From Hostility to Vulnerability: Twitter's Shifting Discourse on Masculinity and its Implications

Toxic masculinity refers to negative attitudes and behaviours including aggression, violence, dominance over other genders and weak, restricted positive emotional expression typically associated with men. It further includes marginalising any other who doesn’t believe or abide by these values. Through triangulating qualitative methods including thematic analysis, sentiment analysis integration and in-depth interview analysis, this study seeks to conceptualise the multifaceted nature of toxic masculinity on Twitter(X). Furthermore, the research explores the harmful influence of toxic masculinity while also highlighting the instances of resistance and the emergence of evolving discussions on masculinity within online communities. Repositioned masculinities and sexualization of women, aggression and intimidation, emotional suppression, and constructing and constricting gendered frontiers emerged as the main themes of the study. Despite the algorithmic bias, social media offers great potential to provide insights towards identifying the issues and possibilities of developing inclusive and safe online spaces. The environments where vulnerability finds acceptance and harmful norms are effectively challenged. Thereby, this research paves the way for further investigation by employing diverse methods and fostering interdisciplinary collaboration to shift the narrative and promote safe spaces. Moreover, it attempts to fully grasp the evolving tapestry of masculinity in the digital age and address its complex manifestations.