[357 words]
“Toxic masculinity” is a term that is thrown out by the media a lot these days. The term means that masculinity is filled with poison. In other words, to be a man is evil.
In our society, men are under attack.
• Men should play with dolls, not soldier or action figures.
• Men should play dress up, not cowboys and Indians.
• Men should drive a Prius, not a 4-wheel drive pick up.
• Men should ignore women, not speak to them.
• Men should go to plays, not to see WWF.
• Men should like make-up, not guns.
• Men should enjoy salads, not steaks.
• Men should stay home with kids, not work manly jobs.
• Men should hunt for bargains, not wildlife.
• Men should buy soft clothing, not 4-wheelers and boats.
• Men should go to the spa, not to the Monster Truck Show.
• Men should defer to women, not flirt with them.
If you do the things that we are told men should not do, then you are infected with toxic masculinity. You are poisoned. There is something wrong with you.
In two passages of Scripture, the Bible exhorts men to be men. The phrase used is: “Quit you like men” (1 Sam. 4:9; 1 Cor. 16:13). God wants men to be men, to act like men, and to fulfill the role He has given them.
Regardless of what “the experts,” and the media say: “Men are not women!” A man is made much differently from a woman. Forcing men to be feminine is a corruption of the role of a man.
Let men be men. Let them do their “man” things.
This does not mean that they are not to respect and honor women. A real man knows exactly how to properly treat the women with whom he engages from his wife, to his daughter, to co-workers, and to a stranger on the street.
My friends, just to call something a name does not make it so. Just because a man acts like a man does not mean that he is poison.
MEN, BE MEN! And, don’t let society make you ashamed of it!
Victor Eskew
Oceanside church of Christ
Atlantic Beach, FL