Is Toxic Masculinity Causing Cyclist, Pedestrian and Driver Fatalities?
Is toxic masculinity behind many of the road rage incidents and cyclist deaths caused by drivers? Researchers around the world believe that it could be a major factor—and some countries are actively trying to spread the message.
First, a quick definition of toxic masculinity—according to the New York Times, toxic masculinity includes suppressing emotions or masking distress, maintaining an appearance of hardness and most worrisome, using violence as an indicator of power. That said, no, not all men are inherently violent.
However, there are long-standing societal norms that the American Psychological Association (APA) warns may have led some men to display some of these more negative aspects of masculinity, whether intentionally or unintentionally. “Traits of so-called ‘traditional masculinity,’ like suppressing emotions and masking distress, often start early in life and have been linked to less willingness by boys and men to seek help, more risk-taking and aggression—possibly harming themselves and those with whom they interact,” the APA wrote in a statement.
Recently, Streetsblog had researcher and urban planning professor Tara Goddard on their podcast to discuss the concept of toxic masculinity and how it plays out in road safety. (The episode is well worth a listen if you’re interested in this topic!)
In the podcast, Goddard points out that many countries around the world including the U.S. struggle with the Vision Zero goal of eliminating traffic fatalities. She argues that this may be because we don’t look for the root causes of many of these fatalities, and instead focus solely on infrastructure. But what if culture itself is the problem?
Toxic masculinity and the car culture connection
Cars and trucks as symbols for masculinity contribute to the issue, certainly. “That’s where the toxic masculinity in car culture starts to come in with these potentially really negative effects, whether it’s this continued arms race, as some people describe it, of buying bigger and bigger vehicles, which we know are less and less safe to people, particularly those outside the vehicle,” Goddard says in the episode. “Or the effects of saying ‘We’re gonna not only keep using gas powered vehicles, or the conspicuous consumption of rolling coal. Those are all different ways that we see toxic masculinity playing out in the transportation environment.” (Researchers have even coined this specific issue as ‘petro-masculinity’)
It’s hard to think of rolling coal as anything other than toxic masculinity, both in terms of the literally toxic fumes and—let’s be honest—the more metaphorical large smokestacks affixed to the vehicles equipped to do so. (Goddard also cites ‘truck nuts’ as an example of the car-as-a-symbol-of-masculinity.)
Behaviors like this and other aggressive driver tendencies are why France has even launched an anti-toxic masculinity campaign for drivers.
According to The Guardian, in France, 78 percent of people killed in road accidents last year were men. 84 percent of people suspected to have caused road accidents were men, and 93 percent of drunk drivers involved in accidents were men. “Speed, alcohol, drugs, fatigue … what if we need to add masculinity?” Asks the new advertising campaign created by the French road safety governing body.
The campaign videos are careful to not suggest that all men are bad/aggressive drivers, because that certainly isn’t the case.
Instead, they try to call attention to potentially harmful behaviors like increased risk-taking or the need to ‘defend’ one’s masculinity at all costs. “What’s important about this campaign is that it doesn’t stigmatize men, it suggests another vision of men and masculinity, which is not about confrontation, or being aggressive, but about sensitivity,” added sociologist Alain Mergier.
Does this research apply to cyclists and pedestrians as well? Streetsblog argues that yes, it does—and it may be worth thinking about your patterns of behavior on the bike.
You may not subscribe to typical ‘toxic masculinity’ behaviors, but remember that some of the cultural stereotypes for men could still be putting you in harm’s way. The APA’s caution around risk-taking is key here.
According to Streetsblog, eight out of nine cyclists killed in the U.S. are men. Part of this is attributable to the fact that more men ride compared to women, but there may also be a lifestyle component at play: Men are more likely to choose a direct route rather than a safer route, prioritizing efficiency over safety. The same applies to foot travel as well: men are more likely to engage in risky behavior like dashing across a 50 MPH road.
Whether you’re dealing with a confrontational driver or considering making a tight turn just as a light turns from yellow to red, it may be worth asking yourself what, if anything, you’re trying to prove. We can all likely benefit from reconsidering some of our riskier behaviors, whether behind the wheel or in the saddle.
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