Degraded Conceptions

Does Darwinian Evolution Select for Toxic Men?

The vice president of a California school board recently proposed a resolution titled “Recognition of the Essential Role and Needs of Young Men in Society,” which criticized use of the term “toxic masculinity.” Parents were outraged. At a school board meeting, nearly a hundred parents denounced the resolution as “offensive,” “embarrassing,” “insensitive,” and “tone deaf.”

Where did the idea come from that masculinity is toxic? Why does the secular world get its idea of masculinity so wrong? Surprisingly, a major source was Darwin’s theory of evolution.

We think of evolution as a theory in biology, but in fact it had an enormous impact on secular...