NeoMale – healing masculinity
Toxische Männlichkeit als Krankheit
Description
75% of all suicides are committed by men. How does that fit with the patriarchal image of the strong man?
Toxic masculinity is a model of manhood that causes psychological and physical harm to the men affected (and to those around them). Such behaviours are passed down from generation to generation — one could say they are contagious.
So what if toxic masculinity were a disease that could be eradicated?
Starting from this question, medical therapies for the ‘healing of masculinity’ were developed under the brand NeoMale. In line with speculative design, the goal is not to develop concrete solutions, but to stimulate discourse. For this purpose, the artefacts — an emotion prosthesis and a hormone therapy — were presented to the public at a trade fair stand. This led to lively discussions about the necessity and ethical legitimacy of pathologising (toxic) masculinity.