January 27, 2023, 10:18am
The man largely responsible for one of the great rock anthems of the 1980s, “We’re Not Gonna Take It,” told an interviewer recently that he’s writing a novel about toxic masculinity. It’s called Frats, and as Dee Snider (who’s 67!) explained on the show Full Metal Jackie: “The novel is a 70s period piece and coming-of-age story; it’s all about toxic masculinity and growing up in a very toxic environment and how it affects people.”
For anyone who ever listened to Twisted Sister (hello 12-year-old me), it’s not all that surprising that Snider would take on a topic like toxic masculinity. Just look at the beginning for the classic video for “We’re Not Gonna Take It,” in which a horrible father berates and demeans his son for having the temerity to play an electric guitar: it’s textbook toxic masculinity and Dee Snider was fighting it before it had a name.
But don’t just stop at that scene, watch the whole video. It’s rock and roll history.