Will Leftwing Media Address ‘Toxic Masculinity’ After Avenatti’s Arrest? Here’s What They Said

  |  
Nov 15, 2018

During Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings, leftwing news websites adorned their pages with headlines about “toxic masculinity” and “toxic bro culture,” which they ascribed to Kavanaugh to explain completely unprovable allegations of sexual misconduct.

Wednesday, Democrat darling and huckster attorney Michael Avenatti was arrested for alleged domestic violence. Curious, I reached out to a few of those same news outlets to see if they thought “toxic masculinity” was to blame, or if that was a trait only held by Republicans.

Here’s what they said.

During the Kavanaugh confirmation hearings, The Guardian published a piece from Jonathan Freedland called “Kavanaugh has revealed the insidious force in global politics; toxic masculinity.”

The Guardian did not respond to a comment request when asked if they had plans to run a similar piece in light of Avenatti’s arrest.

During the same time period, Daily Beast published a piece titled “The Right Thinks Kavanaugh’s Toxic Masculinity is Just ‘Being a Man'” by Jay Michaelson.

They, too, did not respond when asked if they had considered addressing Avenatti’s “toxic masculinity.”

Vox, on the other hand, at least responded to our question.

BLP spoke with Adam Howard, a professor at Colby College who penned a piece for the leftwing publication titled “I’ve spent decades studying elite schools. Here’s how their culture enables toxic masculinity.”

Avenatti attended the University of Pennsylvania, an Ivy League school, and then George Washington University Law School. Both are elite institutions.

Howard referred me to his editor – whom he did not name – to address whether Vox will run any additional pieces on Avenatti, but launched into an excuse-making tirade on behalf of the disgraced barrister.

“It’s a little different though for a number of reasons,” Howard said. “Avenatti’s alleged domestic abuse didn’t occur while he was a student at one of these elite institutions. He also, of course, isn’t going through senate hearings to be confirmed for a lifetime appointment to the highest court. Just a couple obvious differences.”

According to the professor’s argument, “toxic masculinity” begins and ends with elite schooling. One apparently cannot be toxically masculine after graduation.

But here is one other “obvious difference” that I can think of, which is much more likely the reason the left will not jump down Avenatti’s throat.

Avenatti is a Democrat, and Justice Kavanaugh is a Republican. Thus, Avenatti will receive the benefit of the doubt (and due process, by the way, which was not afforded to Kavanaugh), where Kavanaugh did not.

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