In his TED talk, Justin Baldoni’s main argument is that the “script” handed to men by society is doing them, and women by extension, more harm than good. His thesis statement stands clear after having told his own struggle with stereotypical masculinity: “Well, I came here today to say, as a man, that [prescribing gender roles and attitudes] is wrong, [it’s] toxic, and it has to end.”
It was really important to me, and likely to men in the audience, to hear this message from a male speaker. One of the most significant points made by Baldoni is that this topic is not touched on enough by males, and that its main champions are women, not men. He shows this disparity through his Instagram account engagement, a platform where he mainly shares feminist messages and where he conveys his love for his wife and kids. Most of his followers, he says, are women. And it wasn’t until he started posting workout and diet videos that men started paying attention to him. I recognized toxic masculinity to be an integral part of society, but Baldoni’s TED talk helped me see to what extent men are perpetuating this ideal and resisting the other side of the coin. It also helped me realize that toxic masculinity is hurting women as well, because men think it “not manly enough” to listen to the women in their lives and attend to their serious grievances.
Baldoni’s speaking style is very strong because he is emphatic while remaining comedic and on the same level as the audience he is facing. As an actor, he knows how to switch tones in order to convey ideas and how to connect with the people that listen to him. He delivers his message in talk form, not speech form, by being conversational, moving around, and simplifying the topic to its most basic form so everyone can understand it.