TOXIC MASCULINITY AND THE MEDIA'S ROLE IN CHANGING PEOPLE'S PERSPECTIVES ABOUT IT.

Toxic masculinity is a term that describes the cruel types of ideas about the male gender role. The term is defined as exaggerated masculine traits like being violent, unemotional, sexually aggressive and so forth. It also suggests that men who act too emotional or maybe are not violent enough or do not do all of the things that "real men" do, cannot be regarded as men. A lot of people confuse the difference between masculinity and toxic masculinity. However, one can be masculine without having toxic masculinity.

Some beliefs about toxic masculinity are that:
- interactions between men and women always have to be about competition rather than cooperation,
- men can never truly understand women,
- men and women can never truly be just friends,
- the idea that "real men" need to be strong and not show emotions because that is considered as a sign of weakness, and that
- "real men" can never be victims of abuse and that if they ever become victims, talking about it is considered as shameful.

The media can change people's perspectives on toxic masculinity by:
- not portraying men as always strong and powerful than women but also allowing them to show their weaknesses and downfalls,
- not giving men positions that are way above women's,
- showing men that doing "female stuff" is not considered as being gay, and by
- allowing men to show their feminine side without being ashamed.

Toxic masculinity can only be prevented if we teach boys from a young age that it is okay to not be too strong, it is okay to not be violent, it is okay to like the color pink instead of blue or green and that it is okay to be soft.