So-called “toxic masculinity” is having a moment. The popular recognition of this intersectional feminist belief was exacerbated by the American Psychological Association’s “guidelines” for working with men and boys. These guidelines were compiled by the APA’s Division 51, “The Society for the Psychological Study of Men & Masculinities,” which deemed “traditional masculinity” harmful.

The distribution of the APA’s guidelines created significant controversy. Multiple psychologists stated the new guidelines followed ideological, rather than scientific, principles. Indeed, in its mission statement, Division 51 states that it “acknowledges its historical debt to feminist-inspired scholarship on gender and commits itself to the support of groups such as women, gays, lesbians and people of color that have been uniquely oppressed by the gender/class/race system.”