toxic masculinity
/ˈtɒksɪk mæsˈkjʊlɪnɪti/
Very CommonCultural norms around manhood that cause harm, like suppressing emotions or using aggression to assert dominance.
Often misread as 'all masculinity is toxic.' The word 'toxic' modifies specific behaviors, not men as a group. Usage can range from earnest sociological critique to Twitter discourse bait.
| # | Example | What it means | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | he literally cried at a movie and his friends clowned him for a week. toxic masculinity is wild. | The friends' reaction to normal emotion is itself the problem being named. | x, 2023 |
| 02 | toxic masculinity hurts men too. let him go to therapy without making it weird. | The poster is pushing back on stigma around men seeking help. | tiktok, 2024 |
| 03 | the whole 'boys don't cry' thing is textbook toxic masculinity and it messes kids up | Linking a common phrase to a documented pattern of emotional suppression. | reddit, 2023 |
| 04 | not every bad thing a man does is toxic masculinity, some people are just mean | A pushback on overextending the term to cover individual bad behavior. | x, 2024 |
Use it when
- Describing social pressure on men to suppress emotions or vulnerability.
- Calling out behavior like aggression used to prove manhood.
- Discussing how gender norms harm men's mental health.
- Analyzing media or culture that rewards dominance over empathy in male characters.
Do not use it when
- You just mean a specific man behaved badly.Use “jerk, abuser, bully” instead.
- You want to say all masculinity is a problem.
- You are using it to score points in an argument rather than describe a pattern.
Toxic masculinity vs toxic femininity
toxic masculinity
Toxic masculinity describes harmful norms placed on men: suppress emotion, dominate, never show weakness.
toxic-femininity
Toxic femininity describes harmful norms placed on women: be passive, prioritize others, avoid conflict at any cost.
Origin and context
The term entered academic use in the late 1980s through the mythopoetic men's movement, where it was used to contrast unhealthy male traits against positive masculinity. It moved into mainstream discourse around 2010 through feminist online writing and peaked in internet usage around 2018-2020.
- First seen
- late-1980s
- Confidence
- medium
Cite this page
Use this stable URL to reference the entry.
https://slang.fyi/toxic-masculinity