Vice President Kamala Harris’ husband, Douglas Emhoff, has decided to take on the non-issue of “toxic masculinity” — saying that he is going to use his “platform” to fight the issue.
During a recent interview with MSNBC’s Jonathan Capehart, Emhoff claimed that there is too much “toxicity” in masculinity these days — noting that this is an issue that he has spent “a lot” of time thinking about.
“There’s too much of toxicity — masculine toxicity out there, and we’ve kind of confused what it means to be a man, what it means to be masculine,” he said.
“You’ve got this trope out there where you have to be tough, and angry, and lash out to be strong,” Emhoff added. “I think it is just the opposite. Strength is how you show your love for people. Strength is how you are for people and how you have their back and how you stick up for other people and pushing up and out against bullies. And that’s what I believe it is.”
“Every time I can speak against this toxicity — we are seeing it with our younger people, we’re seeing it in our discourse and politics, in the media you are seeing it as it relates to so many of the issues we are pushing back on, so I think it’s a problem and I am going to continue to use this platform every time I get to speak out against this toxic masculinity that is out there,” he continued.
So-called “toxic masculinity” is a major issue for the left, and though they all define the term differently, one of the most consistent attacks on men is about their strength. Meanwhile, most conservatives have criticized these claims, arguing that the supposedly “toxic” traits in men are actually the fault of a lack of masculinity.
“ABSENCE of masculinity is a much larger and deeper social issue than so-called ‘toxic masculinity’. It’s bad for everyone. Men, women, and especially children. Weak men lead to bad times,” tweeted rapper and conservative commentator Zuby.
ABSENCE of masculinity is a much larger and deeper social issue than so called 'toxic masculinity'.
It's bad for everyone. Men, women and especially children.
Weak men lead to bad times.
— ZUBY: (@ZubyMusic) April 22, 2020
Conservatives have roasted Emhoff for his ridiculous assertions.
Trish Regan, host of “The Trish Regan Show,” blasted Emhoff for pushing the far-left agenda of redefining traditional masculinity.
“I’d say you’ve confused it,” Regan said in response to Emhoff’s comments about masculinity. “I’d say you’ve done a really good job at confusing it.”
“It’s not that hard, it’s just that you seem really kind of hell-bent on making sure that young kids don’t understand the difference between a man and a woman,” she added. “You know, Apple has that ‘pregnant man’ emoji and everyone sudden wants to go by ‘they.’”
“A masculine man is someone who is a responsible person,” Regan explained. “A responsible person, a kind person who looks out for women and recognizes the vulnerability and the specialness, if you will, of women. There’s nothing wrong with that.”
BlazeTV’s Sara Gonzales also discussed Emhoff’s comments during a recent episode of her panel show “The News & Why It Matters,” alongside BlazeTV contributor Eric July and John Doyle, host of the podcast “Heck Off, Commie.”
Gonzales and her guests argued that masculinity is what has created this country and everything good in it, while today’s generation has become “soft” and the men are no longer masculine — which July argued has caused the decline of American society.
According to Doyle, Emhoff “has it completely backwards… What he’s describing is when you take feminine behavior and put it into a male’s body.”
“Vice versa too, toxic femininity would be like when you have a woman who’s acting like a man, but in the worst way possible,” Doyle added.
“Masculinity is about being in control of your environment, being in control of your emotions,” he explained. “No one’s ever saw a guy get really mad about something stupid and been like ‘Wow, he’s just like Clint Eastwood, this is so cool.’ There’s a time to be angry, there’s a time to be tough, but it’s not all the time.”
