Member-only story
We’ve seen this story before…that of a lady and an attention whore.
Toxic masculinity has been commonly referenced over the past several years via social media, feminist literature, and beyond. Though the term was, according to Salter (2019), coined during “the mythopoetic men’s movement of the 1980s and ‘90s” (para. 4). Referencing toxic masculinity has arguably gained momentum in more recent history as a result of the #MeToo movement’s rise to prominence. Elliott (2018) characterized it as masculinity involving problematic elements such as violence, “suppression of emotion and devaluation of women” (p. 18). Evidence of toxic masculinity in the US, specifically, is widespread, ranging from popular music to the oval office. Regarding the former, hip-hop, deemed America’s most popular music genre, is at times a huge proponent of toxic masculine attitudes and behaviors. Nevertheless, listeners of hip-hop often excuse the negativity promoted due to various factors, including shared detrimental beliefs or an appreciation of the artform.
Messages of violence, suppression of emotion, and devaluation of women are all too common in hip-hop songs, dating as far back as the 1980s. Perhaps, a key place to find such talk is through diss tracks, or hip-hop music where artists speak ill of one another to either express a grievance, gain…
