Glamorizing Toxicity

From comments seemingly supporting toxic female behavior on social media to men doing the most and being encouraged by their peers. You didn’t think this was going to be one-sided did you? Never that.

We humans are strange creatures, often times looking for approval and validation in the eyes of people who have no stake in our lives save and except for entertainment value. I’m not just talking about strangers here, very often those we hold close to us are the worst offenders. Laughing at you behind your back, giving you the worst possible advice and deliberately torpedoing your relationships or endeavors.

You might ask “what this has to do with glamorizing toxicity?”. Great question. With the advent of social media apps like TikTok and Facebook that provide a platform to share the greatest hits and spills of our lives, a generous portion of our population turn to these outlets to put their partners on blast. Then come the commenters and keyboard warriors crawling out of their lairs, like the proverbial cockroach to feed on and fuel the toxicity. One dare not go against the narrative, for in these situations the nail that sticks out does indeed get hammered.

Toxicity has quite literally become fashionable. You’d think though that any reasonable man or woman would either avoid these posts or not be swayed by them, you’d be wrong. A very large portion of our society grew up in single parent households or households with no parents at all. Now, before you start; some of these people turn out to be fully functional members of society able to hold down jobs and healthy relationships, no problem. However, others still have fallen by the wayside and are so easily swayed by social media posts that it is morbidly fascinating.

The knock on effect of this is that when these people end up in relationships they practice the toxicity that they have learned, this compounded with whatever emotional issues they may already have, often times provide just the right trauma inducing, emotionally damaging storm. And just one social media post has the power to create a ripple effect that can go on for infinity.

What can be done? Firstly, if you’re truthful enough with yourself to realize that this is a problem for you, then congrats. I’m no relationship expert, in fact, I doubt I’d even qualify as an arm chair philosopher, since I merely try to look at things from the perspective of experience and logic.

It is on that premise that I’d suggest a social media detox, introspection and maybe some counseling. Apart from that surrounding yourself with people who maintain healthy relationships and social lives may help.