Boys will be boys.

Or that’s what you’ve been told every time you had your hair pulled by a little boy or watched two guys fighting.

“I hate the phrase boys will be boys. Boys are boys but that is not an excuse to do whatever you want,” junior Abigail Strecker said.

Toxic masculinity is a popular phrase that identifies sexism toward males and females.

For males, toxic masculinity is all about how guys need to be macho, definitely not be feminine and be free to bully.

So, boys will be boys. Whether they’re rude to women by talking about their bodies or hitting others for popularity.

“Every person, whether or not they are considered masculine, can face these problems of becoming emotionally repressed,” sophomore Sean Wentling said.

As for females, they expect to be catcalled and know they’ve got to worry about their safety.

“I get comments from boys in the halls, on the streets, or even walking, but I don’t take it,” sophomore Celeste Smith said, “I usually say things back. It’s common for them to view us as a possession which is really sad.”

Girls are expected to have a primary goal of being a wife and a mother.

Be the nurse and not the doctor.

Be the secretary and not the CEO.

According to a researched thesis written by Amanda Chapman, “When different behaviors are tolerated for boys than for girls because ‘boys will be boys’, schools are perpetuating the oppression of females and males.”

The victims of this toxic masculinity have been trained through years of schooling to be silent and passive, and are therefore unwilling to stand up and make noise about the unfair treatment they are receiving