{"id":2775,"date":"2021-11-21T09:56:42","date_gmt":"2021-11-21T09:56:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thewitnessexet.wpengine.com\/?p=2775"},"modified":"2021-12-04T11:58:53","modified_gmt":"2021-12-04T11:58:53","slug":"opinion-same-face-but-repackaged-toxic-masculinity-as-a-tool-of-the-hetero-patriarchy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thewitnessexeter.co.uk\/?p=2775","title":{"rendered":"Opinion: Same face, but repackaged? \u2018Toxic masculinity\u2019 as a tool of the \u2018Hetero-patriarchy\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Disclaimer \u2013 In the following piece, I will be referring to \u2018being male\u2019 to conceptualise how \u2018toxic masculinity\u2019 operates and its effects within hetero-<\/em> <\/em>and<\/em> <\/em>homo<\/em>–<\/em>normative settings. This is not to subordinate \u2018sex\u2019 to a dichotomy of \u2018male\u2019 and \u2018female\u2019, where any omission of identifying as \u2018non-binary\u2019 is purposeful, but it is intended <\/em>to <\/em>underline the prominence of binaries within society that hold onto biologically determined forms of \u2018<\/em>masculinity<\/em>\u2019 and to therefore focus our attention <\/em>to gender as a form of self-<\/em>identification<\/em>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Society consistently throws around the term \u2018toxic masculinity,\u2019 but do we truley understand what it means? In theory, it is a term that calls out ignorance. In reality, it is used loosely by those complicit in sustaining discrimination. Universally speaking it can be percived as a way of thinking that recognises harmful stereotypes, in both appearance and personality that men should uphold and are therefore harmful<\/a>. We can think of it as linking biological sex, and all the stereotypes wrapped up with \u2018being a man\u2019, and then applying that to a singular type of \u2018masculinity\u2019. Toxic masculinity can be conceptualised as a mindset that subordinates \u2018masculinities\u2019 in favour of \u2018the masculine,\u2019 that is typically deployed by privileged, white, and heterosexual men. Besides the obvious, that is the marginalisation of plurality, \u2018toxic masculinity\u2019 has infiltrated other non-hetero spaces such as the homo-normative. In doing so, \u2018toxic masculinity\u2019 has (in) directly become a tool of the hetero patriarchy in its pervading of the gay community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Firstly, it is useful to ask yourself, \u2018what it means to be a man\u2019? Is it having \u2018a good dress sense\u2019 for a \u2018straight guy\u2019, a deep voice, playing sport, and wearing neutral-coloured clothing? Does this sound convincing? These are, in fact, the stereotypes that are entangled in the pressures of being a \u2018fully fledged man\u2019. If we apply these to environments that exude the typical \u2018masculine setting\u2019, we can see the projection of fragile masculinity through the homophobic slurs of \u201cthat looks gay\u201d or \u201cyou\u2019re so gay\u201d. Stereotypes as these are, the changing room, academic, and work environments are too commonly occupied by both men and women, who use such ignorant and outright homophobic remarks within their everyday rhetoric.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is interesting to observe how these generalisations have seeped into the queer setting. Apps such as Grindr are renowned for facilitating the hyper-sexualisation of men, wherein \u2018toxic\u2019 elements of \u2018manhood\u2019 are translated into gay parameters. Be it the inclination to ask someone their sexual preference between \u2018top, vers, and bottom\u2019 before asking their name – not to mention those \u2018tribes\u2019 (\u2018type of gay male\u2019 that one is attracted to) that ranges from a \u2018twink\u2019 to a \u2018bear\u2019 \u2013 all appear to show similar themes but within a new setting. Dynamics of \u2018domination\u2019 and being \u2018submissive\u2019 and the categorisation of oneself based upon one\u2019s age, build, and overall appearance draws parallels between being \u2018male\u2019 and being \u2018masculine\u2019. For the gay community, being a \u2018top\u2019 is synonymous with control, power, and autonomy. This is then paralleled within the straight community, where just ‘being male’ constitutes pressures of power, assertion, and thus \u2018masculinity\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, experiences vary, and one must not project \u2018toxic masculinity\u2019 as a stationary process that happens without historical, socio-economic, or racial context. Intersectionality is crucial here. Those that are \u2018masculine enough\u2019 or more closely blend into the normative society, can avert the bulk of \u2018toxic masculinity\u2019 both within hetero- and homo-normative settings. Being \u2018masculine enough\u2019 and \u2018white enough\u2019 can help one blend in, in contrast to someone who may be judged to be \u2018less masculine\u2019 because of their appearance that may be more androgynous or perhaps due to race. It is therefore important to acknowledge the multi-layered nature of gender relations of privilege, class, and race where these are as important as sexuality and therefore must be considered within non-normative settings such as \u2018being gay\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Either way, it has become increasingly clear that the boundaries between \u2018being gay\u2019 and ‘being straight’ are becoming more and more blurred. Elements that are not confined to, but commonly present amongst the white, privileged and heterosexual male, have pervaded into a homonormative setting. In doing so, elements of what \u2018masculinity\u2019 looks like in a \u2018straight setting\u2019 have influenced what \u2018masculinity\u2019 looks like in a \u2018gay setting\u2019. It is the same face, but repackaged. In all of this, one must remember the importance of intersectionality and my own position – as a white and privileged individual \u2013 who can try to understand but cannot fully appreciate the complexities of \u2018being gay\u2019 without the counter-veiling force of being white and privileged.<\/p>\n

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Disclaimer \u2013 In the following piece, I will be referring to \u2018being male\u2019 to conceptualise how \u2018toxic masculinity\u2019 operates and its effects within <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":2776,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[67,12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2775","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gender-2","category-latest"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewitnessexeter.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2775","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewitnessexeter.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewitnessexeter.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewitnessexeter.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewitnessexeter.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2775"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thewitnessexeter.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2775\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewitnessexeter.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2776"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewitnessexeter.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2775"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewitnessexeter.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2775"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewitnessexeter.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2775"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}