Toxic masculinity is not the normal form of “macho” behavior, but when masculinity becomes bad, and patriarchy becomes harmful to men. It is a specific type of “manhood.” Men who fall into this category are domineering and controlling. Men like this view woman as inferior beings and see sex as an act of dominance.
Deeply ingrained gender norms influence how toxic men treat women the way they do and many people still view this as normal behavior for men.
After Omar Mateen opened fire at the Pulse LGBT nightclub in Orlando this weekend, some political debates forming. Some wonder whether to define this as an anti-gay hate crime, or an act of Islamic terrorism. It seems that the shooting might be both.
A former coworker, Daniel Gilroy, said that Mateen was always using racial and sexual slurs, and “talked about killing people all the time.” Gilroy said:
“He was just agitated about everything, always shaken, always agitated, always mad.”
Mateen badgered his colleague with text messages up to 20 times a day.
His ex-wife and father described him as extremely homophobic. He would fly off into a rage if he saw two men kissing. His father thinks his son was driven to commit a massacre because he witnessed two men kissing at a club in Miami. This is an example of toxic behavior at work.
His ex-wife said that Mateen was very abusive in their marriage:
“He beat me. He would just come home and start beating me up because the laundry wasn’t finished or something like that.”
Right wing Christians labeled the attack Islamic terrorism because they are trying to distract from the fact that homophobia is rampant in their religion as well.
Toxic masculinity is really the fear of being seen as sensitive, or anything less than manly. Toxic masculinity creates pressure on men to constantly prove their manhood.
Omar Mateen just wanted to show how much power he had. He would rather shoot people than admit that he might be gay.
Watch this MTV News broadcast for more information on what toxic masculinity is, and how it affects boys today:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KORLrUGIo4&ab_channel=MTVNews
Featured image A Screenshot Of MTV News Video Via YouTube.
