Robert Jensen and Men Being Men

Robert Jensen, writing in the San Francisco Chronicle, says that

Guys should evolve beyond masculinity

The article is a bit long, but the author is also very wrong and way off base in many cases. He starts out with

It's hard to be a man; hard to live up to the demands that come with the dominant conception of masculinity, of the tough guy.

Well, he's right on that part. No one ever promised anyone that life was easy. Life isn't easy. It was never supposed to be easy. The only people who look at life and expect it to be easy are Godless people who are basically lazy. So yeah, life isn't easy. So what? He continues

So, guys, I have an idea -- maybe it's time we stop trying. Maybe this masculinity thing is a bad deal, not just for women, but for us.

Typical of way too many who call America home today. What's the first reaction to anything that's "hard?" Surrender. He complains later on in the article that it's bad to have the reaction that it's not okay to surrender, but this is still his first reaction. What does that tell you about this type of person? The FIRST reaction to "it's hard" is surrender. But there's more:

We need to get rid of the whole idea of masculinity. It's time to abandon the claim that there are certain psychological or social traits that inherently come with being biologically male. If we can get past that, we have a chance to create a better world for men and women.

We need to make everyone the same. Everyone should be androgenous. There should be no difference between males and females except for a few physical sex organs, according to the author. He wants to completely destroy the entire society of America and it's complete history. He doesn't want there to be ANY social differences between men and women. If all of western history were to cease to exist, he would be happy.

And he actually wants to believe there are zero psychological differences between men and women. All the research studies that have shown, time and time again, the various differences between reactions in the brain of males and females should be ignored and thrown out. Zero difference. I think he's going to need an awful lot of powerful, mind-altering drugs to complete that task.

That dominant conception of masculinity in U.S. culture is easily summarized: Men are assumed to be naturally competitive and aggressive, and being a real man is therefore marked by the struggle for control, conquest and domination. A man looks at the world, sees what he wants and takes it. Men who don't measure up are wimps, sissies, girls. The worst insult one man can hurl at another -- whether it's boys on the playground or CEOs in the boardroom -- is the accusation that a man is like a woman.
...
That view of masculinity is dangerous for women. It leads men to seek to control "their" women and define their own pleasure in that control, which leads to epidemic levels of rape and battery. But this view of masculinity is toxic for men as well.

So because men are different from women, they rape women. Perhaps Mr. Jensen has already been partaking of some serious mind-altering drugs. He actually believes that women are raped because of the culture of America. Apparently rape doesn't happen in any other cultures -- after all, if it's America's "macho" culture that causes rape, certainly it won't happen in, for example, Muslim cultures that are almost the opposite of America.

This is just an insane view of men, originally created by radical man-hating feminazis. However, it appears that Mr. Jensen has bought that story.

No one man created this system, and perhaps none of us, if given a choice, would choose it. But we live our lives in that system, and it deforms men, narrowing our emotional range and depth. It keeps us from the rich connections with others -- not just with women and children, but other men -- that make life meaningful but require vulnerability.

None of us would choose this system? So what system would you create and choose, if you had the option, Mr. Jensen? From your insinuations here, it seems that you might choose a world of utopian androgeny -- a place where no one ever was better than anyone else. There would be no losers -- and no winners. There could be no competitive sports, because that might show that some are better than others.

There could be no competition for work, because some might work more than others, and some might get paid more than others -- and that just wouldn't be fair. Everyone would have to work the exact same amount and would get paid the same amount. Of course, be sure you get the entire rest of the world to join you in your utopia at exactly the same time, Mr. Jensen, or they'd roll over the peaceful U.S. in a New York Minute.

But how does this culture "narrow our emotional range?" I don't see that at all. I see plenty of men that have all the emotions they want to have. Perhaps you mean that it narrows Mr. Jensen's definition of emotional range. Perhaps you mean that some men don't have the exact same emotions as Mr. Jensen, therefore those men are "bad."

How does this culture keep us from connecting with others? Again, that's not the world I live in. I see all sorts of men leading their families and making long-lasting, rich emotional connections with their children, both male and female. I see heads of households taking care of their wives and families in ways that could not be done were they not bold men who are willing to work for and defend their families.

