After the cartoon supervillainy of Donald Trump and the smarmy misogyny of JD Vance, the “positive masculinity” of Walz and his ilk is a joyful relief, and these programs are often doing good work. Because rather than challenging the old stereotypes and patterns, the whole positive masculinity framework actually seems to be reinforcing them. “Healthy or positive masculinity is the idea that men can be emotionally expressive, have female friends or mentors, and express their emotions without feeling emasculated,” the website of one such program in North Carolina says. There is a lurking sexism in the whole positive masculinity conceit. “Positive masculinity” is not about de-gendering universal human qualities, and certainly not about encouraging boys to believe that they could have something to learn from women or female cultural norms.

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Persons: Donald Trump, JD Vance, Walz, Don McPherson, Masculinities, ” Organizations: Psychological Association’s Society Locations: North Carolina, United States