THE DISCURSIVE CONSTRUCTION OF TOXIC MASCULINITY: AN INVESTIGATION INTO ACCUSATORY METAPHORS

Abstract

Summary: In 2018, the term “toxic” was voted word of the year by the Oxford Dictionary. At the time, this title represented the relevance of public interest in the expression that would assimilate the metaphor of toxicity to a model of male behavior that is essentially harmful to the accentuated gender relations in the contemporary world. This work seeks to reflect on toxic masculinity through Gilberto Velho's conceptualization of the categories of accusation, seeking to intertwine the symbolic and political character of metaphors that trigger different meanings about disorder and contagion.