Toxic Masculinity and Meiji Restoration

Elementary Thoughts on Toxic Masculinity:

Introduction: The Brute Boy and Submissive Girl on Adhering to Gender “Norms”

Today I wanted to document recent accumulations I have made in learning the cultural social relations between man and woman. Recently I have been reading Iris Chang’s “Rape of Nanking” and something sticks out to me, are the gender roles of Japanese culture and how men at a young age are put through a dehumanization process to be prepared for militarization and war. At the same time I have come into contact with information regarding the 4B Movement in South Korea which has been gaining traction since 2019.

To quote Iris Chang “his teacher slammed his knuckles against the boy’s head and yelled, “why are you crying about one lousy frog? When you grow up you will have to kill one hundred, two hundred chinks!” (Chang, 1997 p. 30)

I am someone who fell in love with China, and lots of East Asian culture, and think lots of sociopolitical contributions have been invaluable that have come from the region, but in being intellectually honest, I must call out the worst aspects, which one being most clear and blunt is the ruthless misogyny and patriarchal structures that dominate the region. Korea and Japan have declining birthrates, and this is in many ways is correlated to the social structures regarding the family and marriage that are in place.

I am far from an expert on the topics of toxic masculinity, gender and the family but I want to run a small analysis on the topic using America as the case study. It is not Japan but will nevertheless provide the framework for future analysis if we wish to delve further as we rightfully should, this subject is important.

America as a case study: To what extent does misogyny and patriarchal systems plague American society?

It would not be right to criticize East Asian family structures without speaking about the American way of life. It has been nearly a decade since Me Too and have we witnessed feminist resurgence? It is both a yes and no. Roe V. Wade was overturned and as a consequence the evangelical christian right-wing have had to succumb to a ruthless decline in public popularity. At the same time the traditional bourgeoisie feminism that has been prevalent in America since the 1970s has been facing sufficient problems in retaining its public image. Does anyone ever claim that Nancy Pelosi or Kamala Harris is their favorite role model?

The feminist institutions that lay as the foundation for America’s public persona have been put under lots of tension as the far-right has gained mometum in the past decade and very well might put the nail in the coffin sometime this decade. The question therefore becomes who are these far-right figureheads and what are their political ambitions that makeup “toxic masculinity”?

Conservative news outlets such as The Daily Wire, PragerU and Fox News claim that there is a “war against men” and that young boys are being “feminized.” They refer to the fact that they are being shamed for their masculinity. What do they mean by masculinity and what is the femininity they are shaming? PragerU shows in their videos boys playing with tanks and other military equipment as well as being physically hostile with other boys.

I do not want it to come off as if I am attempting to straw man the conservative news media arguments, it is a fact that they want do believe men being physically brute is a positive. They are very hawkish and support militarization as a matter of fact. They believe a distinctive “feminimity” and “masculinity” in which people are born into specific roles and must adhere to these roles.

Does toxic masculinity truly beneift men?

I will continue this discussion in another post later, but I will end off by saying, toxic masculinity in its very nature is destructive to men and women both and there has been lots of research and studies done to prove this. This is not merely limited to the LGBTQ community or some abstract groups. When we use Nanking and military systems as an example we see men when dehumanized and put into this rigid disciplined regiments lose their humanity, commit suicide in higher rates and lose those elements that make them human.

The nuclear family was flawed in the fact it forced couples together who were not meant together and brought on marriage at a young age. The family structure did work for the time it was designed and did bring stability but as residents of the 21st century, time requires us to advance and change. Questioning systems of marriage, gender roles and identities is necessary in granting individuals freedom and the ability to be mobile.

The conservatives and bourgeoisie feminists love to preach “freedom” but when push comes to shove they are never there to defend their abstract ideals. It is therefore impetus that we continue to push this dialogue and be clear in what the problems are.