The men in Much Ado about Nothing are obsessed with cuckoldry. Out of the play, however, arises a revolutionary vision of how male-female relationships could be.
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Tag Archives: toxic masculinity
Much Ado about Male Insecurities
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Cuckoldry, Marriage, Much Ado about Nothing, Pete Hegseth, Relationships, Taming of the Shrew, William Shakespeare Leave a comment
Is Taming of the Shrew about Male Fragility?
Perhaps Taming of the Shrew is less about taming shrews and more about male fragility. That would restore some of Katharina’s dignity.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Male fragility, Much Ado about Nothing, Pete Hegseth, William Shakespeare Leave a comment
Steinem, Rich, Atwood, and Men in “Walls of Iron”
Adrienne Rich and Margaret Atwood understand what Steinem understood: how men, like women, are trapped in crippling mythologies.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Knight", Adrienne Rich, Circe Mud Poems, Gloria Steinem, Margaret Atwood Comments closed
The Trap of Toxic Masculinity
Toxic masculinity is defining the Trump administration. Authors such as William Wycherley and Adrienne Rich recognize the dangers.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged “Epistle from Mrs. Yonge to Her Husband", "Knight", Adrienne Rich, Country Wife, cuckolding, Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, Pete Hegseth, William Wycherley Comments closed
Toxic Masculinity Expressed thru Bombs
The toxic masculinity that may explain why Trump bombed Iran exacts a price on those caught up in it, as Adrienne Rich makes clear.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Knight", "Moon Landing", Adrienne Rich, Donald Trump, Iran attack, W. H. Auden Comments closed
Understanding Murikami’s 1Q84
In which I explore the theme of toxic masculinity in Murakami’s “1Q84.”
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Dover Beach", 1Q84, Carl Jung, Haruki Murakami, Matthew Arnold, return of the repressed, Sigmund Freud, Trumpism Comments closed
How Toxic Masculinity Imprisons Men
Those men who are embracing toxic masculinity make themselves vulnerable since it’s so easy to deflate them. Lady Montagu pointed this out in an 18th century poem.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Epistle from Mrs. Yonge to Her Hustand", Chaucer, Country Wife, cuckold jokes, Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, male anxiety, Sigmund Freud, Wife of Bath, William Wycherley Comments closed
Dreams of a Sex Strike
South Korea’s 4B movement, aimed at toxic men, may owe something to Aristophanes’ “Lysistrata,” written 2500 years ago.
A Christian Attack on Toxic Masculinity
In “Sir Charles Grandison,” Richardson attacks toxic masculinity in ways that feel very modern.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Clarissa, dueling, Henry Fielding, Jane Austen, Joseph Andrews, Northanger Abbey, Pamela, Samuel Richardson, Shamela, Sir Charles Grandison, Tom Jones Comments closed