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Toxic masculinity in US culture
If there is a silver lining to the increasing number of allegations of sexual misconduct coming out of Hollywood, it is that they shine new light on the issue of gender inequality and have started a national conversation about toxic masculinity, gender and power. It is a conversation that education professionals should listen to closely. After decades of working to expand opportunities for women, there are signs of progress toward gender equality. Women now earn the majority of bachelor degrees and one-third to one-half of all law and medical degrees (US Census Bureau, 2012). They are represented in boardrooms, newsrooms and classrooms and occupy powerful positions in government, business, science and arts. Young women can play sports and take high-level math courses and pursue ambitious careers often without the kinds of hurdles that their mothers and grandmothers faced. Schools have played an important role in these developments through improving access to high-level classes, encouraging girls to excel in subjects dominated by men, growing athletic programs and developing curricula that include women’s contributions in diverse fields. However, despite these efforts, gender inequality, bias and violence remain alive and well in schools and in the American culture more broadly. The news unspooling from the Harvey Weinstein scandal, the story of a powerful man accused of harassing and assaulting dozens of women over the course of decades without repercussions, is the latest reminder of the depths this inequality reaches. It highlights the magnitude of our failure, as a society, to address toxic, simplified masculinity and the unequal power dynamics on which it thrives.
As a society, we tend to think of inequality only in terms of those on the losing side, creating a significant blind spot with regard to power. In this way of thinking, gender inequality is considered a women’s problem, something that does not involve men and that can be addressed by focusing on women alone. Hence, the decades of trying to address gender inequality through programs and policies aimed at advancing and empowering women and girls, but with very little attention paid to examining masculinity; how we raise boys and think about boys and men; or how policies, institutions and culture create and support the very inequalities we are trying...