Emil O W Kirkegaard

Who is 'we?' I think individuals are constrained by stereotypes every time a feminist speaks of toxic masculinity & male violence & holds all men responsible. I'm saying this is a bad thing & that individuals merit being treated as such.

"We" is most people, but I think we largely agree anyway. Toxic masculinity is problematic because it's a strange concept, not because it is a stereotype, right? The stereotype is that men are more physically violent than women, which is correct.

Because it turns a statistical average into a (negative) stereotype which is then used to apply collective blame to groups and individual members of groups. Maybe we are just defining stereotype differently? I mean things like:

Women are over-emotional. Men are violent. Gays are effeminate Muslims are fundamentalists Blacks are gang members. Whites are racist No problem observing patterns and trends. It's when it becomes a stereotype that then affects individuals that we have a problem.

1/ Yeah, I guess it gets tricky, right. So, men are more physically violent than women is a stereotype that's useful. Men *are* violent is an odd one, probably only held by people for ideological purposes.

I don't think "men are more physically violent than women' is a stereotype. It doesn't stereotype men. It states accurately than there's a difference. "Men are violent" is the stereotype.

Ah! I see. Ok, well, I don't think anybody believes all men are violent. So "men are violent" is shorthand for "men are more violent than women on average."

I would also generally interpret a statement like "men are violent" as a shorthand for "men are more violent than women on average." Now to be fair, I also do understand why people prefer the more nuanced statement.