This is an uncomfortable time for many men. But the upending of locker-room masculinity shouldn’t be seen as a threat.
Something is very wrong with men in Australia. Parliament House masturbators. The “big swinging dicks” pulling strings in the Coalition party room. An allegation of rape in a minister’s office, and another levelled against the former attorney-general (which he strenuously denies).
If you hang around in the footy sheds, pubs and group chats of Australia, none of the stories we’re hearing right now will come as a surprise. For too many men, what Donald Trump once glibly described as “locker room banter” — the casual, scripted misogyny performed when men think women aren’t listening — is a kind of bonding ritual. And the pressure to conform to it can be relentless.
Why men don’t speak out
As a young man, extricating oneself from locker-room masculinity and working out how to condemn misogynistic attitudes can feel like a minefield.
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