 The Midget State University hosted a guest speaker from Western Illinois University to talk to students about societal issues. The Toxic Masculinity Lecture was a two-day event where students discussed issues about masculinity, gender, and identity. During day two of the event, the speakers met with student athletes and students involved in leadership for lunch. The guest speaker says toxic masculinity comes from how society perceives how men should behave. There are particular images of masculinity that if men were to adhere to them rather than authoring them themselves, it becomes problematic, it becomes toxic. So toxic really means that kind of masculinity that you assimilate to based on some external standard as opposed to authoring it yourself. Tracy Davis says he was impressed with the quality of conversations that students at BSU engaged in. If you enjoyed this segment of Lakeland News, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to Lakeland PBS.