Sharon Bong, Associate Professor of Gender Studies | Sivananthi Thanenthiran, Executive Director, The Asian-Pacific Resource & Research Centre for Women(ARROW)

21-Oct-20 15:00

 

A couple of kids are fighting at the playground. The dad watches, chuckles to himself and says “boys will be boys.” A man looks at his new female co-worker, shakes her hands and says “Welcome. And by the way, your behind looks really good in that outfit,” and then just walks away. The woman’s teammate tells her, “Get used to it. They mean no harm. Boys will be boys.” Boys will be boys. Boys will be boys. Boys will be boys. We’ve heard the phrase before. But is this something biological, something that’s inherently in us men or is this just a sorry and lame excuse? Is it simply toxic masculinity?

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