It is February, the month of love, and toxicity is being discussed in the press. Whenever I see Love and Toxicity I remember Love Canal. It was about toxic chemicals and denial for decades, with the story erupting in the 1970s. There are stories in the press about toxic femininity. Probably matches with February's status.
What is toxic femininity?
Is it the opposite of masculine toxicity? That would be: “violence, dominance, emotional illiteracy, sexual entitlement, and hostility to femininity.” There is the notion of toxic femininity as "stereotypical femininity". Then the opposite has been defined - inappropriate demonstration of female strength, cunning or privilege.
Then it gets very messy with conservatives and right-wing "pundits" weighing in on who is to blame for what - for example toxic masculinity is created by toxic females.
My wanderings were leading me out to the wilderness and that's no good. I did have a notion that Barbie the Movie has given rise to this. And yes, there are those reports in the press. Maybe there are some good Barbie jokes to distract from all this. This one was the only one that got my attention - it is a throwback joke of the Old Barbie:
A man walks into the toy store to get a Barbie doll for his daughter. So he asks the assistant, as you would, "How much is Barbie?"
"Well," she says, "we have Barbie Goes to the Gym for $19.95, Barbie Goes to the Ball for $19.95, Barbie Goes Shopping for $19.95, Barbie Goes to the Beach for $19.95, Barbie Goes Nightclubbing for $19.95, and Divorced Barbie for $265.00."
"Hey, hang on," the guy asks, "why is Divorced Barbie $265.00 when all the others are only $19.95?"
"Yeah, well, it's like this... Divorced Barbie comes with Ken's house, Ken's car, Ken's boat, Ken's furniture..."
Here's a colourful version - a heart out in the cosmos.
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