Clarence Paller
It is hard to argue that young men today are much different than their grandfathers and fathers, in many ways, not for the better. In many ways, men have been emasculated. You can see all around us the images of men these days on media and TV. From Soy Boys doing Tik Tok videos, fat and lazy men in commercials, and society labeling any masculine behavior as toxic (as seen in the Gillette Ads on toxic masculinity). Examples like Gillette is nothing more than a brand pushing a woke narrative, and the result of such labeling is harmful to men and society.
There is a reason for the famous quote by author G. Michael Hopf, “Hard times create strong men, strong men create good times, good times create weak men, and weak men create hard times,” which sums up a stunningly pervasive cyclical vision of history. We are living through some very hard times in the present day where even The United States of America, the land of freedom and opportunity, is under attack by leftism and Marxism, woke mobs, and cancel culture. These forces are fundamentally transforming society and posing risks by foreign nations as will be touched on in this piece.
Men today are weaker than their fathers and grandfathers. Researchers measured the grip strength (how strongly you can squeeze something) and pinch strength (how strongly you can pinch something between two fingers) of 237 healthy full-time students aged 20 to 34 at a university in North Carolina. Among males, the reduction in strength compared to 30 years ago was striking. (Comparative study of millennials’ (age 20-34 years) grip and lateral pinch with the norms Elizabeth Fain, OTR/L Cara Weatherford, OTS). Now, this piece is not saying that strength is the only factor of what it means to be manly, but grip strength already paints a picture that something is fundamentally changing with males.
The biggest change over the years is the deliberate deconstruction of the masculine right away from a young age. This begins from the school system that hinders boy’s development. “Since 1980, there has been a 71% increase in the number of boys who say they don’t like school. One reason for this is because the average boy is not as socially and verbally mature as the average girl yet is more physically active.
Elementary school is now mostly language-based, and recess is almost extinct, so boys conclude that they aren’t good at school and then don’t try as hard. Boys also tend to learn best with hands-on learning activities, and schools don’t offer enough opportunities to manipulate actual things. Furthermore, diaries and first-person narratives, writing styles preferred by girls are often favored over comic books and science fiction, themes favored by boys. (What’s the Problem With School? (n.d) Retrieved December 26, 2011, from PBS: http://www.pbs.org/parents/raisingboys/school02.html.)
As you can see boys’ struggles begin young as they are not getting the type of education and nurturing they need to develop. This trend to be more like girls continues because they often lack male role models and are told to be quiet, sit still and listen. We can see this is not right for boys because boys develop differently. Take for instance rough-housing, “If you watch an animal behavior in general — lion cubs, monkeys — there’s that ongoing physical play,” explains Dr. Carla Marie Manly a clinical psychologist who’s worked extensively with elementary and middle school children. “We like to think we are so far beyond our animal instincts, but we aren’t.”
Manly explains that much of the rough play can be linked to the animal urge to test physical boundaries and learn cause and effect. After all, with every passing year, a kid’s body can do something more, or something new. It makes sense to test those abilities, even if testing those abilities (endurance for instance) becomes painful. In part because of this, games that hurt can also act as self-made rites of passage. (Why Boys Love Roughhousing (and Why Parents Should Let Them Be) By Patrick A. Coleman.
The trend continues at home with the modern male parent male figure that is very different from the father and grandfather generation. Modern male figures in mass have become very docile, and many are commanded around by their wives and girlfriends. No one is advocating to be macho and boss women around or have gender roles as was prevalent in the past, but men still have a duty to be strong in character, in values, in action. Both partners must be role models for the children but a man who is treated like a doormat by a female is not setting a good example for the next generation of males and females for that matter. Every man and woman needs to know self-worth and self-respect and it is a two-way street. That is what kids need to see and both genders need to feel powerful and united not one dominating the other. Life is about balance and harmony; Yin and Yang are a great representation of this.
The effects of this weak men’s society are far-reaching because you see so many young men glued to video games, pornography, television, and it is no surprise that male suicide has skyrocketed in recent times. Young men need to re-connect to their DNA and discover what it means to be a male figure in a positive way. If Western society does not do this then society is very much in trouble with actors around the world who have their intentions.
Just recently, China proposes teaching masculinity to boys as the state is alarmed by changing gender roles. Communist Party of China has big plans in America and around the world. This piece is not intended to be a geopolitical analysis, just thought-provoking of what will come if we have a society of weak males too weak and feeble to stand up for values, society, their families, and future generations.
The first US president, George Washington, enunciated a policy of peace through strength in his fifth annual message to Congress, the 1793 State of the Union Address. He said, “There is a rank due to the United States among nations which will be withheld, if not absolutely lost, by the reputation of weakness. If we desire to avoid insult, we must be able to repel it; if we desire to secure peace, one of the most powerful instruments of our rising prosperity, it must be known that we are at all times ready for war.”
