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Toxic
Masculinity
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Othello
Iago
Roderigo
Cassio
Brabantio
According to Colleen Clemens in her article about toxic masculinity, "Toxic masculinity is a narrow and repressive description of manhood, designating manhood as defined by violence, sex, status and aggression" (Clemens par. 4).
"'Perhaps the most important thing to remember; he said, 'is that race means something quite different today, compared to what it did in Shakespeare's time'" (Porter par. 3).
Beginning
1) Iago and Roderigo scream at Desdemona's father about Othello.
2) The duke forced Desdemona to stay with a man, when she wanted to be alone.
3) Iago is jealous of Cassio becoming the new Lieutenant.
This quote proves that Shakespeare was ahead of his time. His plays talk about issues that are still relevant today
1) This shows toxic masculinity in the form of racism.
2) This is an example of toxic masculinity because it show's that the duke thinks that a woman must always be with a man
3) This is toxic masculinity because Iago thinks he is just entitled to the position.
In the Middle Examples:
Roderigo
Iago
Othello
Roderigo's willingness to kill Cassio in order to win Desdemona is an example of toxic masculinity where one man thinks he's so much more deserving of something than another that he is willing to kill in order to obtain his prize. Not only is he trying to prove he's better than someone else but he is also treating Desdemona like an object.
The way Iago treats Emilia like an object is another example of toxic masculinity. Unless she serves some kind of purpose like finding the handkerchief she had no value in his eyes and even then she is still an object to him to use at his leisure.
When Othello told Desdemona to go to bed he was showing some amount of toxic masculinity. Being controlling of her in a way makes her something of an object rather than a person. Like a pet being called around
The men of Othello's society look down on women and minorities. To them they are objects of use rather than actual people. This is why the men all act the way they do towards each other and towards their wives.
"The Reason why Iago is so quickly and spectacularly successful in persuading Othello to swallow the vile tale he spins round Desdemona is that Othello is primed to believe it by the warped view of women and female sexuality that he shares not only with Iago but with other men." (Ryan par. 8)
"Toxic masculinity is a narrow and repressive description of manhood, designating manhood as defined by violence, sex, status, and aggression," (Clemens par. 4).
Examples:
1) Iago lied when being confronted about manipulating Othello among all the men.
2) Iago stabbed Amelia because she told the men that she stole the handkerchief for Iago.
3) In the end Othello realized he had strayed so far from his true character, and chose to kill himself
Iago stabbed Amelia because she admitted she stole the handkerchief for Iago to plant in Cassio's hands.
At this point, gender issues are becoming noticeable, and Iago would murder his wife because he believed she was useless and had destroyed his name amongst many other men.
Example 3 Analysis
Quote:
Climax and Resolution
Toxic masculinity was most prominent in the latter part of the play when the men took it upon themselves to kill Emilia and Desdemona. Othello killed Desdemona because he didn't want her to commit adultery against another man, while Iago murdered Emilia because she revealed the truth about his crimes.
As stated by Clemens, "After decades of study, I deeply believe that men are not naturally violent. But in a culture that equates masculinity with physical power, some men and boys will invariably feel like they are failing at 'being a man,'" (Clemens par. 8).
Resolution:
The issue was solved when Othello killed Iago, and then committed suicide.
Othello was not the type of man who would have chosen to murder his wife on his own. Due to those around him, and the rumors that he was a cuckold he became full of rage. Other men in that society looked down upon women and because of his shared beliefs with them, he started to believe his wife was a liar, and that all women were alike. Therefore, the culture around him impacted his views of his wife, and fueled his jealousy further leading to the death of an innocent woman.
Manipulation
Over protection
Entitlement
Controlling Partners
All of the men in the play exhibit some form of control over a woman. In a father/daughter relationship or a romantic relationship this is still relevant today.
We should still study Othello because it discusses the consequences of modern issues such as gender, race, and jealousy, which feed into toxic masculinity. There are more recognizable cases that involve these issues, so we can learn from Othello and prevent these cases.
"The phrase is derived from studies that focus on violent behavior perpetrated by men, and - this is key - is designed to describe not masculinity itself, but a form of gendered behavior that results when expectations of ' what it means to be a man ' go wrong" (Clemens par. 3).
Clemens, Colleen. “What We Mean When We Say, ‘Toxic Masculinity.’” Teaching Tolerance,
www.tolerance.org/magazine/what-we-mean-when-we-say-toxic-masculinity.
Porter, Tom. “How Did Shakespeare Think About the Issue of Race?” Bowdoin News Archive, 17
Nov. 2016, community.bowdoin.edu/news/2016/11/how-did-shakespeare-think-about-the-
issue-of-race/.
Ryan, Kiernan. “Racism, Misogyny and 'Motiveless Malignity' in Othello.” The British Library,
The British Library, 11 Dec. 2015, www.bl.uk/shakespeare/articles/racism-misogyny
-and-motiveless-malignity-in-othello.