The Topeka School

One of the core themes that Lerner explores is how notions of masculinity—in particular, toxic masculinity—impact both men and women. Toxic masculinity, a term that gained popularity in the 2010s, refers to the damaging effects of traditional notions of masculinity. Lerner presents such masculinity as socially constructed, rather than an innate attribute of men. Topeka’s White teens are “the lost boys of privilege” (55). They and adult male characters straddle the gulf between the stereotypical American notion of the rugged man (epitomized by the mythology of the cowboy) and the listlessness of suburban life.

Socially enforced masculinity alters the lives of Adam, Darren, Jonathan, and Jane. Each of the male characters is hyperaware of what society expects of them as men; each seeks to either distance himself from it or embody it. The disabled Darren has the fewest qualms about traditional gender roles, particularly since he is often made to feel his difference from other men through his schoolmates’ incessant bullying. He has created a “survivalist mythology” for himself (150), imagining that he’d be uniquely capable of weathering a post-apocalyptic disaster; this magical thinking allows his to indulge his violent impulses while feeling that outside forces are responsible for them. Jonathan compensates for his failure of ambition—a deviation from “hunter” masculinity stereotypes—by indulging in sexual transgressions. Although Jonathan feels guilt over his actions, he feels incapable of stopping himself from acting on his impulses, just like Darren. Adam, in contrast, struggles to distance himself from the typical masculinity he sees in his schoolmates, local political figures, and his grandfather. Yet, Adam still often enacts the same misogyny to find social acceptance, rapping misogynistic language, sizing up a male rival at the grocery store, and aggressively arguing with another father on the playground.

While toxic masculinity affects the female figures in the book through violence. Sometimes this violence is verbal, as in the threatening phone calls that Jane receives from “the Men” (89), and protests of the Westboro Church. It can also be intensely physical, as in Jane’s sexual abuse at the hands of her father, and Darren throwing a cue ball at Mandy Owens, permanently damaging her jaw and her ability to speak.