Tuesday, November 5, 2019

Negativity Greets Positivity (Social Media Battleground)


It’s interesting that there’s so many negative comments about videos or social media posts that are encouraging the elimination of toxic masculinity in the younger generation. I left an image below of some of the comments on the YouTube video just to show some of the opinions and perspectives. It would seem as with most things that the majority of people that have something bad to say are people that are taking every little thing as if it’s a personal attack on them rather than realizing it’s just a general problem in society. Men and women alike had negative comments for the Gillette ad that addresses toxic masculinity.

There’s speculation by many that the advertisement was merely an attempt to earn money or earn a better reputation since their company is supposedly not doing well, but the message in the ad is still powerful regardless. There are many problem behaviors that can be taught to young boys that they carry throughout their development all the way through adulthood if not kept in check. I even had an argument with a longtime friend about it because as expected, he viewed the ad as a personal attack against his own masculinity and ways of living. He brought up how he and his army buddies would fight to relieve stress. It was a mentally stimulating conversation, but I had to disagree with him that males are naturally aggressive and have urges to fight and explain to him that this message isn’t meant for him, but for our society, and for the parents of the future generation.

It raises the question of what is it that drives this way of thinking and defensive behavior? Could it be insecurity and an incessant need to protect one’s masculinity? A compulsion to conform to please peers and family and maintain an image? No matter the cause I hope people will learn to open their minds to civil conversation and the ideas of others.

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