Modern masculinity

Eliza Dennis of NPR brought a report of the girls in Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School who did something about toxic masculinity. Some of the boys had ranked some of the girls based on their looks. The list leaked. The girls felt violated.

The girls responded by choosing to help the boys learn. First, a group of boys and girls met to discuss the list and how it made them feel. The boys started out defensive – this stuff happens all the time, why are we in trouble? But as the girls talked about sexual harassment and eating disorders and how that’s an every day part of life, the mood changed. The boys hadn’t ever thought about what the girls felt.

Then came a big event, called the ABCs of Modern Masculinity – Raising Boys Without Lowering Expectations, organized by senior Paloma Delgado. This four and a half hours featured student and guest speeches, a film screening, and a panel discussion. It was held at a local restaurant and was packed.



The polling organization Civiqs, part of Daily Kos, has released the results of a poll of the nasty guy’s approval rating. This isn’t just one number. It is divided up by state and reported by age group, race, and gender.

When not divided up by any category the map has a lot of shades of both blue (approval) and orange (disapproval). When the age is restricted to 18-34 the map shows only six blue states – we need to get these people to vote! When the age is 65+ or when the race is white the map is mostly blue. When group is white males there are only 10 states with orange. With young white women the map has only five blue states. And when the group is African-Americans, the map is entirely orange, most of it dark orange.



Gaslit Nation, a podcast that discusses the nasty guy’s authoritarianism, has added a couple interesting pages. The first is a suggested reading list with books on kleptocracy, authoritarianism, asymmetrical warfare, white supremacy terrorism, and even fiction. Each book has a link – and it is to Good Reads, not Amazon.

The second page is a list of things to do to resist the GOP takeover and support democracy. This includes such things as focus on state races, join a grassroots organization, fight global warming, help union causes, run for something, protect the vote, and make art. Each category has links.