The Never-Ending Cycle of Toxicity
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Image from Spiritualcleansing.org
I’ll be honest; tackling this subject is going to be a bit difficult for me. Mainly because any time I try to even think about it, my mood is ruined for the rest of the day. Nevertheless, It’s a topic that needs to be spoken about, especially given the age of social media we live in, so I will try my very hardest not to throw my laptop out the window in frustration
I’m sure you’re all aware of the terms “toxic feminism” and “toxic masculinity”, and have experienced or witnessed instances of it taking place. And while they’re both opposing forces dead set on reigning victorious over the opposite side’s toxic views with their own toxicity, neither one can exist without the other. Yes, you read that right. These two polarized, yet equally vile, schools of thought are codependent on each other. “How’s that even possible?” you’re probably asking. Well, that’s what we’re here to discuss. But before that, let’s make sure that we have a little better understanding of just how each side works. Rest assured, however, their hateful idiotic views aren’t all that hard to follow.
Toxic Feminism, and How it’s Discredited Actual Feminism
Remember feminism? Remember the first, second, and third waves of women’s rights movements over the last century that have fought for women to have the same basic rights as men? Because I do. Had it not been for them, I probably wouldn’t even be writing this post right now.
To put it simply, “toxic feminism” takes everything that feminism stood for, and just dumps all over it. They twist and doctor traditional feminism, which is based on gender equality, and morphs it into a form of gender supremacy. These self-proclaimed “feminists” are essentially using the feminist cause to harass the opposite sex, and then claim that its all for women’s rights and that anyone who opposes their actions is a misogynist.
Their actions have caused just the mention of the word “feminism” to leave a bad taste in the mouths of others, effectively discrediting the intergenerational sacrifices of hundreds of women. It’s kind of ironic when you think about it. They claim to be all for the feminist cause, but the result of their actions do more harm for it than good.
I think I’ve made it pretty obvious that I really don’t like toxic feminism. I hate toxic people and behavior as a whole, but toxic feminism hits a little too close to home. As a woman myself, I value all of the sacrifices that those before me have made in order to give me the rights and freedoms that I have today. I wouldn’t be the person that I am today had it not been for them. Toxic feminism has made a mockery of their hard work, and it boils my blood that they have a platform to spread their vile, man-hating agenda, giving “toxic masculinity” more material to justify their own toxicity.
Toxic Masculinity, and The Never-ending Cycle of Toxicity
Now I’m not a fan of it either, but “toxic masculinity” makes me more sad than angry. It’s essentially a collection of negative ideologies of what it means to be “masculine”. This includes homophobia, misogyny, and the glorification of violence, just to name a few.
This mindset stems primarily from the societal expectations of men and women. Women were traditionally expected to be graceful, submissive, elegant, and were required to try their very hardest to conform to society’s expectations of beauty. Men on the other hand, were traditionally expected to be tough, socially dominant, competitive, and have a serious lack of emotion. Anything they did that was considered “feminine” would result in ridicule, and also somehow make them less of a man. Honestly, I could go on for hours about how this is one of the most self-damaging mindsets to have, but I’ll spare you the rant.
An important thing to not is that men who practice toxic masculinity are not the biggest fans of feminism. The idea of women being just as competent as men is not one that they’re too fond of. Remember how this mindset stems from societal gender expectations? They are firm believers of those ideals, which earns them the ire of the toxic feminism team. This turns into a never-ending cycle of toxicity, with the toxic feminism side spewing man-hatred, and the toxic masculinity side taking that and using it as evidence against feminism as a whole.
Their actions anger these toxic feminists, prompting them to spew even more man-hatred, which is then used against them from the opposing side. This cycle gets repeated over and over again, leaving nothing of value behind. It’s nothing but a massive headache for everyone unfortunate enough to bear witness to this pointless, dumpster fire of a battle.
Equality ≠ Supremacy
It pains me that I actually have to say this, especially given the era that we live in, but here it is; equality is not the same as supremacy. Supremacy suggests that one group is better than the rest, and are deserving of unfair advantages over everyone else.
Words cannot begin to describe just how wrong that is; we are all equal to one another, regardless of gender, or race, or sexuality, etc. This is automatic from the moment we’re born, and should have never been up for debate. Look at how much we’ve advanced as a society by working together; none of what we have today would’ve been possible had we not cooperated with each other as equals.
This back-and-forth between toxic masculinity and toxic feminism is the most frustratingly useless and destructive waste of humanity’s time. Honestly, what the hell has it even accomplished? It’s a vicious, perpetual cycle of hatred that hasn’t done anybody any favors and it just needs to stop. For the sake of ourselves and our future development as a species, we need to do away with it immediately. I mean, 2020 has been a complete mess, and the road to recovery is going to be long and tough. The very last thing that we need in our lives is this meaningless cycle of toxicity.
Amal Sheikhmusse
Amal Sheikhmusse is a second-year student of Algonquin College’s Professional Writing Program. Whenever she isn’t practicing her future editor skills by giving unwarranted critique to all her friends and family, you can find her re-visiting childhood nostalgia, notebook in hand, ready to verbally tear her childhood hopes and dreams at a moment’s notice.
