If only the entire country could divorce itself from a toxically masculine regime, By Hal M. Brown. MSW

 

I came across this in today's NY Times (subscription):

You can watch the video clip shown above here.

In the Times article the following is revealed:

Mr. Kennedy added that as part of an “anti-aging protocol from my doctor,” he also receives testosterone replacement therapy. “But I don’t take any steroids,” he said. “I don’t take any anabolic steroids or anything like that.”

The lines between supplementation with T.R.T. — a common practice among older men — and steroid use can get blurry for some because they are dealing with the same hormone in vastly different quantities. 

This kind of display of musculature is just one more representation of the toxic masculinity that has taken over the political scene thanks to Donald Trump. He obviously isn't about to allow himself to be photographed shirtless. He's convinced his cult that he really looks like the AI created superhero images he promotes.

We also had Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg making noise about fighting each other in a cage match. Jumping juvenile Jehoshaphat, these are grown men!  See: Billionaire brawl: all the latest on the cage match between Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg. The cage match was cancelled (read article) with each man blaming the other. I expect on pay per view people would have tuned in.

More about Elon because, well, just because he's at least for now one of the most influential Trump whisperers. He made the best of a bad situation in 2022 and was able to joke about it saying publication of bathing suit photos were a good excuse to go to the gym (see article) when photos of him shirtless went viral.

Of course we had Trump beating Vince McMahon in a fake wrestling match and shaving his head. I won't subject you to photos of that. I also won't bother publishing photos of a horseback riding shirtless Putin.

Another toxic male Trumper who I doubt you pay any attention to, though you've heard his name, is Alex Jones who does the InfoWars website. He also likes to put shirtless photos of himself showing his muscles online.

Then we had Hulk Hogan literally ripping his shirt off to show off his muscles during Trump's final rally. Again, I won't subject you to including them in this blog.

I can see a woman doing this at a Trump rally. In fact, a woman was escorted out of a Trump rally after flashing her breasts in the stand. 

It is hard to image that we would have a president who would do what he did in these two photos:

Can you imagine a self-respecting woman doing the same thing?

Wikipedia's definition of toxic masculinity begins:

The concept of toxic masculinity is used in academic and media discussions to refer to those aspects of hegemonic masculinity that are socially destructive, such as misogyny, homophobia, and violent domination. These traits are considered "toxic" due in part to their promotion of violence, including sexual assault and domestic violence. Socialization of boys sometimes also normalizes violence, such as in the saying "boys will be boys" about bullying and aggression.

Wikipedia does not have a page for toxic femininity,  but it is a concept in psychology and social science. It has a very different meaning than toxic masculinity. Consider:

Toxic femininity refers to the adherence to the gender binary in order to receive conditional value in patriarchal societies. It is a concept that restricts women to being cooperative, passive, sexually submissive, gentle, and deriving their value from physical beauty while being pleasing to men. From VeryWell Mind.

Toxically masculine men, whether they have rippling muscles or, like Trump and Steven Miller (left), aren't muscle men, still have toxic male beliefs. For example, they tend to lack empathy and are prone to bullying. They often are sadistic and enjoy inflicting pain or discomfort on their enemies. In the past few days we saw Trump's total lack of empathy when talking about deporting entire families including children when only one or both parents were here illegally. Without weight lifting hardened biceps this is Trump flexing his muscles as saying "look how tough I am." 

This is Trump interviewed by Kristin Welker on Meet the Press (watch video here) talking about eliminating birthright citizenship and deporting entire families:

PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP: Well, that way you keep the – well, I don't want to be breaking up families, so the only way you don't break up the family is you keep them together and you have to send them all back.

KRISTEN WELKER: Even kids who are here legally?

PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP: Well, what you've got to do if they want to stay with their father – look, we have to have rules and regulations. You can always find something out like, you know, "This doesn't work. That doesn't work." I'll tell you what's going to be horrible, when we take a wonderful young woman who's with a criminal. And they show the woman, and she could stay by the law, but they show the woman being taken out. Or they want her out and your cameras are focused on her as she's crying as she's being taken out of our country. And then the public turns against us. But we have to do our job. And you have to have a series of standards and a series of laws. And in the end, look, our country is a mess.

This is just plain sadistically sick. How anyone with any sense of morality can read or watch Trump saying this thinks he is a decent person staggers me. How someone who says "Trump is a Christian" can utter these words with a straight face is a sad sign of the times.

In 2021 Adam Sewer of The Atlantic wrote a book about the Trump administration titled "The Cruelty Is the Point: The Past, Present, and Future of Trump's America" with the first part of the title becoming a frequently used phrase to describe Trump's inhumane policies.

Cruelty is part and parcel of toxic masculinity. Trump and his ilk thrive on knowing people are afraid of them. This is not just because of the power they have over their lives, but potential victims know that they take satisfaction in being cruel.

Numerous articles like 7 Subtle Signs of Toxic Masculinity in a Relationship give advice to people who have men like this as their partners. If only it could be simple for an entire half of a democracy loving country to get a divorce. It could go into couples therapy to get help to gain the insight and self-esteem to get a divorce from a toxic partner. It is as if half the country has been forced into a marriage with a toxic, and abusive, partner. 

Previous list of blogs here.

Primary Hal Brown's Blog website is halbrown.org (if you are reading this anywhere else any additions or corrections will be at this address)