For many young men, the imaginary dinosaur symbolized everything they were terrified of being: vulnerable, kind, and loving.
So as Barney gained more fans, he also gained more haters. Seemingly overnight, he became the center of mass hate nationwide—the target of violent video games, IRL gun practice, and straight-up hate groups, including the collaborative roleplay session, The Jihad to Destroy Barney . College students at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln popularized “Barney bashing” events, where you could let out your aggression on plush Barneys with a hammer, among other activities.
But perhaps the biggest toll Barney’s battle with masculinity took was on Leach’s personal life. Once the show reached certain popularity, Leach became the breadwinner of her household, and her husband Jim left his high-paying job to become a stay-at-home dad. The shift in their familial dynamic eventually led to the couple’s separation in 1998, the same year that Leach left the show. Jim, who reportedly suffered from depression, would eventually die by suicide.
While Barney may be past his prime, his complicated legacy proves that we’ve got bigger messes to clean up than our toys: Toxic masculinity may have taken new shape since the 90s—but I can’t say that the ways in which we deal with it today have improved much from wreaking psychological warfare on made-up characters.
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