Wait A Minute, A Hollywood Actress Says Something Sane About 'Toxic Masculinity'?

By Sarah Lee | 7:52 PM on May 30, 2019

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Hollywood’s been pretty nutty for a while now. It’s no secret that creative type who seek fame tend to have, with some exceptions I’m sure, issues with narcissism and entitlement. And there’s evidence to suggest fame actually makes people with these personality traits particularly susceptible to grifters. Which could explain why they jump on every passing fad that hits the red carpet of activism, sometimes requiring little data or reason make the jump.

But perhaps there’s some sanity left in that rarefied community of people who make their living acting like the rest of us. The esteemed and talented Meryl Streep has just made a statement about the popular boy in school “toxic masculinity” that is downright rational and sane. I know…sit down…

Actress Meryl Streep this week took issue with the term “toxic masculinity,” saying in an interview with Vanity Fair that the label can sometimes be harmful.

“Sometimes I think we’re hurt — we hurt our boys by calling something toxic masculinity. I do,” the Academy Award winner said on Wednesday. “And I don’t find putting those two words together … because women can be pretty f—ing toxic.”

…

“I think the labels are less helpful than what we’re trying to get to, which is a communication, direct, between human beings,” Streep added. “We’re all in the boat together and you gotta make it work.”

Streep, who stars in the upcoming season of HBO’s “Big Little Lies” — a well-done drama about women that showcased an abusive husband in its first season — is really breaking ranks here with the accepted social construct that only cares when males are destructive and toxic. What’s more, she’s expressing what sounds like genuine concern for what that might do to young boys and men who are told repeatedly that their simple maleness is dangerous and undesirable.

Remember, this is a woman who deflected her association with Harvey Weinstein by saying the following:

“I don’t want to hear about the silence of me. I want to hear about the silence of Melania Trump. I want to hear from her. She has so much that’s valuable to say. And so does Ivanka. I want her to speak now.”

I’ll leave you readers to decide what a statement like that might say about her understanding of toxic femininity. I’m just going to bask in the glow that perhaps…maybe, just maybe…there might be a little hope for the glitterati set. And how it might make seeing them in movies fun again.