Glass Egos

Men who cannot bear to be mocked or laughed at.  (Guess.  Go on, guess.)

That fear of being laughed at lives right at the existential core of toxic masculinity. In his excellent 2004 book, The Wimp Factor: Gender Gaps, Holy Wars, and the Politics of Anxious Masculinity, psychologist Stephen Ducat showed that conservative masculinity is rooted in the idea that penetration—having your body, property, resources, sense of control, or dignity taken against your will—is for women, gay men, and other people who don’t have what it “takes” to secure their own boundaries, and therefore exist to be dominated by those who do. A “real man” is, by definition, one who can and will defend his personal boundaries against all threats at all times—and also has the power, if he wishes, to violate the boundaries of others if he chooses.

Sara Robinson (yes!!!), Rewired.  (Book title links to Amazon in original.) (Just close the pop-up; I do agree, but I've given out my email address too often.)(via Shakesville.)