Kinds of toxic masculinity you might not know about

When the term "toxic masculinity" is mentioned, most people tend to think of men who exhibit extremely virulent behaviour or refuse to display any kind of emotion to their peers. Whilst these traits are common among men who possess toxic masculine attitudes, the issue isn't limited to these symptoms only. 

Toxic masculinity is a spectrum, and many men possess underlying traits of unhealthy masculinity, which affect their lives as well as the lives of the people they're connected with. Here are a few kinds of toxic masculinity you might not know about. 

Facing academic challenges

Most men are often encouraged to conceal their emotions and avoid openly speaking about their weaknesses. This practice carries on in the academic world, and many male students refrain from approaching teachers or their peers in fear of being perceived as weak or being labelled as unintelligent. 

Anti-social behaviour is heavily promoted by toxic masculine ideologies, and students following such mindsets avoid communicating with classmates in fear of being judged. Consequently, these students attempt to resolve their academic difficulties all by themselves, and end up failing at it, ultimately resulting in varying degrees of academic challenges.

Being overly workaholic

In traditional gender roles, men are usually expected to be the breadwinners of the family. For most men, this means being able to garner immense amounts of wealth and success while they're young in order to conform to social norms.

Whilst having ambition and being determined about your career are healthy traits to have, some people abandon their work ethic and sacrifice their social life to an excessive extent for financial gains. These men often resort to working excessively and put spending time with friends and family on the afterburner and can even partake in shady activities to boost their wealth. Not only can these practices result in deteriorating relationships, but the lack of work ethic can also prove to be detrimental to society as a whole.

Taking unnecessary risks

Almost all important decisions in our lives involve a risk in some form or other, and accounting for these risks to make the decision is a skill that most of us possess to some extent. A wide demographic of men with toxic masculine mindsets, however, overrule this instinctual fight or flight response of theirs and dive headfirst into overly dangerous actions and decisions as a testification of their masculinity. 

Not only does this pose a great personal risk to them, but also burdens their friends and family with the consequences of their actions. Driving dangerously or resorting to violent measures as a solution are some examples of such a trait.

Not learning to accept others' opinions

Having a wide range of opinions among people is an incredibly common circumstance in society. Being respectful of this large spectrum of viewpoints is a requirement to have great relationships in work or personal life. 

Many people who view themselves as the pinnacle of masculinity, however, ignore this requirement to make people perceive them as "unyielding and courageous." This attitude is also indicative of bigger personality issues, such as having a toxic masculine mindset.

There is, however, an asterisk to all of this. Toxic masculinity is an incredibly nuanced subject and is often tied up with a lot of other factors. Simply seeing some of the aforementioned traits in a person and labelling them as toxic masculine can come off as ignorant and offensive. Thus, it is important to be holistic about their personality before coming to a conclusion.

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