Toxic

All new senryu. What if women had been in charge all these millennia?

Hard to be a man
Instincts driving toxic harm
Tempered by women

Author's Note

Wrote this this morning about a subject I think about often. Toxic masculinity. But before I 'splain myself I would be interested in how others read that. I want to build a poem on this idea. Love the idea of challenging you all to rewrite it or even build a poem from it yourselves.

Reviews

[Patricia]

This is really good, I can’t write these and I don’t try anymore but I admire the good ones and this is good. Masculinity hmmmm toxicity hmmmm how about just being human. Too much emphasis on what a woman and a man should be

[William Michael Reeves]

Thanks Patricia. Haiku is an interesting form. If the subject interests you please read 'I Am A Man'. I wrote half of it from a female perspective and really wonder if I got it right?
Bill

[Patricia]

you're welcome and I will

[Cherrie Palmer]

A variation of theme :)

True grit

See but do not yield.
A man's character just is.
And then simply stands

[William Michael Reeves]

Judge us by the content of our character. The honesty of our actions. The truth of our words.
I was hoping you'd do that Cherrie! Your haiku made me think of commitment and how it can't be created or worked on. It just is. True commitment to good character just happens.

[Cherrie Palmer]

The problem with the new generation is they don't want anything to cost them and true character comes from beating the odds a few million times. Standing up for someone else when needed. Not bending the truth to suit yourself and giving to your neighbors. I see it everywhere and it makes me sad.
My dad was a WWII Marine and I believe humility through strength and standing our ground.
It will be interesting to see what others bring to the table.

[William Michael Reeves]

Your dad is the greatest generation. I wish we could get more of that character in our pants drooping, phone zombies that are our youth. So much truth in your words 'character comes from beating the odds'. Society is eliminating the challenges that used to build character. Not really their fault. Coddled through school protected from the things life used to throw at us.
Thanks for your thoughts!

Billigami

[shadrach hah]

Hi William, I do love Haiku. I am always amazed how you can manage to encapsulate your ideas into so few words. Love the content. Yes, as Jacob says, "It is hard to be a man these days." We should have taken the time to care about what was happening around us, to care about each other. What would we do without women in this world. They do calm our angers. Have a wonderful thursday....Mike.

[William Michael Reeves]

Hang tight Mike! I'm folding words again!! This is becoming a poem
Billigami

[shadrach hah]

Look forward to reading it, William. Have a wonderful Thursday....Michael.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Yes, harder to be a man these days, but we got ourselves into this dilemma....we should have paid attention much more closely for the last zillion years.
j.

[William Michael Reeves]

Yes! And listened. And cared! I'm going to build a poem on the idea. Based on my haiku.thanks for the comment

[mattavelli]

Hello, William! :)
I think the phrase "toxic masculinity" is both, an ambiguous description, and a pointed attack, because I don't know what it's supposed to mean, but it reads as "bad man stuff". So, I think it's probably something that some women thought up while they've been taking part in running things the past millennia.
Thanks for sharing and the topic.

[William Michael Reeves]

To me 'toxic masculinity' is a condition caused by instinctive tendencies and societal influences. All men struggle, to varying degrees of success, with drives and desires. Carl Sagen wrote about the Reptilian factor in our limbic system. Autonomous instinctive drives. Coupled with a barrage of stimulation challenging our values. We see the result of this struggle on the news every night. That's what the first two lines are about. It has become easier for men who have to answer to the women. In cultures where women are still subjugated men still run amok like they have for millennia. In cultures where men have to answer to women we've managed to get something done together. Imagine if we could add the contributions of women who were burned at the stake simply for their intellect. Voiceless generations of women. Fortunately most of us have wizened up!
I feel a poem coming on. Thanks for getting me started.

Billigami

[mattavelli]

Everyone is different. If you don't like someone's behavior, call it toxic. If that person is a man, call it toxic masculinity. There's a fallacy in there. In your explanation, you state that toxic masculinity is a condition, then you mention its causes, but I still can't figure out what the condition is. It still reads to me as "bad man stuff".

"Autonomous instinctive drives. Coupled with a barrage of stimulation challenging our values."

[William Michael Reeves]

More of an internal thing that all men have to struggle with because of instincts that drive us. Some more than others. When a man can't control it, like our former president and thousands of priests, toxicity is created by attitudes and actions. Wars and abuses. And cultures that don't respect women struggle. And cultures like ours that do respect the contributions of women, finally, thrive. Such as it is. Maybe better described as toxic testosterone

[mattavelli]

"a cultural concept of manliness that glorifies stoicism, strength, virility, and dominance, and that is socially maladaptive or harmful to mental health:
Men and women both suffer when toxic masculinity perpetuates expectations that are restrictive and traumatizing."
I googled it, and still don't really understand. It reads like competitiveness is bad. I'll ponder it. Haha