"The truth is being a man can mean whatever you want it to mean," says Britt East, author of A Gay Man's Guide to Life. "You get to decide." This also means that society as a whole needs to stop putting people into boxes.
"Our society needs to remember that being a man doesn’t mean you have to like sports or women. Being a strong man doesn’t mean you can’t show weakness or cry. Being a successful man doesn’t mean you have to marry or become a C-suite executive," adds Snyder. "Gender identities, just like career choices and lifestyle choices, don’t make you any less of a man."
In an essay titled, Why Calling It 'Toxic Masculinity' Isn't Helping, Mark Greene argues that "masculinity is not toxic; our culture’s narrow, conformist, violent, bullying, man-box version of it is." He says that words matter, and that "language that critiques men’s culture (toxic culture of masculinity) is received differently than language that critiques men’s personal sense of self (toxic masculinity)."
One blames and shames, explains Greene, while the other invites men to understand how they are victims of man-box culture.
#25 Now You Can Finally Be A Manly Man And Stop Going To Beta Barbers!
#29 Putting All Your Self Worth On Your Perceived F**ckability. It’s So Sad To See Men Brush Off Positivity, Especially When They’re Being Told They Are Worth More Than The Things They Can’t Change About Themselves
#34 Local Bro Ashamed To Give Positive Feedback To Women’s Clothing...as Part Of His Job
#39 Whew! So Glad They Were Only “Bro-Hugging”. Otherwise It’d Mean They Were Gay Or Something
#40 Til That Men Wearing Bright Colours Is Juvenile. And Not Age Appropriate?
