The Strange History of “Toxic” Masculinity

For almost a decade, we’ve been living under a cloud of toxic masculinity. It’s a term that seems to be everywhere, used to describe everything from Ken’s subplot in Barbie to the motives of mass shooters. Certainly, the presidency of Donald Trump has made toxic masculinity an easy catchphrase for op-ed writers and undergraduate essayists, but the term was coined long before Trump–not in the classroom of a women’s studies professor or via Twitter hashtag, but over 40 years ago—by the Mythopoetic Men’s Movement. Link to full story here.