Reading this story, I don’t think of the toxic culture of college football, but of the dangerous masculinity urged by sports: push harder, ignore pain, show no weakness…or you’re “a pussy.” (Yes, there’s misogyny there too, but nonetheless.). We come to believe in these strictures, that ethos– so much damage is self-inflicted, before, during, and in the long reckoning after. It’s not that I don’t believe in cultivating toughness, but that this construction of manhood is not sufficient for the world, and does harm to the lives of boys and men, and the people who love them.
(posted from Facebook)
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