I recently took part in a "males only" workshop at a local private high school. It was an unlikely opportunity for an advocate of traditional masculine ideals, especially given the fact that the workshop was part of this fairly liberal school's yearly "Diversity Conference." I was thankful for the chance to get across some countering viewpoints. I shared the floor with a veteran leader of men's groups, and I knew we had different aims from the get-go, but I had the first hour.
To begin, I played the guys my favorite scene from The Outlaw Josey Wales -- the part where Wales rides up to the Comanche chief Ten Bears and bargains for peace.
There is iron in your words of death for all Comanche to see. And so, there is iron in your words of life. No signed paper can hold the iron. It must come from men.
There is iron in your words of death.
This is how civilization happened.
Agreements between men, backed by the threat of violence.
This is how men made this world.That's not something the kids hear every day. And yet, it is absolutely fundamental to any realistic understanding of how the human world has always worked.
Has anyone ever been told to "act like a man," to "man up?"All hands raised.
What were they trying to get you to do?And they gave me gold. All of the right answers. I wrote them on the whiteboard under the heading "MAN."
Tough it out.
Be strong.
Don't be afraid.
No whining.
Don't show emotions. Stoicism.
My counterpart chimed in with "Do what I want you to do."
Yeah, that's true.I talked it out a bit and made the point that all of those things (with the exception of the last one) could be reduced to some form of STRENGTH. Strength of body, strength of will, strength of purpose.
Two circles. One for all of the things that women do and are, one for all of the things that men do and are. Substantial overlap, but as you move in either direction, you get qualities that are more often associated with one sex or the other. The overlap is "personhood," being human. The edges are the extreme masculine and the extreme feminine. And the exceptions don't disprove the general rules.
It's not that no woman can beat me up. But most can't. Most men are stronger than most women.
Some women are very brave, but more men are less risk-averse. More men seek out risk and take dangerous chances.
It's not that there aren't any men who are extremely emotional. Some men are very emotional. But most aren't. I've had 41 jobs in my life, and I've seen many "tough" female managers break into tears at work. That's just not common in men. Men get angry more often than they cry.
The masculine ideals, the ones we listed, the ones that represent strength, are grounded in some basic facts about human nature and the differences between the sexes-at the extremes. Outside the overlap. Outside of "person." The ideal of what a man should be is something men get together and create, based on those differences, to push themselves toward the extreme. To make themselves better men.It was probably a little more scrambled and rambling than that, but I think I got it across.
"Do what I want you to do."I was thankful for that one.
There are people, usually men, who will tell you to "act like a man" to manipulate you, to get what they want. But make no mistake, the people who want you to forget about being a man and just be a person -- they want something, too.A MAN in the ideal is a terrifying creature. A man on top of his own game, pushing himself toward that ideal -- a man in control of his own passions and powers -- inevitably makes others envious. He makes lesser males and females feel bad about themselves because it is undeniably good to be strong and smart and courageous. It is undeniably good to be able to control your emotions effectively, to expand when others shrink, to push on when most would let up. A MAN is a legitimate threat to the agendas of other men and especially the agendas of feminists. Their efforts to "redefine masculinity in the 21st century" are not aimed at helping men reach their full potential -- they want to stop men from reaching their full potential. Because a MAN is going to assert HIS will.
And a group of MEN, united by a common strength-based masculine ideal, mindful of honor, and working toward a common purpose...do yourself a favor and GET THE HELL OUT OF THEIR WAY.
A handful of made up "phobias," political in nature, have made their way into pop consciousness to the extent that we almost believe that they're real "phobias." Xenophobia. Homophobia. Trans-phobia. I think I had some queeny kid refer to me as "sissy-phobic," once. So many of these "phobias" are, like the words "racist" and "sexist," merely tools used by master-debaters to stop debates by shifting to a sly ad hominem disguised as a diagnosis.
Xenophobia is the translation of potentially legitimate concerns about the effects of foreign interests and foreign cultures on domestic or local interests and cultures into a mental illness. The repression of xenophobia serves the interests of economic globalists. Homophobia is really a bundle of rational and superstitious concerns about the affect of open expressions of homosexuality on the family unit, all mixed up with powerful male emotional responses related to the fear of emasculation. Transphobia is a valid fear of letting the lunatics run the asylum, as well as collective emasculation via the dissolution of gender roles. Racist is used to place one race on higher moral ground than another. Sexist is used to further the interests of women at the expense of the interests of men.
A "phobia" at least as legitimate as any of these might be called "alpha-phobia" or maybe "androphobia." Or something like that. People -- especially women and feminists -- are really afraid of MEN.
And they should be.
MEN, unlike trannies and queers for the most part, represent a legitimate physical threat to their interests. It is rational for those who wish to further the interests of feminists, and gays and the transgendered -- as well as multi-culturalists and globalists if you think about it -- to maintain an intense and persistent fear of MEN.
This is why our gender-neutral, self-esteem oriented, globalist culture wants MEN to think of themselves merely as "persons." It has nothing to do with what is in the best interest of MEN, as individuals.
A "person" is a fucking housepet.
A MAN is a threat.
And men are starting to realize that. They're starting to get a sense that they're being played.
Even young men.
I didn't have to prod these kids at all -- they signed up for the workshop because they had a list of grievances ready. One guy volunteered that he felt like "everything seemed like it was about what women wanted and what women needed." Another said that he felt like whenever males do something well, it is "taken for granted," but whenever females do something well, everyone wants to make a big deal about it. Several talked about the fact that men are portrayed as bumbling idiots, and after mentioning The Simpsons the group started using the word "Homer" as a shorthand for this. They were aware that they still have certain advantages -- privileges, to use PC lingo -- but they were also aware that they face higher expectations. Because being a MAN is still harder than being a "person."
I finished my hour with a recording of Micheal Caine reading "If," by Rudyard Kipling. I passed out copies.
This poem, better than anything I've found or anything I could write myself, explains how to be a MAN without being an asshole.If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;
If you can dream-and not make dreams your master;
If you can think-and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools;
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings-nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And-which is more-you'll be a Man my son!
- Rudyard Kipling
Why would you NOT want to be a MAN like that?http://www.alternativeright.com/main/blogs/virtus/man-vs.-person/
