Let's Talk About Men

Throughout history man has been trying to define themselves whether it be through business ventures, ruling countries, or even sports, an activity associated heavily with the male audience. Men often put the label of masculinity onto sports especially because many believe that women either have no idea what they are doing or in terms of the more violent sports, they will not be able to handle the physicality. Many women that wish to partake in sports or any other activity that has this label of masculinity have thought of the idea as toxic. This toxicity not only leads to men limiting women, but also limiting themselves by issuing the labels in the first place. 

In the article, What We Mean When We Say, "Toxic Masculinity" by Colleen Clemens, the author explains this phenomenon of "Toxic Masculinity" as this idea of limiting one's own viewpoint on how-to live-in society. The issue comes about because men perpetually committing violent acts such as murder or abuse. The root of these evils comes from the possibility that these men living in a society that "equates masculinity with physical power" has left some of these perpetrators, who have become bigoted or overtly violent, feeling like failures. While Clemens focuses on the mentality of men, Michael Messner's article, Masculinities and Athletic Careers, looks at the connection between men and athletics.

Messner's study followed higher class men, often white, as opposed to lower class men, often minorities, and how they chose to approach a career in athletics. Most of the men from higher income families chose to not pursue sports but instead focus on careers in the working world while many of the lower income men tried to turn their fortunes around by pursuing sports. While not all of them pursued athletics as a career they still followed sports because that was a time when you could be with your dad or uncle or just hang out with the guys. As the idea seems harmless at first, people like Clemens would argue that the exclusion of women from sports to "hang out with the guys" could be seen as a contributor to the "Toxic Masculinity" phenomenon. 

Both authors seem to have a concept of what masculinity is, but only Clemens is acknowledging the drawbacks of the attitude while Messner focuses more on the fascination with sports. As both articles are informative, Messner deals with the direct experiences that are impacting men while Clemens bases her research off patterns and her own viewpoint on the topic. This causes the audiences to slightly differ as Clemens is geared towards people that think like her because her opposition most likely will not read what she has to say anyway while Messner has a heavy male audience that never really shows any appeals towards any women that are not already interested in sports. Despite Messner not making these appeals, he still acknowledges the side of people like Clemens while she explains the issues surrounding this issue of mental health. The goal of both articles' is to draw attention to this idea of masculinity and the impact that it has on men in their lives. This impact has greater effects on more than just the individual but their environment.  

Source: Messner, Michael. “Masculinities and Athletic Careers.” Gender and Society, vol. 3, no. 1, 1989, pp. 71–88. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/190040.

Clemens, Colleen. “What We Mean When We Say, ‘Toxic Masculinity.’” Teaching Tolerance, 11 Dec. 2017, www.tolerance.org/magazine/what-we-mean-when-we-say-toxic-masculinity.