By Mark Hancock for THE DAILY SIGNAL
On a recent “60 Minutes” segment, UFC president Dana White was asked whether he worries that the sport might promote “toxic masculinity.” White shot back, “What does that even mean? Can you be too masculine?”
It was a revealing moment—one that captured our cultural confusion around the topic of masculinity. Both White and his interviewer were using a loaded phrase without defining it. The implication was clear: that “toxic masculinity” means too much masculinity, as if manhood were a substance that turns poisonous in excess.
But masculinity isn’t a matter of dosage—it’s a matter of direction. The problem isn’t how much masculinity men express, but whether it’s healthy or unhealthy—whether strength is used to build or to break, to serve or to dominate.
For years, we’ve been trying to answer the wrong question. Instead of trying to figure out how masculine is too masculine, we should be asking: What does healthy masculinity look like?
