Education is a vital part of the fight for greater equality, compassion, inclusiveness, and respect. However, alone without any ongoing and passionate support from us, education isn’t the panacea against sexism, misogyny, and toxic masculinity that some of us are looking for. It’s not a one-and-done kind of deal: it’s a long, arduous, exhausting process, a war of attrition between competing ideas.
“Better education is definitely key but it is also down to all of us to challenge it by not allowing toxic masculinity to keep going. It means that we all have to actively challenge misogyny and homophobia,” psychotherapist Silva noted in an interview with Bored Panda. He added that both misogyny and homophobia are “still prevalent now in the UK,” where he is based, and “too many people continue to turn a blind eye when they see it.”
#5 Let’s Eradicate The Terms “Consensual Sex” And “Non-Consensual Sex” - It’s Either Sex Or Rape. Language Shouldn’t Be Used As A Tool To Obfuscate Trauma And Horror
According to Silva, men need to do their part and be more in tune with their emotions, instead of trying to repress them as is par for course with toxic masculinity.
“We need more representations of men who embrace their emotions, talk about them and show them with crying, laughing, or hugging,” he said.
Something else that drastically needs to change is how ‘male success’ and masculinity are defined. “We also need to change the image of 'male success'. So, basically, we need to change society at its core because toxic masculinity is part of a faulty system of thoughts. That will take time, but it can start with all of us doing our parts about it,” the psychotherapist told Bored Panda.
