Have you ever written an analysis of Vox's issues with masculinity? (Sorry if you have and I missed it.) His behavior in season 2 was... Interesting. The whole performative masculine posturing he kept doing for Alastor was certainly something, and not even his default behavior, like, we saw that he's normally not like that towards partners, but kept changing his behavior when Alastor prodded him about it. He seems uncomfortable not so much with trying to be masculine as with being seen as vulnerable or weak in anyway, which ties back to Alastor's rejection. He's hesitant to call Val his partner even though they've apparently been an item for decades, for example. Vox normally has a bit of a fruity flair to him, both in life and death, so I wonder if internalized biphobia also plays a part in how he tries to carry himself when trying to prove himself to Alastor.
i am so glad you pointed it out that is actually so fascinating!! and i might have connected the dots as to why exactly vox acts this way, why alastor is a catalyst for this, and why they are both immature boys with weird toxic masculine complexes that hurt one another
alastor's and vox's toxic masculinity pt. 2
ironically enough, while the fandom characterizes alastor as overly feminine/feminist and vox as overly masculine/misogynistic, i actually think that vox sees alastor as a symbol for peak masculinity.
HEAR. ME. OUT.
the flashback scene: i feel like it wasn’t the rejection that hurt vox as much as alastor’s entire dismissal of their friendship and vox’s show of emotions. i personally thought it was more of a humiliation ritual than a rejection (there was not a single "no") but whatever. so during the “rejection”, vox just seemed upset and let down by alastor’s words, making himself smaller and pulling back from him. but when alastor completely disregarded everything they’ve been through and continued to belittle him and his feelings only was it then that vox began to get angry. it was the humiliation from alastor that changed the trajectory of vox's afterlife and influenced his persona.
friendship breakups are so brutal, especially if the person you've looked up to makes you feel like nothing. the fact that vox is still hung up on it seventy years later shows how traumatic it was for him and how it defined his entire character from that point on. it doesn’t excuse any of his behavior, but it does add so much to his character and his relationship with alastor.
biphobia plays a large part in this beside toxic masculinity, because 20th century homophobia and patriarchy go hand in hand. if alastor doesn’t accept him as a friend, why would he ever accept him as a partner? if alastor doesn’t accept his feelings, why would he ever accept him as a whole? and if alastor doesn’t accept him at all, why should vox accept himself?
i have already explained why that the flashback scene is an example of toxic masculinity on alastor’s part, but where does vox’s toxic masculinity come into play?
vox absolutely has toxic masculinity, they both do, especially when they died in the 1930s and 1950s and grew up in the earlier time periods where the gender roles and expectations were much worse. now, as you mentioned, vox seems to be doing fine on his own in the modern times, is (somewhat) open about his emotions and his relationships with men like valentino, but why does he regress and revert back to toxic masculinity around alastor? it’s almost as if he’s still ashamed of what happened all those years ago and alastor has built that insecurity back up. alastor’s presence always makes him feel emasculated because of his harsh reaction to him opening up and his constant dismissal of him.
it’s kind of implied that vox has had an abusive father with how he seemed to project onto angel, so perhaps alastor reminds him of that aggressive, toxic pressure that punishes him for going out of line that might have been present in how his father and the society around him treated him. i've mentioned that i personally believe that alastor embodies more toxic masculinity than vox, and it’s pretty clear when he’s the one who’s constantly keeping the current system alive, all while vox’s examples of toxic masculinity are usually reactions to his looming presence. again, they both exhibit traits of it, just in different ways that bounce off of one another.
but why alastor specifically?
vox has admired and still admires alastor. that is a fact. canonically, from what the other characters can see, alastor is successful, powerful, dominant, confident, shows no emotions, especially not any “weak” ones. all of those traits are admired by… aaaaaah, of course...
other men.
we know that vox is a copycat. in his perspective, here's a male friend who is just everything that vox wants to be and had everything vox wants to have, hence the admiration. initially, he wanted a partnership, and when that didn't work out, he resorts to copying his style, his mannerisms, his moves, etc. this is what men usually do when they worship who they see as having "peak masculinity". vox also copies other people, but usually as a response, and only for a short period of time. vox's copied character of alastor is entirely embedded in who he is, it is who he has fixated his entire existence on reaching the power of.
now, the current relationship between alastor and vox that you mentioned reminds me of when guys act nice around you and don’t mind being open with their emotions, but when they’re around their “boys”, they suddenly feel the need to toughen up and be overly masculine for their approval. men that they respect bring out the worst in them.
vox still needs alastor’s approval in the same way, his respect, his acknowledgement that vox has actually, finally achieved something of significance - which is why he goes over the top and does everything in his power to live up to alastor’s own masculinity/status that he believes is the absolute epitome of the male experience. every time alastor has wheeled into vox's space, vox feels as though he needs to man-up to fully be considered an "equal" to him. especially when vox is always expressing how he is "above" alastor and how he's "below" him - this is because of his own insecurity, in which he views HIMSELF as currently being below alastor.
i think that because vox grew up in a patriarchal society, he looks up to alastor as the ideal male authority figure that he needs to please and follow lest he want to end up powerless.
but he didn’t just look up to alastor, he also saw him as a friend, which let him to strip himself of set-up societal barriers of male vulnerability and confess his desire for a partnership, something that has absolutely back-fired, forcing him back into this fragile masculine box.
with alastor in his proximity, vox always goes into a defensive mode, believing that if he shows any sort of vulnerability or lack of manliness or anything of the sort, he’ll get hurt and humiliated again by alastor. this shows how toxic masculinity is socially enforced and how men value other men’s approval over others first and foremost.
i don’t have enough words to explain the hatred i feel for the rhetoric that “vox is a creep with extreme toxic masculinity and alastor is much better than him because he is this progressive saint who has never done anything wrong, is always right, is a girl’s girl, is actually the peak of feminism, and is a perfect gentleman” because it completely diminishes why vox might be so desperate for alastor’s approval and respect, why alastor acts the way he does, why their relationship and their characters are so nuanced in their identity. i am not taking alastor's demeanor or appearance when discussing this part of his character, same with vox, because it doesn't erase their actual behavior. men with toxic masculinity usually want validation from other men they look up to, mirroring this odd dynamic between vox and alastor.
in conclusion, alastor to vox is who billionaire male podcasters are to poor insecure guys – both forever stuck in the cycle of toxic masculinity, one enforcing the system and the other worshipping, copying, and attempting to please it. both at fault for following and supporting it at all, but is still very telling of their background.
but it’s just a theory. a hazbin theory.
anyway, hazbin hotel’s last song should be about alastor and vox reuniting and realizing that they are both kenough
