You can add location information to your Tweets, such as your city or precise location, from the web and via third-party applications. You always have the option to delete your Tweet location history. Learn more
Alright, here we go: It's Towards a Positive Masculinity Day on the ol' Twitter feed! Now, there are two problems to overcome when thinking about healthy, non-toxic masculinity. 1/https://twitter.com/e_urq/status/1368913746257571842 …
The first is that masculinity is often framed as a rejection of or absence of femininity, which leads to absurd outcomes like men abandoning a thing they like if they hear women also like it.
And, the second is that the exclusivity of masculinity to maleness means that any positive traits that are put forward as "masculine" cannot help but imply that women are incapable of embodying them.
For example, if you say athletic competition is a hallmark of masculine friendship, it's impossible to avoid the implication that you're saying women aren't naturally drawn to it and/or there's something wrong with women who are.
So, these problems suggest a way forwards, in the form of two hallmarks of a positive masculinity: 1. A positive masculinity will reject superiority. It will oppose any suggestion that feminine traits are to be rejected or looked down on, in oneself or others.
2. A positive masculinity will be inclusive. It will embrace and celebrate masculine women, masculine trans woman, and masculine nonbinary people.
A positive masculinity allows space for people who lean feminine to have masculine sides/interests, just as it allows space for people who lean masculine to have feminine sides/interests.
A positive masculinity can celebrate itself without shame, because it doesn't fear, reject, or disparage either women or femininity.
A positive masculinity is open and welcoming. It communicates that everyone is welcome to join the fun who wants to. This is the masculinity of a dad who shows love for his kids by wrestling them, or by teasing them.
It's the masculinity of an athlete who wants to beat his opponent on their best day, instead of lucking into a win because his opponent was injured.
And, I'm realizing I forgot to do numbers again. One of these days I'll get the knack of remembering to add numbers. Anyway, I believe that'll do us for now. 11/11
One thing I'll add is it's easy to go too far ascribing masculinity/femininity to traits. I used athletic competition as an example bc it's reasonably easy to put in the masc column, but everything doesn't need to be associated with gender, even inclusive and expansively defined.
Twitter may be over capacity or experiencing a momentary hiccup. Try again or visit Twitter Status for more information.