Of course there are obvious physical differences between men and women -- average body size, hormones, reproductive organs. There may be other differences rooted in our biology that we don't understand. Yet it's also true that men and women are more similar than we are different, and that given the pernicious effects of centuries of patriarchy and its relentless devaluing of things female, we should be skeptical of the perceived differences.

Follow that one carefully, good reader, if you can. There are differences, but there shouldn't be -- that's what he's trying to say. "There MAY be" other differences? Once again, that's blind denial of all of science since the beginning of time. If Mr. Jensen seriously doesn't realize that there's more differences between men and women than physical characteristics, he indeed lives a very, very sheltered life.

But in the short-term it's hardly a convincing argument to say, "Look at how men and women behave so differently; it must be because men and women are fundamentally different" when a political system has been creating differences between men and women.

In other words, again, Mr. Jensen seems convinced that men and women are NOT different -- instead it's the culture that's created them different. No, Mr. Jensen, you're completely wrong. Men and women not only ARE different, the uniquely American culture that celebrates men and their strengths is also good. It has brought us much of what you see and use to make your complaints about men and America.

From there, the argument that we need to scrap masculinity is fairly simple. To illustrate it, remember back to right after 9/11. A number of commentators argued that criticisms of masculinity should be rethought. Cannot we now see -- recognizing that male firefighters raced into burning buildings, risking and sometimes sacrificing their lives to save others -- that masculinity can encompass a kind of strength that is rooted in caring and sacrifice? Of course men often exhibit such strength, just as do women. So, the obvious question arises: What makes these distinctly masculine characteristics? Are they not simply human characteristics?

They are masculine characteristics because the majority of men have them and the majority of women do not. It really is that simple. There's no scientific study needed here. There's no need for years of research. It really is simple: men tend to do masculine things because they're men -- despite the American culture that Mr. Jensen seems to hate so much. Don't believe me? Watch children play without guidance. The boys ALWAYS play with guns and make car noises. The girls don't. And not because they were told to.

Once we start saying "strength and courage are masculine traits," it leads to the conclusion that woman are not as strong or courageous.

Once again, Mr. Jensen, perhaps you should get out a little more often. Those ARE masculine traits. Women are not as strong or courageous. Now before all the "sexist" hackles get raised (am I too late?), that's a broad generalization, and dammit, it's true. Overall, men ARE stronger and more courageous than women. I'm sorry if you don't like that, but that doesn't make it false, no matter how much you don't like it.

I don't think the planet can long survive if the current conception of masculinity endures. We face political and ecological challenges that can't be met with this old model of what it means to be a man. At the more intimate level, the stakes are just as high. For those of us who are biologically male, we have a simple choice: We men can settle for being men, or we can strive to be human beings.

Gee, Mr. Jensen, we've been doing pretty good with this model for thousands of years, haven't we? Heck, the US, up until the last couple decades, was doing absolutely outstanding with our culture. Heck, the population (including illegals) just went over 300 million. That doesn't sound like we're near extinction just yet.

As for your false choice, Mr. Jensen, we have another option. Instead of "settling" on being men, we can celebrate and actually work at being real men, instead of the utopian androgeny that you would ask us to be. I, and anyone else who enjoys and celebrates the uniquely American culture, doesn't want to be an androgenous "human." I prefer to be a man.

No, it's not easy. It's actually quite difficult. However, unlike you, I choose not to surrender. I choose not to give in to the politically correct (morally bankrupt) crowd that would suggest I need to be less agressive and less protective. Instead, I will fight you and others like you until my last dying breath to be free to be a man. I will hold doors open for women -- whether they want me to or not. I will exit the elevator when only a woman is in it -- whether they're insulted or not.

I will continue to change the oil on my car and drink full-bodied beer. I will continue to collect firearms and practice shooting them. And you know what? I will continue to provide for and protect my family from people like you who would destroy them and their culture. Sure, it's difficult, because it takes work, and it involves a whole lot of responsibility. But if you want to be a man, you have to take that responsiblity.

A Man Rejects Passivity

A Man Accepts Responsibility

A Man Leads Courageously

"A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do." - John Wayne.

Addendum: Raven's right there with me.

Posted by: Ogre at 03:17 PM

Comments

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