Trump’s Toxic Masculinity and Young Men
An appeal to the better angels of America’s boys
When I was a public high school teacher, I found it necessary to speak to my teenage male students about what transitioning from ‘boys to men’ required. I knew I was battling the media pushing the lowest expectations for boys. Back then, boys adored the smart-ass “heroes” who oozed testosterone in movies and always got the girl, who was dying to submit to them. Ah, but that was Hollywood.
I assumed the boys understood that wrestling on TV was all a phony show. I told them if they wanted to really learn to wrestle, I happened to know a great coach at our school. Most of the boys knew that path would be quite challenging, and that the bruises would be real.
When my students studied To Kill a Mockingbird, I pointed out that numerous polls named Atticus Finch as the most admired male character in American literature. I explained that he never bragged. Never shot a gun, unless he absolutely had to. He never yelled at his children. He did not ridicule people. He knew that courage meant doing what was right even if it was likely a losing battle. He defended people no matter the color of their skin. He personified compassion.
I would then give them examples of men who adhered to a code that placed humility, compassion, and…
