Toxic masculinity

Erinc said toxic masculinity and internalized misogyny “are two sides of the same coin.” Erinc said both concepts emerge from the belief that men must exert masculinity and power, while women must adopt femininity and, in turn, compliance.

“In men, that can manifest in like aggressiveness or like being obsessed with looks or like trying not to look soft,” he said. “It can be the other way with women, like trying to seem like domestic or submissive.”

Ben-Gacem said there are ties between internalized misogyny and toxic masculinity. He said both concepts exhibit condemnation for stereotypically feminine attributes and promote hypermasculinity.

“People can express hatred in terms of internalized misogyny of things that are inherently feminine like I said, saying things like ‘that’s so girly,’” he said. “On the other hand, there are things… where people are expressing their hatred for things that are inherently not masculine.”

Erinc said both ideas surface due to how society views men and women historically, and they are interlinked because women are told to act the opposite of how men would, and vice versa.

“It is one force that has emerged as a result of like historical power,” he said. “The idea that men should be one way, and women should be one way, I think they compliment each other because we define these things in relation to each other.”

Erinc said this stigma limits women from expressing themselves fully, in the same way toxic masculinity limits men.

“They are the manifestations of the same force coming from two different end gender spectrums,” he said. “It’s limiting. It’s like ‘don’t do this, but do this,’ and that can have like a really strong sort of disconnect with how you’re actually feeling.”