{"id":81775,"date":"2019-01-28T00:02:57","date_gmt":"2019-01-28T06:02:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/?p=81775"},"modified":"2019-02-02T14:18:10","modified_gmt":"2019-02-02T20:18:10","slug":"jesus-and-toxic-masculinity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2019\/01\/28\/jesus-and-toxic-masculinity\/","title":{"rendered":"Jesus And Toxic Masculinity"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

From CBE<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

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By\u00a0Rob Dixon<\/a><\/div>\n
On January 23, 2019<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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By now, you\u2019ve probably seen\u00a0Gillette\u2019s \u201cWe Believe: The Best Men Can Be\u201d ad<\/a>. Launched last week online, the ad depicts several examples of toxic masculinity, including bullying, harassment, mansplaining, and the notion that \u201cboys will be boys.\u201d For those that may not know, toxic masculinity refers to masculinity that encourages aggressive and violent behavior and discourages emotion and self-control. In other words, masculinity that is both dangerous for women and harmful to men. It\u2019s also crucial to note that toxic masculinity does\u00a0not<\/em>\u00a0mean that\u00a0all <\/em>masculinity is toxic.\u00a0The ad ends by exhorting men to embrace a healthy vision for masculinity, with text that reads: \u201cit\u2019s only by challenging ourselves to do more that we can get closer to our best.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of course one goal for any commercial is to be noticed, and, in this case, mission accomplished. The ad has garnered a number of reactions, ranging from appreciation to rebuke. For instance, one week after its unveiling, the YouTube version of the ad had been viewed more than 25 million times, and had accrued almost 700,000 likes and more than 1.2 million dislikes.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d like to offer three reflections on Gillette\u2019s toxic masculinity ad, as one who has done a lot of thinking about how our concepts of masculinity\u2014both in the church and in the wider culture\u2014connect (or not) with Jesus\u2019 vision for men.<\/p>\n

First, I want to say kudos to the folks at Gillette for choosing to spend their ad money to call out toxic masculinity.\u00a0<\/strong>While I experience some degree of dissonance with how this ad monetizes pushback against the social malady that is toxic masculinity, I think we should welcome any message that critiques the worst versions of manhood in our culture.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s true because there is a lot to be concerned about. For instance, we live in a world where\u00a0one in three women will experience some form of sexual violence in their lifetimes, and we know that 90% of perpetrators of sexual violence against women are men<\/a>. Because of these statistics and more, I invite a message that identifies and thoughtfully critiques toxic masculinity, no matter the source.<\/p>\n

Second, we should be thankful for the conversations that the ad has generated, both online and in our relational circles.<\/strong>\u00a0Without question, Gillette\u2019s decision to publicly critique toxic masculinity has sparked a debate, and cultural notions of masculinity are being litigated right before our eyes. As the ad\u2019s YouTube evaluation tally suggests, some agree with Gillette\u2019s approach and others do not.<\/p>\n

On one hand, there has certainly been a backlash against the ad. One person in my relational networks decried how the ad represents one more battle in a war against men. My friend is not alone, as\u00a0Newsweek notes<\/a><\/em>\u00a0that, \u201csome men have further\u00a0vowed to boycott\u00a0Gillette over what they consider to be an \u2018assault on masculinity.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

On the other hand, Gillette has been lauded for encouraging men to invite their brothers to live out a different type of masculinity. Writing in\u00a0USA Today<\/em>,\u00a0Kirsten Powers concludes<\/a>: \u201cWhen a man speaks up about sexual harassment, it carries a different kind of weight than when a woman says it. If men feel they are risking the respect of their colleagues and fellow men, they are more likely to alter their behavior than if they are confronted by the office feminist. The ad was simply asking men to risk some of their comfort and take a stand when necessary.\u201d<\/p>\n

As followers of Jesus who value the full dignity and worth of women, we should embrace this cultural conversation. I firmly believe that Gillette has given us a gift: an opportunity to talk about where we as the church have erred in our teachings on masculinity and in our treatment of women. What if we used time in our home group meetings, or in our Sunday school classes, or, indeed, in our Sunday sermons to show the ad and host open dialogue on the topic of toxic masculinity?<\/p>\n

Third, while I\u2019m grateful in many ways for this ad and the conversations that it is provoking, I also find myself lamenting.<\/strong>\u00a0Why?<\/p>\n

