Book Review: For the Love of Men: From Toxic Masculinity to a More Mindful Masculinity

Toxic masculinity is both a term and a concept that has been used widely in recent years to discuss problematic behaviour, beliefs, and attitudes that many argue support the legitimation of the patriarchy.Conversations in media and public life surrounding toxic masculinity as a pattern of behaviour, or belief system, often miss the mark by not attempting to understand the roots of the problem with nuance, care, and empathy.Society takes a greater issue with men who exhibit toxic masculinity than with the systems and social scripts that create those men.Rather than simply acknowledging that toxic masculinity exists and calling it out as it presents itself in social spaces, author Liz Plank meticulously seeks to understand and discuss the roots and harm traditional masculinity creates in contemporary society, with care, compassion, understanding, and empathy.Her keen observations are approachable, deeply thoughtful, professionally researched, and funny.Plank's work explores and examines gender equality and inequality from a perspective that suggests that current frameworks are incomplete, as they do not adequately address the lives of men or masculine identity and acknowledges that boys and men also suffer under traditional views of masculinity.For the Love of Men is an important work that encourages readers to not only challenge their own assumptions and beliefs regarding masculinity, but to also examine the ways in which we unconsciously reinforce toxic