"Toxic masculinity" and "toxic femininity." Real things or sexist mumbo-jumbo.

[Kimstu]

@monstro

However, from the article’s description of her flying into tearful rages whenever she’s criticized, it certainly sounds like she defends herself through emotional manipulation and victimhood, and I do think those are “toxic” traits. Seems to me a person with that kind of style would not be well-suited for the media limelight, but there she is, on national TV. And I guess by calling the problem “toxic femininity” rather than “histrionic asshole”, those who are inclined to feel sympathy for her might step back and examine if they are responding more to a socially engrained cue (female tears) than a dispassionate analysis of facts. I think the article is good for at least being brave enough to pin a face to the “toxic femininity” label, even if I’m unsure whether Meghan McCain is the type specimen of this classification.

I know nothing about Meghan McCain, but I agree in general that “toxic femininity” covers not only specifically female-coded ways of being mean to other people, but also exploiting gender stereotypes of female “weakness” and “delicacy” and “sensitivity”, etc., to evade responsibility or shirk or freeload. The stereotypical behavior not only of “mean girls” but also of “golddiggers”, “dumb blondes”, “delicate flowers”, “helpless females”, “clinging vines” and so forth all falls into the category of “toxic femininity”.