November 2, 2016

Drudge calls out to me with a men-in-shorts photograph over a link about "'toxic' masculinity."



The Drudge headline — "More colleges work to purge male students of 'toxic' masculinity..." —  goes to the College Fix — "TRENDING: Universities work to purge male students of their ‘toxic’ masculinity." No shorts at the link, where the illustration is a stock photo of a guy shrugging. We only see his upper body, so maybe he is wearing bright-colored shorts. All we see that he's wearing is a shirt so nondescript in color that I've had to click over there several times to decide whether to go out on a limb and call it "gray." The shrugging guy seems to be intended to be completely generic — low class, if anything. The shorts guys in the Drudge pic look like rich guys, but maybe Drudge thinks they just look unmasculine.

The article itself is nothing much. You can't tell what's really happening in colleges. I don't know if anyone's being forcibly purged of masculinity or if these are another variation of the campus gender studies course. It looks as though the "toxic" part of masculinity is violence, which is always a problem and has nothing to do with fashion. Nothing much. I'm sure it has something to do with fashion. If I wanted to write an academic book about violence and fashion, I bet I could.

ADDED: (Ha.)

26 comments:

mikee said...

Toxic masculinity is indeed violence. But when you define disagreement, no matter how politely phrased, as violence, then every male is toxic, violent, and deserving of neutering.

Wearing camouflage like frat-boy shorts actually works to confuse the feminist SJWs on college campuses, making them think that nobody that ridiculous looking could actually be masculine. Back when I attendes a small southern liberal arts college, guys attended Intervarsity Christain Fellowship meetings and sang hymns and read Bible verses for the same reason: hiding their desire to screw coeds, while making it much more likely the coeds would let them do so.

dreams said...

That picture doesn't look like a bunch of golfers that's for sure.

Achilles said...

"I don't know if anyone's being forcibly purged of masculinity or if these are another variation of a campus gender studies course. "

Women are earning 60% or more of college degrees eared.

Oddly enough, and far more interesting, when I put "college graduation rates by gender" into google I got a full bar of articles about men making more money than women.

We see the through this you know. It will not end well.

And enrollment at UW Madison is 49-51 which is several standard deviations off the mean. Commendable.

MacMacConnell said...

The guys in the Drudge photo are probably a group in a wedding or yacht racing function. A man can't dress more manly than preppy or Ivy League clothing. One could argue that work clothing is more manly, but most twinks walking around most large cities are dressed as lumberjacks or like refugees on campus.

College campuses are toxic to men.

Clayton Hennesey said...

The unhinged usage of the term "toxic" gets me every time. Whenever I hear a writer use it, I imagine introducing him to the bite of a copperhead* - let's call this a baseline, Writer - and then ask him to list similar examples of "toxicity".

Like, oh, I don't know, "toxic" Tweets.

The bite of a copperhead is easily survivable without antivenin, but if someone doesn't drop some morphine straight into your veins you'll probably wish it weren't.

But it's "toxic" - if not also "awesome".

mockturtle said...

If male students accede to these measures, they deserve to be emasculated. Shorts or no shorts.

Etienne said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
DanTheMan said...

Ann, if you are bad, when you die, God will send you to Bermuda.

Peter said...

Perhaps the important thing to remember as you're sitting (and would prefer remain so, as an alternative to participating) through your mandatory training/orientation/whatever is to be grateful that a distinction is being made between "toxic masculinity" and just "masculinity" (for now, at least). And that they'd really, really like you to know that it's OK (well, more than OK, really) to be (or become) a thoroughly un-masculine male.

That, and (of course) there can be (by definition, probably) no such thing as "toxic femininity."

So how, exactly, did this become an essential part of the college experience?

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

There's no man on earth whose masculinity is toxic who's getting all the sex he can handle.

Women of the world, . . . it's time to step up and . . . DO YOUR PART!!!

Brando said...

I prefer masculine toxicity, which is when you're made of poison but it's a manly sort of poison. Like man-cyanide.

Brando said...

"Women of the world, . . . it's time to step up and . . . DO YOUR PART!!!"

Pretty much. Feminists may try to skirt around it, but the simple fact is that men simply cease to be a problem if they're getting all the sex they can possibly handle.

traditionalguy said...

Male Sex addiction is one true opiate of the people, and an earthy women is usually the Drug Lord. Over dosage is the only real problem associated with it. Going cold turkey sounds really hard. Tapering off sounds better. But having something else to do is the best answer.

Wait, wait. Maybe the bonds of matrimony are a recovery clinic for men looking for love.

But what do I know. Ask Bill Clinton.

Just an old country lawyer said...

Those guys look like frat boys at a southern college or university. Dressed well for a friend's engagement party, maybe.

bagoh20 said...

Good. So being men, we of course found and effective solution to the problem directly with minimal crying, sign carrying, screaming, or gnashing of teeth.

Men are less toxic when they get more sex. Give men more sex.

Next problem?

Oh, you thought we were the problem, and therefore needed to change? Wronnnng!

Francisco D said...

I had a grad student patient at Vanderbilt, many years ago. He was an extremely bright young man who wore a similar outfit on Saturday football days. It was something he picked up, as a preppie, from his undergrad days.

It was not an issue of toxic masculinity because (1) he was gay and (2) it was an all day beer fest that went on until people blacked out. The only toxicity was to his liver.

Toxic fashion? But, of course. If those preppies had dressed more normally - no problem.

BTW, it was a southern thing.

Captain Drano said...

Ha ha! Prof. Althouse, the second I saw that photo on Drudge I thought of you.

Diamondhead said...

If "toxic masculinity" just referred to actual violence, to men who beat up their wives or girlfriends because it makes them feel more manly, then the phrase might be useful. As it is, it's just a way to "other" men who enjoy being male. I've seen it applied to gay men as well.

Diamondhead said...

Drudge's point in using that picture may have been that he thought those guys look unmasculine, but look at them - they appear confident, happy, comfortable in their own skin, having fun...that's "toxic masculinity."

madAsHell said...

I always found that the best cure for toxic masculinity was a hot coed between the sheets.

Richard said...

I have a modest proposal to wipe out toxic masculinity. All men must be castrated before they are allowed to go college.

Quaestor said...

Feminism was always just sublimated penis envy. If you can't have something then the next best thing is to deny that something to others.

Yancey Ward said...

All they need to do is to break out in Wake Me Up Before You Go Go.

Achilles said...

All of these problems will go away when sexbots hit the open market. Sooner rather than later.

No more drama.

MacMacConnell said...

Diamondhead said...
"Drudge's point in using that picture may have been that he thought those guys look unmasculine, but look at them - they appear confident, happy, comfortable in their own skin, having fun...that's "toxic masculinity.""

Drudge knows exactly what that photo means, WASP frat boys in their white privilege Go To Hell weekend preppy clothing. That is what fascist academics consider "toxic masculinity", Duke lacrosse teams and Virginia frats with rape rooms in feminist imaginations.

N. Ayanoğlu said...

haha, are you sure?