There are certain attributes American society considers more
masculine than others; but sadly, I possess few of them:
But on January 21st, 2017, I did something very manly: I stood shoulder to shoulder with women.
Maybe it wasn’t “manly”; maybe it was simply “moral.” But perhaps American masculinity should do more to emphasize fundamental moral principles: “do unto others” and such. I think most Godless liberal heathens would favor that, and, while I don’t have my finger on the pulse of white, conservative Christian America, I think folks whose moral beacon is a chiseled, bearded, roguish-looking, male deity could be persuaded.
A healthy dose of thoughtful compassion would do wonders to balance American masculinity’s emphasis on forceful action. I’m not suggesting that traditionally masculine things such as stalking animals through the forest and crushing beer cans on one’s head are without merit. (I can’t do either because I’m afraid of ticks and I bruise easily.) But women expect more from us males, especially at this perilous moment in history, and we should demand more of ourselves. If men don’t put in the effort to help lift women up and bridge the divide, then women have every right to tear us down and rip us a new one.
- Neither my jaw nor my body is particularly chiseled, and I’m not a large man. I’ve only been in one physical fight; it was brief and quite painful.
- I don’t know how to load or fire a gun with proficiency. My uncle once took me hunting when I was a boy, and I shot a bird. It didn’t make me feel like a man so much as it made me feel like a dick who shot a bird.
- There are men who can grow tremendous amounts of hair. I am not one of them. A girl in college once asked if I shave my armpits. She also laughed at me for referring to “pear cider” as “beer.”
- I don’t know how to drive. In addition to being unmanly, this is wholly un-American and completely impractical.
- I avoid sports bars, especially when any game of regional significance is on. I find it terrifying that the collective mood of an inebriated mass will swing wildly because someone dropped a ball.
- I don’t like doing things outdoors, which includes camping, fishing, and swimming in bodies of water containing animals that perceive me as a potential food source.
But on January 21st, 2017, I did something very manly: I stood shoulder to shoulder with women.
Maybe it wasn’t “manly”; maybe it was simply “moral.” But perhaps American masculinity should do more to emphasize fundamental moral principles: “do unto others” and such. I think most Godless liberal heathens would favor that, and, while I don’t have my finger on the pulse of white, conservative Christian America, I think folks whose moral beacon is a chiseled, bearded, roguish-looking, male deity could be persuaded.
A healthy dose of thoughtful compassion would do wonders to balance American masculinity’s emphasis on forceful action. I’m not suggesting that traditionally masculine things such as stalking animals through the forest and crushing beer cans on one’s head are without merit. (I can’t do either because I’m afraid of ticks and I bruise easily.) But women expect more from us males, especially at this perilous moment in history, and we should demand more of ourselves. If men don’t put in the effort to help lift women up and bridge the divide, then women have every right to tear us down and rip us a new one.
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