Thank God for Not the Bee — they read Vox so that we don't have to
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Oh Great. Now Sherlock Holmes is an Example of Toxic Masculinity
(In order to preserve the formatting of the Bee’s article, I’ve only indented the lady scholar’s words, while leaving the Bee’s author Reagan Rose’s within quotation marks)
“Someone wrote an entire think piece examining how Sherlock Holmes' toxic masculinity contributes to the character's appeal.
Let's start at the beginning. This coy little question first drew my eye as it sat man-spreading just under the headline.”
Holmes is often portrayed as unemotional and arrogant — why hasn't this been challenged in modern adaptations?
“But to the bafflement of this author, it seems that some viewers prefer to watch characters with, well, character. And unfortunately, sometimes that requires them to have a personality
To make her point, she talks about the BBC's Sherlock mini-series starring Benedict Cumberbatch and the (far inferior) American show Elementary. Both of which came out about 10 years ago, by the way. Which makes this whole analysis even weirder.
So what exactly is the problem with these shows?”
In both adaptations, Sherlock's brilliance and skills of deduction are unmatched. While I really enjoyed these shows, I was taken aback by Sherlock's rudeness, exasperation, his disparagement of others, his desire to dominate and his latent violence. I saw Sherlock as a toxic man.
“So then the author discovered something truly disturbing. Apparently, this Sherlock Holmes character is based on some books or something! "Not knowing the books, I wondered where this came from, so I began reading them," she writes.”
And 🚨 #Problematic Alert! 🚨, the character in the books is JUST as toxic as the one in the shows which are based on the books!
“So then, of course, we are taken on a magical journey through the history of toxic masculinity, wherein I discovered that there is such a job as ‘masculinity researcher.’ “
Masculinity researchers have defined toxic masculinity as a performance of "traditional" male gender roles exhibited by a tendency to dominate others, a predisposition to violence, and to be emotionally cold and distant. It can also be expressed through highly competitive behaviour, or the desire to be the sole source of information — someone who thinks they are right about everything in every sphere. Men like Donald Trump, for example.
“I'm impressed.
Made it six paragraphs before making it about Donald Trump.”
Holmes is obviously not akin to Trump. To start with, Holmes is a genius, and he hardly exhibits the same level of toxic behaviours that Trump does. But there are elements there.
“What was this article about again?
