We Need To Have A National Conversation About ‘Toxic Femininity’
We’ve spent several years now talking about “toxic masculinity,” though I’m not sure what exactly it means. It’s a great example of what Andrew Hofer calls “Trojan terminology” — think “white supremacy,” “settler colonialism,” “anti-racism” etc. These are all phrases where Hofer notes there’s “a larger debate we need to have about the use of neologisms to sneak in all sorts of extra baggage that people disagree about.”
In the case of toxic masculinity, the vast majority of violence has always been committed by men. We can be honest about that and take reasonable steps to address male violence and misogyny. However, the rise of internet culture, and whatever else our woke montagnards are currently banging on about, doesn’t mean a problem inherent to the human condition has suddenly become uniquely “toxic.” By any historical standard, life for women in the West is the best it’s ever been. Not that reality stopped Democrats spending a tens of millions of dollars on ads implying hoards of abusive husbands are threatening their wives if they vote for Kamala Harris.
