A new trend to instill outdated standards for men and women spreads on social media by male content creators. Although these viewpoints have always been around, we now categorize them as toxic masculinity. The continuous spread causes concerns and seems to be harmful to others.
Most of their content offers advice for men on how relationships with women should be.
Morgan Sung, a trends reporter for NBC shares the kind of guidance offered, “Common themes include aggressively pursuing women regardless of consent, treating relationships as transactional and basing women’s value on how conventionally attractive they are….”
A content creator whose clips have rapidly surfaced is Andrew Tate. His fame grew from his advice to men about finances and misogynistic views. His videos and social media accounts have since been banned for violating policies of violent speech.
Tessa Bradley, a senior at Sonoma State, offered her initial reaction to his content. “Horror,” she said, “followed by intense sadness as he is a role model for many young boys. I could barely sit through a full clip without feeling disturbed.”
More and more youth are turning to social media as a credible source of information. They often see and mimic behavior based on popularity. The rise of media intake will continue to widely shape and impact newer generations.
Bradley added, “I see a perpetuation of toxicity being magnified through the younger generation. These videos are being pushed and promoted to young boys and they are telling them that women are objects and in turn further the narrative that society is already built around.”
Seeing this kind of content can not only be harmful to youth but also to women. The promotion of behavior and expectations can leave a variety of emotions for any woman. Some on TikTok decided to take matters into their own hands and make parodies, which later turned into a trend.
The starter of the trend, Elsa Lakew, gave NBC insight into why she decided to do it and her reaction towards the mentality of the men who create the content.
Lakew said, “I got pretty sick of it. And so when I saw that filter on TikTok and used it, I immediately thought of these podcasts guys. Since we couldn’t fight logic with illogical takes, parodying them was the next best thing.”
Others have different reactions and deal with said content in their own way. While it is always up to the person, the question of what is actually the “best” way to approach it may come up.
In an email, Lena McQuade, professor and chair of Women and Gender Studies at SSU shared an approach others should take when it comes to this content. She stated, “Rather than give more air-time to old tired forms of masculinity (such as toxic masculinity and masculinities roots in supremacy), it can be much more exciting to uplift men who are engaging in intersectional feminism…”
It is necessary to recognize men who are actively doing their part in dismantling toxic masculinity and know that they do exist.
McQuade further explained what we should do collectively, “Something we can all do to work against toxic masculinity is to reduce this content in our feeds. Replace it with men working against patriarchy, racism, and forms of supremacy. Follow all the men from Success Stories and the National Organization for Men Against Sexism.”
With the way algorithms work, it is easy to keep track of what seems like endless clips of toxic masculinity. But it is more important to not allow those messages to completely take over social media feeds. By reposting and entertaining it, we are only expanding their platform. Our attention should be shifted to content we know is actually resourceful and making a difference in our society.
