Changes: Toxic femininity

Revision as of 16:08, 4 September 2017

TRIGGER WARNING This article or section, or pages it links to, discusses domestic violence and child abuse and may be triggering to survivors.

Toxic femininity is a term used by Men's rights advocacy activists to construct a False equivalence between Toxic masculinity (a manifestation of Patriarchy that both harms men, and causes men to be violent and aggressive against women and occasionally other men) and patriarchal limitations on women's gender presentation and expression.

There is no such thing as toxic femininity, but Benevolent sexism is a way in which superficially positive beliefs about women harm women and sometimes make it possible for individual women to get away with bad behavior, and Sexism covers the most common ways in which expectations of conventional femininity harm women.

There is no female equivalent of the ways in which Toxic masculinity enables abuse. The concept of "toxic masculinity" exists to highlight the organized, political nature of domestic violence and other forms of violence against women. While abuse by women aimed at adult men exists, it's exceedingly rare and when it isn't actually self-defense being mischaracterized as an abuse, it happens individualistically, not as part of a patriarchal pattern of political violence. Abuse by women aimed at children is much more common, but the roots of that abuse are also in patriarchy, not femininity. Child abuse is a way in which women can actively participate in supporting patriarchal structure, and Internalized sexism means that women, as well as men, will continue to abuse children as long as patriarchy continues.

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+{{Triggerwarning|details=discusses domestic violence and child abuse and may be triggering to survivors.}}
-'''Toxic femininity''' is one of the ways in which [[Patriarchy]] is harmful to women. It refers to the socially-constructed attitudes that describe the feminine [[gender role]] as submissive, over-emotional, sexually complicit or manipulative, and so forth.
+'''Toxic femininity''' is a term used by [[Men's rights advocacy]] activists to construct a [[False equivalence]] between [[Toxic masculinity]] (a manifestation of [[Patriarchy]] that both harms men, and causes men to be violent and aggressive against women and occasionally other men) and patriarchal limitations on women's gender presentation and expression.
-Like [[Toxic Masculinity]], both males and females can present toxic attitudes about what is appropriately female gendered. Such attitudes harm both women and men.
+There is no such thing as toxic femininity, but [[Benevolent sexism]] is a way in which superficially positive beliefs about women harm women and sometimes make it possible for individual women to get away with bad behavior, and [[Sexism]] covers the most common ways in which expectations of conventional femininity harm women.
-== Examples ==
+There is no female equivalent of the ways in which [[Toxic masculinity]] enables abuse. The concept of "toxic masculinity" exists to highlight the organized, political nature of domestic violence and other forms of [[Physical violence|violence]] against women. While abuse by women aimed at adult men exists, it's exceedingly rare and when it isn't actually self-defense being mischaracterized as an abuse, it happens individualistically, not as part of a patriarchal pattern of political violence. Abuse by women aimed at children is much more common, but the roots of that abuse are also in patriarchy, not femininity. Child abuse is a way in which women can actively participate in supporting patriarchal structure, and [[Internalized sexism]] means that women, as well as men, will continue to abuse children as long as patriarchy continues.
-* It is inappropriate for women to breastfeed or show their breasts in public.
+== See also ==
-* Women who demonstrate sexual attitudes are attention-seeking or promiscuous, that female sexuality is shameful.
+* [[Abuse and trauma resources]]
-* When women show that they are upset or angry, they must be 'PMSing', unreasonable, or just crazy.
+== Further reading ==
-* That Real Women stand by their man no matter what. Women should be loyal and self-sacrificing.
+* [http://openlibrary.org/works/OL8076167W/Why_does_he_do_that "Why Does He Do That?: Inside the Minds of Angry and Controlling Men"] by Lundy Bancroft
-* That Real Women are homemakers and do not have what it takes to be strong leaders or work typically masculine jobs such as construction, firefighting, military, etc.
+{{stub}}
-* That every female who speaks about women's rights is a man-hater and doesn't care about the issues that men face.
-* Speaking out against shaming or bullying just means that the woman is thin-skinned and can't hang with the guys.
-* Women are just trying to exploit men for money. They are gold-diggers trying to commit 'marital wallet rape'.
-* The idea that there is a range of masculine interests and activities a Real Woman would not hold, and that disprove a woman's femininity regardless of her other actions:
-** not interested in fashion or make-up
-** being unemotional, expressing stoicism
-** action movies, comic books, stereotypically male sports like American football or wrestling
-** being career focused, independent
-** not interested in motherhood
-** and so on.
 [[Category:Article stubs]]
 [[Category:Issues]]