Toxic Masculinity
Manhood Redefined
As women, we engage in and develop intimate partner relationships not only to procure and further along our species, but we seek male counterparts who serve as a source of safety and security in the world.
However, when our relationships become tainted by the tenets of misogyny or toxic masculinity, it not only serves to constrict natural or otherwise feminine attributes and strengths, but toxic masculinity is detrimental in that it forces many women and young girls to adapt the postulates of perversion that define ideations of subservient and second rate citizenship in the world.
Misogyny can include over sexualizing female anatomy, objectifying and diminishing women in ways that subjugate, enslave and restrict autonomy and free will, and can even include misogynistic terrorism, where many women are beaten, continually harassed and even killed.
These volatile patriarchal views and behaviors can be harmful, not only toward women, both young and old, but likewise serve to disrupt and distort the perceptional relationship dynamics in developing young men as well, fabricating destructive cycles of feminine projections, and ultimately influencing dysfunctional societal norms and gender roles to be adopted, that encourage both sexism and male violence towards women to ensue.
3 Primary Examples Of Misogyny
Sexual Harassment
Unwanted implicit or explicit sexual overtones or sexual advances, whether mild or severe, are all examples of sexual harassment. It’s prevalence can span a variety of circumstances and localities and is largely based on a perpetrator getting and keeping power and control over a victim. Common places sexual harassment occur are
At The Workplace - Employment and gender sexual discrimination.
In The Presence Of Friends And Family - Who may provoke unwanted sexualized contact or conduct.
In Educational Settings - Teachers or professors; students, friends or strangers within educational localities.
Dowry Violence
Incessant harassment, violence and acts of terrorism towards married women by their husbands over their dowry, or the financial resources they are expected to provide the patriarchal union. Dowry violence is akin to financial extortion, and can extend to the wife’s family members and acquaintances.
Many women are beaten, subjugated, severely burned, driven to suicide, and some are even killed by their husbands, when financial demands aren’t met, with almost half of all female homicides in the eastern hemisphere resulting from dowry deaths, sparking global efforts to subvert these trends of violence.
The women in these regions are objectified and viewed as both servants and cash cows for the men who marry into their families. Soon after marriage, many are violently raped, tortured, have had their genitals mutilated, and have suffered permanent disfigurement by bride burning, or having deadly chemicals thrown on them once they or their loved ones financial resources have been exhausted.
Furthermore, many of these women have already been socialized by dysfunctional gender roles, are uneducated and haven’t the means to sustain themselves independently once married. And for many of them their only way out of these misogynistic or otherwise abusive relationships is suicide, accounting for thousands of deaths each year.
The United Nations, Amnesty International, and various other Human Rights organizations have stepped in to provide refuge.
Sex Trafficking
Many misogynists who’ve adopted volatile attitudes and behaviors towards women, or who view them as property or objects of hyper-sexualization, resort to subjugating or forcing them into sexual exploitation, such as prostitution or sex trafficking rings.
A large aspect of sexual exploitation involves rendering complete control of a victim by diminishing their ability to acquire and maintain financial stability and independence outside of the misogynistic relationship dynamic. Victims may be forced to give all of their monies to traffickers or pimps and may be prevented from interacting with the family, friends and loved ones who can provide them help. The relationship might also involve the deliberate tampering with and destruction of the assets and resources a victim possesses to impose and procure scenarios of complete codependency, serving as mechanisms of destabilization, while ensuring they haven't the means to leave the volatile relationship.
Women face their children being kidnapped and held as collateral or ransom to force compliance, and have likewise faced excessive punishment and threats of harm at any and all measures to leave the relationship, ultimately trapping them as hostages to misogynists and toxic Masculinity archetypal behaviors.
Prospectives
Our Intimate partner relationships should represent the tenets of team work, where all members involved are getting their needs met while working in union to build mutual goals and objectives. When relationships are cohesive and those involved are supportive towards one
another, healthy communication, conflict resolution, and stability within the relationship commence, making way for the building blocks of a healthy relationship to develop.
Toxic masculinity and male misogynistic attitudes and behaviors harm everyone involved, with its influence impacting society as a whole, when impressionable boys and girls are imbued with the tenets of dysfunctional models of behavior - continuing cycles of dystrophic relationship dynamics.
The best thing we can do is to employ prudence when choosing our intimate partner relationships, so that we might minimize the chances of becoming involved in unhealthy pairings. Creating healthy boundaries and knowing what the red flags of volatile relationships are, likewise helps us to act on the first signs of misogyny so we can then decide for ourselves whether to pursue the relationship further. So let us educate ourselves on the tenets of Domestic and Intimate Partner Violence, so that we can enjoy all there is to be had in entering in and sustaining healthy relationships.