Meryl Streep On Toxic Masculinity: Women Can Be Toxic Too

Three-time Oscar winner Meryl Streep addressed the topic of toxic masculinity and said she disliked the term because, in her opinion, all individuals can "exhibit toxic behaviour, regardless of gender."

Streep said this in a talk hosted by Vanity Fair, which was also attended by her Big Little Lies co-stars Reese Witherspoon, Laura Dern and Nicole Kidman. Streep's comments came while they were discussing an anecdote about a male fan who had told actress Nicole Kidman that he enjoyed the show.

Big Little Lies premieres its seven-episode second season June 9 at 9 p.m. on HBO.

Toxic masculinity refers to certain behaviors and attitudes commonly associated with men that are perceived as being harmful, such as repressing emotion and acting in an aggressive manner. “One of the ways that masculinity typically manifests is through harmful behaviour that ultimately ends in violence, and that violence either is enacted on men themselves, or on other people,” said Tom Ross-Williams, an activist and ambassador for school workshop project the Great Men Project.

"Sometimes I think we're hurt. We hurt our boys by calling something toxic masculinity. I do, And I don't find (that) putting those two words together ... because women can be pretty f***ing toxic. It's toxic people. We have our good angles and we have our bad ones," said the 69-year-old new star of HBO's female-focused show.

The Devil Wears Prada icon went on to establish that "communication" is the way to improve relationships between human beings regardless of gender. "I think the labels are less helpful than what we're trying to get to, that is a communication, direct, between human beings," she said. "We're all in the boat together. We've got to make it work."

Emma Brockes of The Guardian once noted that despite Streep's being "one of the most famous actresses in the world", it is "strangely hard to pin an image on Streep," in a career where she has "labored to establish herself as an actor whose roots lie in ordinary life."

Despite her success, Streep has always been modest about her own acting and achievements in cinema. Politically, Streep identifies herself as part of the American Left. She gave a speech at the 2016 Democratic National Convention in support of presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.

Mary Louise "Meryl" Streep is most seen as "the best actress of her generation" and in Big Little Lies she plays Mary-Louise Wright, the mother-in-law of Nicole Kidman's character.