Meaning
What does Toxic femininity mean?
Toxic femininity is posed as the female equivalent to toxic masculinity.
The general meaning of toxic femininity is to use the fact that you are a female, or female attributes, to achieve perks or excuses.
For example, you convince a man to do your job, simply because you, a woman, cannot do it yourself. This is exploitation of the other person as well as harming for the general perception of women.
It can also lead to abuse in relationships, where the toxic woman may hit and abuse her partner, and he is not taken seriously because “she is just a woman, how hard can she hit anyway”, and because of societal rules, he cannot defend himself, because she is a woman.
Origin
What's the origin of Toxic femininity?
There is no clear origin of the term, however, the third wave feminism is pushing patriarchal boundaries yet again, and the term “toxic masculinity” is used against misogynists.
As a counter-attack to the movement, Men’s activists started pushing back with the female equivalent; “toxic femininity”.
Spread & Usage
How did Toxic femininity spread?
With all the major feminist movements in the past few years, such as the “#metoo” movement, activist standpoints has gotten major social media coverage, resulting a growth in the use of the term.
However, there are great discussions whether toxic masculinity and -femininity are comparable, or if toxic femininity exists at all.
External resources
- Wikia.org – Geek Feminism Wiki
- Urban Dictionary – Toxic Femininity