IDLES’ Crusade Against Toxic Masculinity

Punk isn't a genre commonly known for its positivity and supportiveness — it is usually characterized by anger and vitriol with the way the world is. British upstarts IDLES defy that expectation, finding a balance between those extremes as they deconstruct many social issues of the present day with their unabashed campaign against toxic masculinity.

Written by Adithya Srinivas

All the members of IDLES had just finished performing one of their songs and were taking a quick breather as a rowdy ACL crowd cheered back towards the Honda stage. Well, all the members except for one: guitarist Mark Bowen was still finding his way back to his bandmates after one of his several crowd-surfing excursions. Meanwhile, the pink-haired and heavily tattooed frontman Joe Talbot finally caught his breath, and he began to introduce what they’d be playing next. “This next one is a feminist song,” he said, but quickly realized Bowen had broken something on his guitar while running through the audience. “Actually, we’ll come back to that one because my brother isn’t ready. This next song is actually also a feminist song…” He paused, gathered himself, and yelled to a roar of approval, “…because all our songs are feminist songs!”

Talbot isn’t lying. The breakout punk band hailing from Bristol, England, by virtue of their heavily left-wing/socialist stances, openly preach inclusivity, togetherness, and general hatred towards bigots of all kinds through their music at every chance they get. IDLES’ politics and social commentary, particularly Talbot’s, take center stage throughout both of their two full-length projects, and one of the many topics they address repeatedly is feminism. This doesn’t always work out for male artists and bands, because their opinions and lyrics can come out as disingenuous, fake, and often wrong, as they fundamentally lack the understanding of what it’s like to actually be a woman. IDLES recognize this, and know that as a quintet of males, they can’t speak for women, but can still be feminists by talking about their own lives and experiences, which, for this band, manifests itself in a crusade against toxic masculinity.

IDLES mostly express these views on their latest release, Joy as an Act of Resistance, which flips many punk conventions on their heads. The ethos of the sound still contains the anger and “f--- you” attitude of classic punk and post-punk, but Talbot’s lyrics also very clearly come from a place of supportiveness and positivity, as the album’s title might suggest.

Nowhere is this more apparent than on the track “Never Fight a Man With a Perm,” a song that ridicules the over-aggressive and violent nature that some men often exude, particularly those that want to appear “macho” or “manly.” The song is filled with barbed insults thrown at steroid-enhanced, overly buff men that want to be intimidating and often get into fights, and makes fun of how senselessly violent and confrontational they get just to appear powerful. While the song is definitely high-octane and angry in its rejection of this type of toxicity, Talbot also offers a more wholesome solution to conflict with the line “I’ll shut my mouth / Let’s hug it out” repeated a few times in the outro, showing how quick and easy resolution can be when there’s no overly-masculine ego to protect.

Photo courtesy of Austin City Limits Music Festival

While “Never Fight a Man With a Perm” takes quite a confrontational route, Joy as an Act of Resistance also features the track “Samaritans,” which offers a much more understanding perspective on why toxic masculinity exists in the first place. The track features Talbot reading a laundry list of things young boys are often exposed to and told about being male: “Man up, sit down / Chin up, pipe down / Socks up, don’t cry / Drink up, don’t whine / Grow some balls, he said, grow some balls.” The band expresses that this suppression of emotion and pressure to “be a man” is generationally taught and ingrained in kids growing up. It just serves to hide an individual’s personality, as Talbot sings: “The mask of masculinity / Is a mask, a mask that’s wearing me.” The chorus also emotionally touches on this subject, saying, “This is why you never see your father cry.”

IDLES’s critique of emotional suppression is later followed up with “Cry to Me,” a cover of a song by Solomon Burke released in 1961, which encourages vulnerability. While it wasn’t originally targeted at a male audience, the context surrounding the track on Joy as an Act of Resistance re-frames the song to do so and helps reinforce themes of self-compassion and self-expression from other tracks such as “Television,” which is a critique of how media sets unrealistic beauty standards, and “I’m Scum,” a track about owning and thriving in one’s own personality and character, regardless of the labels that come with it.

“Never Fight a Man With a Perm,” “Samaritans,” and “Cry to Me” all offer very targeted messages about toxic masculinity, but they are far from the only IDLES tracks to do so. Talbot litters one-liners taking constant jabs at overly masculine personalities all over the band’s discography, even back through their debut album Brutalism. IDLES manage to unwaveringly fight their fight against toxic masculinity without being overly hostile, rooting their arguments in genuine understanding and compassion while still rejecting the negativity and discrimination that comes from it.

Ultimately, any efforts made toward achieving gender equality need to be a two-way street. Women have fought and torn down barriers, and are continuing to do so, but there also needs to be a fundamental change in the stereotypical “male” personality if discrimination is to be eradicated. It’s the responsibility of men everywhere to be a part of that change, and it’s a campaign that IDLES proudly spearhead.

Afterglow ATXNovember 15, 2019