Toxic masculinity has become something of a buzz phrase, employed to describe and explain everything from poor dating etiquette to mass shootings and the abuses highlighted by the #MeToo movement. Toxic masculinity can be said to be the social pressure to conform to traditional ideals of masculinity, which privilege aggression, elevated class status and the suppression of emotions. While the term has gained prominence in the last decade, the literature of toxic masculinity began many centuries ago, revealing that this phenomenon has many faces and is and capable of inflicting a vast array of harms upon people of all ages and genders. The Iliad by HomerThe original epic of toxic masculinity. This is, in my opinion, the best 20th-century #MeToo novel — it illuminates how the self-delusions of masculinity are seen as essentially virtuous.

Source: The Guardian January 08, 2020 12:11 UTC