Words are everywhere. New ones. Neologisms. I can’t help but notice them. Especially ones that make me pause and attempt to process… with no possible resolution. Like trying to remember important birthdays or my dentist appointment.
The problem is that there’s more of them. Combinations of words put together to Frankenstein-up speech when other simpler language doesn’t convey enough emotion to satisfy our more in-tune culture. Like when I smack my elbow on a door frame and a simple yipe and four-letter word isn’t enough to relieve my pain pressure valve. And because I’m a master at self-inflicted pain – and I watch pro football – I’ve become a certified cuss-smith.
But the words that have me baffled are the trendy ones used to redefine or somehow clarify something that really doesn’t need clarification. Like “comfort food.” What the hell is comfort food? Now don’t send me a bunch of texts with smiling emojis that say, “MAC & CHEESE!” or “A BIG PILE OF MASHED POTATOES WITH GRAVY AND CORN NIBLETS!”
I get the concept. I just don’t understand it. I can honestly say that I’ve never been “comforted” by food. Even after near starvation, I’ve never found myself in a corner whimpering over a bowl of warm squishy anything and felt “comforted.” Don’t get me wrong, there are foods that I would walk ten miles for… brownies (without nuts)… Theo’s gumbo… Joe’s Fox Hut pizza. I guess I crave food but don’t find warm fuzzy flannel-pajama comfort in eating.
Maybe humanity has reached the gauzy point in our progression where everyone needs to be comforted…continually, even when we eat, you know, because there’s apparently so much discomfort everywhere else.
Then there are the word combos that are just a sharp finger-poke in the chest used to express societal disgust for a stationary target. Kinda like idiots throwing rocks at a bear in a cage. It serves no purpose other than to piss off the bear but somehow empowers the rock-slinger, who giggles at the plight of the bear from their perceived veil of security.
“Toxic masculinity.”
Huh?
I know the definition of “toxic” and I’m mostly confident in my understanding of “masculinity.” But what does it mean when someone who’s been told they’ve been wronged by a penis fuses the two together simply for the sake of assigning blame?
So now if a guy demonstrates innate masculine traits (in spite of generations of attempted reprogramming) he is somehow poisonous to society? If that’s the direction we’re headed, don’t ask my toxic self to fix something amazingly simple (because I know how to read a ruler and drill a hole) or to murder a mouse that’s been raiding your Cheetos. And really, pinch your lips if those words are part of your expanding vocabulary. The very traits that you consider “toxic” are the ones that built America and continue to keep us thriving and safe.
We bears-in-the-cage (male and female) are gettin’ kinda tired of labels and monikers. They’re unnecessary and provocative simply for the sake of division.
Honestly, for my entire life I have tried to understand women and femininity: All the good and bad stuff that makes me crazy(er). I’m like a rat that loves cheese but forgets the fate of the trap. But I’ve never used the word “toxic” or thought of women as somehow poisonous. Alien maybe. Toxic… never.
There are inherent gender differences (by design) that make the opposite sex sigh and throw their arms up in surrender. But it doesn’t make either gender a scourge to the other (or society) and warrant being pressure-cooked into something unrecognizable.
If masculinity is toxic, consider it a necessary byproduct of humanity’s success… like nuclear waste from an efficient and productive power plant. OK, maybe not nuclear waste. Car exhaust. Yeah…car exhaust. The necessary but dirty byproduct of getting us where we need to be. No, that’s a bad one too. Sounds poisonous…toxic.
Shit.
THAT’S IT! SHIT! MASCULINITY IS THE SHIT!
It’s the necessary (but apparently undesirable) byproduct of what maleness is. And everyone can understand it. Even comfort food becomes somethin’!
So true…I am so sick of labels. It just divides everyone and categorizes people (race, political preference, sexual preference, religion…). If we really want to be a unified country, quit defining and dividing everyone with a label…
Sadly these new words or labels aren’t being introduced to our society as a trendy new form of communication, they exist to force a narrative upon our society. If a group of people can control the language (and change the meanings of words at will) they can continually force others to abide by their narrative and thereby control the conversation. Phillip K. Dick, American science-fiction writer stated, “The basic tool for the manipulation of reality is the manipulation of words. If you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use the words.” Since the term “toxic masculinity” is used ad nauseam, the word masculinity is now associated with toxicity and is becoming increasingly difficult to separate the original idea or reality of masculinity from the idea or reality of it being in and of itself “toxic”! Vladimir Lenin, Russian dictator know for his brutal dictatorship and responsible for the deaths of 5,000,000 – 10,000,000 people of his country is credited with saying “A lie told often enough becomes the truth.” Changing the meaning of words to suit one’s narrative is a manipulative move and is meant to control the conversation. In this this case, the term “toxic masculinity”, as well as numerous other words, are not only used to control the conversation but also to silence anyone who disagrees with narrative of those changing the meanings. Make no mistake, those people who try to manipulate our language and force an agenda are not interested in conversation, good will, philanthropy or the exchange of ideas; their intent is much more nefarious than they would like you to believe.