The performative rage of leftist women following Trump’s election has become profoundly unsettling.
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We’ve spent several years now talking about “toxic masculinity,” though I’m not sure what exactly it means. It’s a great example of what Andrew Hofer calls “Trojan terminology” — think “white supremacy,” “settler colonialism,” “anti-racism” etc. These are all phrases where Hofer notes there’s “a larger debate we need to have about the use of neologisms to sneak in all sorts of extra baggage that people disagree about.”
Inthecaseoftoxicmasculinity,thevastmajorityofviolencehasalwaysbeencommittedbymen.Wecanbehonestaboutthatandtakereasonablestepstoaddressmaleviolenceandmisogyny.However,theriseofinternetculture,andwhateverelseourwokemontagnardsarecurrentlybangingonabout,doesn’tmeanaprobleminherenttothehumanconditionhassuddenlybecomeuniquely“toxic.”Byanyhistoricalstandard,lifeforwomenintheWestisthebestit’severbeen.NotthatrealitystoppedDemocratsspendingatensofmillionsofdollarsonadsimplyinghoardsofabusivehusbandsarethrea
