TikTok star Barrett Pall is a champion of women's rights, but it's not just women he's fighting for.
Amidst an unprecedented epidemic of loneliness in the United States, which is particularly impacting young men and LGBTQ+ communities, expanding mental health services is crucial. But Pall believes an attitude change is also needed.
In an interview with Advocate Now, the TikToker said that he believes men have been "hurting themselves" by upholding the culture of "toxic masculinity." While this culture harms both men and women alike, Pall noted men are being impacted by the very systems they take part in.
"Toxic masculinity is essentially men hurting themselves," he explained. "And when you are not okay and loving yourself, we often then put that onto other people through projection, and that's where we end up harming others. But realistically, we're just hurting ourselves the most. ... What we've seen now is a giant mental health crisis for men. And it's largely to do with this exact thing: toxic masculinity."
Much of this stems from how children are treated differently while growing up solely based on gender, according to Pall. This could be through what activities they are allowed to participate in, and what toys they are given to play with.
Pall pointed out that whereas toys marketed towards boys often involve action and fighting, girls are often given dolls to prepare them for motherhood even when they are children themselves. However, playing with the dolls requires talking, which boys are not encouraged to do.
Through that, Pall believes "men have not been encouraged to have a lot of empathy and work on their emotional intelligence." Through his content, he hopes to "encourage parents to talk to their sons the same way they would talk to their daughters."
"Buy them flowers, get them gifts that show that they are a human, not just a little boy, and really step away from the antiquated binary gender norms, because we should be raising good humans at the end of the day," he said.
