individualism aside /8
Covid-19 has shown a spotlight on our failings across race, class, gender, politics, and society. Female leaders, both internationally and in the US, from governors to mayors, etc, have kept their constituents much safer during the Covid-19 pandemic. https://www.forbes.com/sites/camianderson1/2020/04/19/why-do-women-make-such-good-leaders-during-covid-19/#58d9d84542fc /9
Our bullying culture of man box masculinity is proving a disaster when illuminated in the Covid spotlight. Shown this clear model of dysfunction, we must look at how domination masculinity has undercut every facet of our public and private lives in equally damaging ways. /10
I do not condemn masculinity. It is beautiful. I condemn our dominant MAN BOX CULTURE, which bullies and polices men to contort ourselves to fit a narrow, abusive version of masculinity, when we could instead find what fits for us on the vast human spectrum of musculinities. /11
Domination based man box masculinity, the “I got mine, now you get yours” macho, hyper individualizing view of manhood underpins predatory capitalism, environmental destruction, white nationalism, class and race violence. Man box culture is killing us, men, women, children. /12
It's time to fight man box culture, like our lives depend on it. Because they do. /13
Mark Greene‘s Book The Little #MeToo 
Book for Men reveals the destructive influence of man box culture in men’s personal and professional lives. It has been called “…nothing short of a blueprint for men’s liberation.” /14
Book for Men reveals the destructive influence of man box culture in men’s personal and professional lives. It has been called “…nothing short of a blueprint for men’s liberation.” /14
Support our work! The Little #MeToo Book for Men and Remaking Manhood are available online at Barnes & Noble and Amazon. /15
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-little-metoo-book-for-men-mark-greene/1130130750?ean=9780983466963
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/remaking-manhood-mr-mark-c-greene/1123716758?ean=9781530817061
https://www.amazon.com/Little-MeToo-Book-Men-ebook/dp/B07KC383HX
https://www.amazon.com/Remaking-Manhood-Stories-Front-Change/dp/1530817064 /15
Book for Men and Remaking Manhood are available online at Barnes & Noble and Amazon. /15https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-little-metoo-book-for-men-mark-greene/1130130750?ean=9780983466963
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/remaking-manhood-mr-mark-c-greene/1123716758?ean=9781530817061
https://www.amazon.com/Little-MeToo-Book-Men-ebook/dp/B07KC383HX
https://www.amazon.com/Remaking-Manhood-Stories-Front-Change/dp/1530817064 /15
This thread is available in article form on Medium. https://medium.com/@remakingmanhood/men-and-masks-how-the-man-box-is-getting-us-killed-aa56ce91b9ae /16
