The GOP Has Weaponized the Man Box
Extremist men are coming for our rights and our freedoms.
The reason men in the manosphere are so angry at women? Because empowerment for women requires accountability from men. For men, being held accountable, and moreso, holding ourselves accountable in relationships where women have equal power requires self-reflection.
For men raised in our bullying dominance-based culture of masculinity, self reflection is forbidden, punished. Who we authentically are doesn’t matter in Man Box culture. We are trained instead to model our identity on a narrow set of rules for how to be a man. The rules of Man Box culture.
- Don’t show your emotions.
- Be tough, never ask for help.
- Be heterosexual.
- Never talk about anything deep.
- Be a breadwinner not a caregiver.
- Have control of women and girls.
- Have lots of sex.
All these rules require we show dominance over those around us, expecially over the women in our lives.
Living by the generations-old rules of the Man Box means asserting dominance in little and big ways in every interaction. Our response to pushback? Double down on bullying, etc. It’s a system…
