Inez Feltscher Stepman recently made the argument in the National Review that men should have their own space. Before the 1990s, she writes, The Elks Club, the Virginia Military Institute and the Boy Scouts were exclusively male; however, with the fanatical push of so-called progressive ideologies, these institutions are now co-ed. In fact, the cry to eliminate all-male spaces was vociferous, resulting in the stigmatizing of anything male, not just male only. To be a guy, in other words, was somehow to be stained with a unique sort of sin – one that prompted some men to self-flagellate, which is to say hate themselves for being men, and others to double down. Hence, we saw the emergence of two types of men: the Beta and the Toxically masculine. The former reviles his masculinity and embraces the feminine while the latter inflates his masculinity to absurd and dangerous proportions. Of course, the question naturally arises, What is it to be a man? Some individuals are adamant that gender is a construct .A man, they argue, is not so because of some physical reality: his sex. Any person can simply opt into whatever construct they feel is best for them, genitals notwithstanding. The whole point, the whole mission is to erase the differences between genders. Men should not have an exclusive space because there is no longer any reason to exclude. The barrier has come down. The distinctions are void. This viewpoint, naturally, is not without its detractors. Enter renowned psychologist and public intellectual, Jordan Peterson. His 2018 book, 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos sparked some controversy by daring to proclaim that there are, in fact, objective truths that, if held onto, can steer us away from emotional, psychological, and, yes, spiritual mayhem. In effect, his thesis is antithetical to the Postmodern mantra that there are as many truths as there are individuals – that truth is what we make of it and nothing more. Peterson’s boldness was embraced by many, making his book a number one bestseller; however, to others, he remains a stodgy white guy from Canada who, like every other white guy, is trying to wrest power from the so-called “other”.The debate rages even still. Do we get to create the boundaries that define our lives, or is it really a matter of discovering the boundaries that already exist? If you have been journeying with me for any bit of time, you, dear listeners, can likely discern how I would answer this question. I am interested in what is true, for, as the saying goes, the truth will set us free. I am alarmed, therefore, that anybody can look around our world today and see the despondent young men – bear witness to their aimlessness, their abject loss, their lack of focus, motivation, and hope – and decide that, by virtue of their sex, they had it coming. Who harbors this hostility? It would be easy to name a group of like-minded thinkers who zealously champion some academically grown theory about the world, but I wonder if the zeitgeist of today has deeper roots – an epicenter that actively wants to ground all things masculine into the dust. To return to the question, What is it to be a man?, might we now conjecture that it means to stand up for what is right and true? If we are truly in a spiritual battle between good and evil then the enemy’s best tactic would be to take out the warriors by perverting or otherwise rejecting the traditional ways boys are formed into men. The refrain, therefore, is the following: Let a culture of cellphones, pornography, and militant feminism mold the lads. Fathers be quiet. Grandfathers shut up. The grip of the patriarchy stops here because it has always been bad. But is this true? What does the evidence say? The cry for manly direction is only growing. Let us hope there are still men around to offer it.
https://www.amazon.com/12-Rules-Life-Antidote-Chaos/dp/0345816021
