When toxic masculinity becomes a big problem

What does it mean to be a man? As a woman, I have all sorts of ideas about what a man should be; strong, masculine, virile, charming, smart and funny. Financially intelligent and economically stable. Honest, loyal, monogamous. Clean, fresh, sweet-smelling. Intelligent, eloquent, concise, etcetera.

None of these things are original. I’m basically recounting the Hallmark/Mills and Boon terms and conditions of desirable masculinity. Through an overly romanticised lens, I picture a shirt-less, six-packed specimen, splitting logs out in the woods somewhere, and stopping every so often to wipe the sweat off his furrowed brow. He always has an intense look in his eyes, a bandana stuffed into the back pocket of hip-hugging blue jeans and a Ford pick-up truck parked out front.