Whenever you hear a term like “healthy masculinity” at an American university, you can bet your bottom dollar that they aren’t going to be teaching men how to lead, be a gentleman, or uphold principles of honor and integrity. No, they are going to be teaching the feminist version of masculinity, which basically amounts to teaching unruly men how to be more like women.
That’s what’s on the menu at Vanderbilt University next week, where the Women’s Center (!) will be brainwashing students with Healthy Masculinities Week. Among the topics for discussion? Well let’s see. We have a screening of the virulently anti-male documentary The Mask You Live In. We’ll have a speech by “anti-sexist activist” Jackson Katz, who will expound on his book, The Macho Paradox: Why Some Men Hurt Women and How All Men Can Help. We’ll talk about “policing masculinity in the gay and bi communities,” and we’ll even have a talk about the dangerous masculinity portrayals in Channing Tatum’s Magic Mike films. In other words, if you’re a man who wants to feel guilty about being a man, this is the perfect opportunity for you to wallow in self-pity.
The Democrats always insist that there is a War on Women, but the reality is quite the opposite. Feminism – from day one – has declared war on traditional male roles in society, aiming to shame boys from an early age and turn them into obedient disciples of the fairer sex. They want to destroy historical gender roles, turning everyone into androgynous robots who must deny not only thousands of years of societal wisdom but their own biological instincts.
This is only starting to filter down to elementary education, but it has been a major part of our pop culture landscape for years. Men are rarely portrayed as competent, strong, and honorable in the media. The “traditional” ones – think John Wayne – are seen as evil wife-beaters, hormonal psychos, and domineering abusers. The “good” ones, meanwhile, are those who understand their place. They are usually bumbling, stupid, and 100% submissive to the women in their lives. The ideal male archetype is less Indiana Jones and more Chandler Bing.
But now they’ve decided that having almost total control over television and film isn’t enough. They have to drive the message home a little harder. Boys who fail to comply – boys who veer into the dangerous territory of “unhealthy masculinity” (as defined by feminists) – are medicated until they give up their willful opposition. Boyish toys like guns and weapons are discouraged – not because of whatever crime stats happen to be in the news, but because they encourage that most awful of all masculine traits – aggression.
“The energy, competitiveness, and corporal daring of normal males; these are responsible for much good in the world,” says American Enterprise Institute scholar Christina Hoff Sommers. “No one denies that boys’ aggressive and risk-taking tendencies must be socialized and channeled to constructive ends, but being a boy is not a social disease. And the de-Tom Sawyering of American boys should not be on anyone’s agenda.”
This push-pull between male instinct and feminist expectations is making it very difficult to be a man in modern America. The only consolation is that feminists are doomed to lose this war on masculinity. You can push back on religious beliefs, you can push back on societal rules, but you can only push biology so far. And the fact remains – and it always will – that women are biologically attracted to traditional masculinity. And as long as that’s the case, feminists will never be able to erase the so-called “bad boys” from American life. That’s a good thing, because without those bad boys, America would be in real trouble.
