Topic > Toxic Masculinity in Australia: The Case of Hannah Clarke

In recent news, Hannah Clarke and her three children were gruesomely murdered by her ex-husband Rowan Baxter. Domestic violence and men brutally hitting each other causing death are phenomena seen all too often. Where boys will be boys should not be an excuse for violence, not even murder. Toxic masculinity refers to harmful behaviors and attitudes commonly associated with some men. This negative influence of toxic masculinity increases the level of violence among young Australians within society. Now, in the wake of recent movements supported by celebrities and families of victims who have the strength to create awareness of toxic masculinity and help others who have been affected by it, the idea of ​​toxic masculinity has started to gain more popularity in society wider. Ketchel, 2019). Furthermore, the essay will focus on the correlation between toxic masculinity and violence and show why this act of male superiority is remarkably prominent in Australia. It will also analyze current strategies that challenge the social issue and describe effective ideas for change. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Masculinity is the common stereotypical attribute associated with men and is the way to become virile, such as the need to repress emotions and act in an aggressively dominant manner (Barr, 2019). This negative influence of toxic masculinity also increases the level of violence within society, such as starting fights and encouraging domestic violence. Male violence and acts of aggression have been occurring for years and are often how power is understood. In more moderate contemporary societies, this has been tempered somewhat, but still exists in different forms and has now been given the name toxic masculinity. It is considered the abuse of power and position by men to suppress traditionally socially marginalized or powerless groups in society. This idea has since been extended to include other behaviors, such as aggressive competitiveness and intolerance toward others (Ketchel, 2019). The tragic and horrific murder of Hannah Clarke and her three children stunned all of Australia, as they were killed in the most inhumane way possible and murdered by the one who should have loved them. Unfortunately these murders and cases of family violence are not unheard of in Australia as men creating or causing domestic violence continue to increase, with one Australian woman killed every week due to domestic violence and toxic masculinity (Blatchford, 2020). In a recent interview with Current Affairs, cousin of Rowan Baxter, the man responsible for the deaths of Hannah Clarke and her three children, said that Rowan grew up with an alcoholic father who constantly abused his wife and didn't make him think well to women. This just goes to show that male superiority is passed down from generation to generation as teenagers grow up, seeing their male role models treat women this way thinking it's normal. Ultimately, leading to the recent murders. Toxic masculinity not only harms women but also other men. Recently, a jury found Hugh Garth guilty of unlawful assault causing death. In 2017, Raynor Manalad suffered extensive bleeding on the brain after a punch attack that caused her death. Fueled by alcohol, these acts of aggressive behavior are all too common in Australia and display dominance over the vulnerable by knocking someone down (Daniel, 2017). AlNowadays, the abuse of power by men resulting in injury and death is an ongoing and increasingly alarming problem due to the negative influence of toxic masculinity which increases the level of violence within society. Toxic masculinity has a significant impact in Australia and has led to such violent acts that have had a lifelong impact on the lives of many Australians. Men and young adolescents abusing their power in society is evident and prominent in Australia due to a certain culture that revolves around young adolescents. Australia has a strong drinking culture: 78.8% of Australians aged 18 and over have consumed alcohol in the past year, and a further 8.5% consumed alcohol 12 or more months ago. Additionally, men had consumed alcohol in the past year (84.5%) compared to women (73.3%) (Australian Burea of ​​Statistics, 2018). Alcohol generally causes aggression and is seen in local bars with young teenagers watching and learning from what is demonstrated before them. Additionally, some betting commercials show men drinking and betting in bars promoting that men should drink in bars. In Australia, sports such as AFL and NRL are common sports for young Australians to watch and participate in. Around 6.5 million Australians watch the NRL (Sportytell, 2020). However, in these sports, players often fail to show sportsmanship and start violent fights to demonstrate their dominance, rather than talk about the problem. For young rugby players, this establishes that being a manly NRL player means you have to create fights to be tough. Overall, young Australians are exposed to the negative Australian culture of manhood and it is influencing young adolescents to become more aggressive and violent. As the growing problem of toxic masculinity continues to increase in Australia, many campaigns are being put in place to reduce the risk of continued violence caused by men due to these negative influences. Danny Green, world champion boxer and supporter of the one-punch campaign, is taking up the fight to prevent one-punch attacks. Its aim is to provide people, particularly young people, with strategies to avoid violent situations and reiterate the community's disgust with violence. He said: “I think that negative connotation would be very helpful and would be a very powerful and impactful tactic to simply stop kids from doing it, for that very reason.” This is a very powerful message, a powerful tactic that doesn't cost a cent and would have wide-ranging exposure and impact.' (Henry, 2016). This means that the negative influences of toxic masculinity, such as hitting someone over the head making you hard, increase the level of violence within society. Advocates like Danny Green help society and reduce the amount of violent cases as a result of the harmful impacts of toxic masculinity. The violence caused by toxic masculinity must be stopped. Right now, there are current strategies in place to challenge the social issue such as advertisements, short films and campaigns. However, additional effective ideas can be explored. Advertising is seen everywhere. Whether it's on TV, online and even on the streets. Gillette had made a new advertisement for its razor products. At the same time, the advertisement sought to address the issue of toxic masculinity by showing men doing what men are stereotypically known for doing. However, this did not go down well as most viewers who watched it said that it was more of an attack on men and not toxic masculinity, as the message was that men/