Because it\u2019s God\u2019s church\u2014far more than a company like Gillette\u2014that should be on the leading edge in the battle against toxic masculinity. Spurred on by the masculinity modeled by Jesus, Christians should be the ones challenging both ourselves and our culture to reject any version of masculinity that oppresses, marginalizes, and threatens women.<\/p>\n

Jesus was incarnated into a world where women were permanently and solidly on the cultural margins. The toxic masculinity critiqued in the Gillette ad pales in comparison to the first century version, where women were little more than objects, voiceless and largely defined by their relationships to the men in their lives.<\/p>\n

This makes Jesus\u2019 treatment of women so remarkable. Jesus\u2019 brand of masculinity was one where women were, among other things, honored (Matthew 26:6-13), listened to (Mark 7:24-30), and embraced as evangelists (John 4:1-42). For Jesus, women could be disciples (Luke 10:38-42), they could travel with him (Matthew 27:52), and they were worthy of serving as positive examples in his stories (Luke 21:1-4). In perhaps his single most revolutionary act around gender, in a world where the testimony of a woman was not allowed in court, Jesus entrusted the message of his resurrection to Mary, the first person in history to bear the gospel (Matthew 28:1-10). Indeed, scholar Walter Wink notes that \u201cJesus violated the mores of his time in every single encounter with women recorded in the four Gospels.\u201d[1]<\/p>\n

In light of Jesus\u2019 counter cultural (then, and now) example, I\u2019ll offer two thoughts for our faith communities to consider in the midst of this cultural moment.<\/p>\n

To begin with, we should reevaluate how we talk about and model masculinity in our faith communities. To be sure, toxic masculinity must be rooted out. As the #churchtoo movement reminds us, too many church-going men have perpetuated violence against their sisters. There can be no room in God\u2019s church for gender violence of any kind.<\/p>\n

In addition, our church communities should consider how the masculinity we are presenting aligns (or not) with Jesus\u2019. For much of its history, the church has privileged men over women, and, in many cases, men continue to hold most of the power in our faith communities. Are we open to a vision for masculinity that, like Jesus, honors, empowers, and advocates for women, even if it means losing power and control?<\/p>\n

Next, we should offer a healthy vision for masculinity, one that embraces the complexity of what it can mean to be a man. The stereotypical definition of masculinity has run its course, and it is time to broaden our view. Some men are assertive, while others are collaborative. Some are \u201cthe strong silent type,\u201d but others are loud and expressive. And some want to take the proverbial hill, while others would rather wait and see what happens.<\/p>\n

In the masculinity embodied by Jesus, there is room for every man except for the toxic ones. Does your faith community allow for a fuller definition of masculinity? I recommend furthering this conversation by reading books like\u00a0Man Enough<\/em>\u00a0or\u00a0Malestrom<\/em>, ideally in groups.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, any public critique of toxic masculinity is a good thing, even if it comes in the context of a 90 second commercial put out by a shaving company, and we should welcome anything that catalyzes a conversation that envisions a better vision for masculinity.<\/p>\n

The question is, can the church become that catalyst?<\/p>\n

Notes<\/strong><\/p>\n

[1] Walter Wink,\u00a0Engaging the Powers<\/em>, 129, quoted in\u00a0The Jesus I Never Knew<\/em>\u00a0by Philip Yancey.<\/p>\n

Rob Dixon will be speaking at CBE\u2019s 2019 conference in Houston on August 2-4. If you like what you read here,\u00a0come see Rob speak this summer.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From CBE By\u00a0Rob Dixon On January 23, 2019 By now, you\u2019ve probably seen\u00a0Gillette\u2019s \u201cWe Believe: The Best Men Can Be\u201d ad. Launched last week online, the ad depicts several examples of toxic masculinity, including bullying, harassment, mansplaining, and the notion that \u201cboys will be boys.\u201d For those that may not know, toxic masculinity refers to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":197,"featured_media":81946,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-81775","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nJesus And Toxic Masculinity<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"From CBE By\u00a0Rob Dixon On January 23, 2019 By now, you\u2019ve probably seen\u00a0Gillette\u2019s \u201cWe Believe: The Best Men Can Be\u201d ad. 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