Toxic Masculinity At the Oscars

Once we first heard the joke by Chris Rock that was directed at Jada Pinkett-Smith on the Oscars, we didn’t get it. It was not till Will Smith stepped as much as smack Rock that we grabbed our laptop computer to do a Google seek for “G.I. Jane” and “Jada Pinkett-Smith” to determine what the incident was all about.

We’ve admired Chris Rock and Will Smith all through their careers, each on and off the stage.

However the habits exhibited by each of them at Sunday’s Oscars present was inexcusable.

Chris Rock’s joke (which wasn’t even humorous) was obnoxious, in unhealthy style, and hurtful. Mocking an individual with a illness (Ms. Pinkett-Smith suffers from alopecia) or a incapacity by no means is acceptable in any setting.

This kind of bullying habits is a attribute of many males. Recall for instance, when our former president mimicked along with his physique language a New York Instances reporter who has a bodily incapacity.

Equally, Will Smith’s subsequent assault and battery upon Rock exemplified one other variation of a uniquely-male noxious angle wherein males justify the usage of their fists (or weapons) both to salve their bruised egos or to get what they need by brute power (e.g., Vladimir Putin).

We have now learn in numerous media that some have tried to justify Smith’s felony habits on the grounds that he was defending his spouse’s honor. Nevertheless, girls are greater than able to taking good care of themselves. They don’t want a person to take action. That angle prevails solely in societies the place girls are handled like second-class residents.

In our view, each Chris Rock and Will Smith needs to be banned from the Oscars till additional discover. Their poisonous masculinity has no place wherever in our society, however particularly on a stage as huge because the Oscars.