I love that Tony Stark is such a subversion of toxic masculinity in the superhero genre.
He’s not some masculine manly man hero. He’s the most fragile of the Avengers–that’s why he needs a suit to protect him. He wasn’t trained like Clint or Natasha, he can’t turn into an incredibly strong alter-ego like Bruce, he’s not an enhanced human like Steve, and he’s certainly not a god like Thor.
His first response to aggression isn’t to go to blows, but to use his wit. He’s down for compromise and playing politics to get his way, not punching through the problem.
He’s not some guy who’s afraid of being perceived as effeminate, because he dresses nice, shows interest in fashion.
He defers to a woman in power over him (in fact he’s the one who put her there because he saw she was the most capable person for the job).
He’s been cast in the role of the “damsel in distress” multiple times.
He’s showing interest in becoming a father (is in fact really excited about the prospect), while toxic masculinity is about men showing zero interest in parenting.
Of all the Avengers, it’s clear Tony is the most emotionally-driven one, which means he’s not your typical “stoic” action hero; we see him lash out, acting irrationally, being overall a dramatic hoe. He almost cries in every single movie (!!!).
Like the entire Iron Man identity is a beautiful metaphor for Tony as a person. At first, he can appear cold and hard on the outside, but then we see he’s actually warm and soft under it all. He can get easily hurt–by both physical and emotional blows. He uses arrogance and posturing as a shield to protect himself–to deceive people into thinking he’s not as vulnerable as he really is, which is why he can outwardly present like your typical chauvinist, but, through these films, we see it’s all a brittle mask (one he forged after suffering years of abuse at the hands of his father).
2087
vaporwave
ellievsbear
turnnoffyourmind
stormborns
kianamaiart
blakekathryn
