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Marcos Gomez

Mrs. Cowley

AP English Literature and Composition 2

2 June 2019

The Pressing Issue

Toxic masculinity poses, above all else, a threat to civility in all senses of the word:

peace, association, and well-being. With appropriate concern, the evolution of toxic masculinity

throughout recent years has caused great contention in various aspects of its characterization.

Although it is simple, and maybe even sufficient, to become informed about the topic and its

meaning through a dictionary definition, contention previously mentioned has derived various

and slightly differing definitions which, though all contributory, create a sort of confusion as to

what toxic masculinity is. Thus, to satisfy a more established definition of toxic masculinity, its

origin must be examined, as origin is the greatest definition, as well as confirmed through

literary works which accurately reflect fathomable instances.

Being that biology and psychology form the basis of many sociologic incidents, so too

are they relevant to the concept of toxic masculinity. So, these approaches may serve as the basic

mediums through which the examination of its origin may be realized. Surely these fundamentals

could not satisfy every instance of toxic masculinity, although I am sure that they may serve to

be established segue into deeper talks of this civil threat.

The act of association is the foundation of societal definition. Jean-Jacques Rousseau

mentions in his book, The Social Contract, that “The most ancient of all societies…is the
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family”. This idea is affirmed by the fact that men have a duty to their children: to preserve them

on the basis that, as the children cannot preserve themselves, and them being extensions of

themselves, they must. This is to say that association, which is the basis for social definition and

characteristic, is rooted in biology. This being so, it is just to conclude that men may readily

attempt to resolve contention through biological affirmations, that is, primal instinct and

faculties. It is, then, crucial to recognize this biological factor in the consideration of social

discourse surrounding toxic masculinity: toxic masculinity refers to the harsh practice of natural,

masculine behaviors which, sometimes inadvertently, contribute of civil harm, especially as a

result of male negligence and ignorance of human progress. Due to years and years of natural

selection, men have grown to exhibit certain biological characteristics that may allow them to

fulfill their roles as the generally stronger and protective counterpart to their female sisters in

humankind. As stated by psychoanalyst Erica Komisar, “Boys and men produce far more

testosterone, which is associated biologically and behaviorally with increased aggression and

competitiveness. They also produce more vasopressin, a hormone originating in the brain that

makes men aggressively protective of their loved ones” (Komisar). The specific tendencies of

these predisposed hormones in men denotes that their functions are not entirely the derived from

the arrogance of men but, have a basis in evolutionary nature. Now, for this reason, certainly, it

is reasonable to attribute some blame of men’s practices to their biology although, men are also

oft encouraged and misdirected into reverting to the primal tendencies that gave their ancestors

companionship. As a result of ignorance and the negligence of human progress, men sometimes

do not realize that we now live in the 21st century where they have no need to protect their

families from dinosaurs or constant war. Perhaps this male condition persists as a result of

progress: the boundaries of biology are now constantly being satisfied by new ideology and new
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association, these associations have provoked the man and now he is plagued by cognitive

dissonance.

Cognitive dissonance that is formed as a result of a disagreement between civil society

and biological predisposition forces men to result in what is most natural. Cognitive dissonance

is defined as “a discomfort caused by holding conflicting elements of knowledge” (Perlovsky).

Consequently, it is a “well known [process] that this discomfort is usually resolved by devaluing

and discarding a conflicting piece of knowledge” (Festinger, 1957; Cooper, 2007; Harmon-Jones

et al., 2009). This signifies that in the face of cognitive dissonance, humans, men included, will

resort to a piece of knowledge that is already well-established rather than progressive entities

which may seem worthless to the human mind: “Since new knowledge emerges by modifying

previous knowledge, there must always be conflict between the two. Because of this conflict

between new and previous knowledge CD theory suggests that new knowledge should be

discarded” (Perlovsky). Now, the presentation of these concepts, because of the thought-

preserving nature of prose may seem to be a process that is well-meditated although it is “usually

fast, “momentary” and according to CD theory new knowledge is discarded before its usefulness

is established” (Perlovsky). Through this tendency, it must be noted that the act may be an

instinct, which is the main reason why men may lose their prudence in tense situations. In

relation to societal function, said instances come in the form of creating and imposing social

statutes that contradict the biology, or in the case of cognitive dissonance, the innate knowledge

of men. This is not to say that the pride of men force them to reject society, but it must be

realized that society, as it is today, is not natural: it is a contract that serves as the protector of a

body, as, bare humanity has not yet acquired the faculties of collective self-preservation,
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definitively confirmed by the persistence of biologically and psychologically rooted limitations

such as toxic masculinity.

By the process of examination, the scope of toxic masculinity, as well as the affirmation

of its origins, may be realized. Literature, being an extension of the author and all that they

experience, it may be useful to dive into the instances of toxic masculinity of certain works as

they may be stories more well-established and open to the public than even real-life instances

that are rinsed through numerous outlets, partially losing relevance along the way. The works of

John Steinbeck, Oscar Wilde, and Sophocles are all excellent presentations which may assist in

the process of toxic masculinity’s characterization.

Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men is a reflection of how the natural functions of human

biology and psychology may lead to toxic masculinity. The relationship between George and

Lennie is one that is very natural as there is a noticeably deep brotherly love that George has for

Lennie. This being so, one may refer to it as nearly a biological connection, that is, in the form of

loving ties such as an older brother would have for his younger sibling. The protective nature of

said relationship demonstrates toxic masculinity's biological roots as when Lennie finds himself

in trouble, George is there to protect by brute means: “Don’t let him pull you in--but--if the son-

of-a-bitch socks you--let him have it” (Steinbeck 30). Now, this aggression is not entirely active

although, the faulty advice definitely is. Frankly, this is terribly poor advice for George to give to

Lennie considering his mental limitations though, due to his association and biological

predisposition to aggressive traits, he fails to recognize the fallacy in his direction: it is the

passion in George’s love for Lennie that he hopes for him to realize his deficiencies and be able

to care for himself by adopting them as, he has been made to concede that these are desirable

traits for self-preservation, unconsciously by his biology’s influence over him. This unconscious
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pursuit of selective traits is the basis of the exhibition of George’s toxic masculinity: because of

biology, individuals will likely praise behavior that follows a certain mold which is done as a

result of a sort of social natural selection; because of this, men will generally do so for the

masculinity of their companions or family members. Further, George experiences cognitive

dissonance as a result of societal circumstances and its interference with his biological instincts

that cause him to constantly care for Lennie despite the lack of resources he has to properly care

for him: “George raised the gun and steadied it, and he brought the muzzle of it close to the back

of Lennie’s head. The hand shook violently, but his face set and his hand steadied. He pulled the

trigger” (Steinbeck 106). It may be realized by the instance of this scene along with the literal

bodily response leading to the act of George shooting Lennie that George was in a bout against

his social circumstances and his biology. The drastic decision of George shows that often

cognitive dissonance can result in acts of toxic masculinity not only if new knowledge, that is

social pressure, is rejected but generally primitive responses that may be linked to biological

instinct.

Wilde’s The Portrait of Dorian Gray further proves the quality of toxic masculinity to

have some sort of basis in biology and psychology. The philosophy of Lord Henry Wotton,

which happens to become the practices of Dorian Gray, lead him to the trends of toxic

masculinity as they are closely dependent on physiological drive-reduction: “The only way to get

rid of a temptation is to yield to it” (Wilde 16). Again, this dependence on biological pleasure

leads to toxic masculinity as Dorian is now faced with a practice that is absolutely obedient to

biology as a result, Dorian begins to become increasingly primitive, notably in his interaction

with Sybil Vane which leads to her death. The baseness in his infatuation with her is consistent

with men’s primitive biological tendencies in mating, that is, they hope to mate for sole reasons
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of procreation as a means of maintaining their species. Now, this tendency of men’s biological

predisposition is connected to toxic masculinity as, in the modern world, they concede to such

practices in new modes such as business or other. Finally, the tragic end of Dorian Gray is a

testament to the nature of cognitive dissonance’s role in toxic masculinity as it may also be self-

inflicted (Wilde 207). The cognitive dissonance felt by Dorian Gray is directly reflected upon his

portrait and as without resolution dissonance may not be relieved, tension built up and Dorian

was faced with a common way in which this theory leads to toxic masculinity: high tension leads

to drastic outbreaks of primitive behaviors that reflect basic masculine characteristics.

Sophocles’ Oedipus at Colonus also serves as a reminder that the origins of toxic

masculinity are recognizable in biology and psychology. The bout between the two brothers, the

sons of Oedipus, shows the base associations that will cause masculine competition between two

brothers, which is a type of biological association (Sophocles 104,105). The extent to which their

rivalry is established is reflective of biology’s impact on social exhibition of masculinity

qualities as they are shown to reach far beyond even their own experiences to those of their

entire society. The biological entity that is responsible for this is the fact that men are encouraged

to compete in settings that are not entirely dangerous as a method of being able to protect

themselves. There are certain qualities that boys have to encourage this such as high testosterone

and low attention thresholds.

The nature of toxic masculinity is one of tragedy: toxic masculinity is the result of

shortcomings in men’s faculties involving adaptation, these roots in biology and psychology are

a threat to evolution and a threat to civil society and progress in general. Men must realize these

deficiencies and choose to remedy them in any manner they can for the sake of their

advancement. The great works of literature reflect this truth and men cannot ignore it.
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Works Cited

Komisar, Erica. “Opinion | Masculinity Isn't a Sickness.” Wall Street Johrnal, WSJ, 16 Jan.

2019, 6:53 pm, www.google.com/amp/s/www.wsj.com/amp/articles/masculinity-isnt-a-

sickness-11547682809.

“Oedipus at Colonus.” The Oedipus Cycle: an English Version, by Sophocles et al., Harcourt

Brace, 2002.

Perlovsky, Leonid. “A Challenge to Human Evolution-Cognitive Dissonance.” Frontiers in

Psychology, Frontiers Media S.A., 10 Apr. 2013,

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3622034/.

Rousseau, Jean-Jacques. “The Social Contact.” The Social Contact and Discourses, Everyman,

1993.

Steinbeck, John. Of Mice and Men. Penguin Books, 1993.

Wilde, Oscar. The Picture of Dorian Gray. Race Point Publishing, 2014.