ABSTRACT
In this chapter the authors consider the relationship between toxic masculinity and language, beginning by identifying the origins and evolution of the term toxic masculinity before exploring the discourses that surround it. The rest of the chapter is devoted to considering the discourses through which toxic masculinity is performed, as well as justified. The chapter is divided according to the different kinds of ‘harms’ (including discrimination and exclusion) that can arise from toxically masculine performances, namely, misogyny, homophobia, right-wing extremism and the domination of animals and the natural world. The chapter looks at toxic masculinity in online contexts, focussed around the ‘mansophere’, and identities like incels, Chads and PUAs (Pick Up Artists). The chapter also considers homophobic chanting at football matches, assertions of dominance through handshakes by the politician Donald Trump, and a Russian advert to volunteer to fight in the war in the Ukraine. The authors show how discourses of toxic masculinity can perpetuate cycles of discrimination, oppression and environmental disregard. The chapter concludes by asking, critically, whether a toxic masculinity framework is ultimately helpful.
