Tough Guise: Violence, Media & the Crisis in Masculinity

[radicalliberal]

26. Nonathletic boys' problems are caused by those who tell them that they're less manly . . .

. . . simply because they're not interested in sports. I ought to know. I grew up with that routine in spades.

I was also taught by the culture at school and elsewhere that empathy and compassion were "feminine" traits, which therefore were undesirable in men. Despite the fact that these two traits have often been the driving force behind great acts of courage. Would Esquire magazine, one of the leading proponents of machismo, ever feature any articles about Martin Luther King Jr., Dr. Andrei Sakharov, or Raoul Wallenberg? Nah, that's "sissy" stuff!

I love this phony issue of late regarding the supposed "feminization" or "wussification" of America (often accompanied with a defense of bullying in the schools) that has been blathered about elsewhere. How wonderfully right-wing that is! Perhaps we should get the extreme right-wing gay guy named Jack Donovan (actually not his real name), who frequently lectures straight guys for supposedly not being masculine enough as he wields his plastic Conan sword about and extols the virtues of John Wayne, a white racist conservative Republican who never served in a war. (It is to laugh.) I'm sure he'd set us straight!

I should admit that I haven't watched this entire video. I stopped after he spoke about the "narrow box" regarding the socialization of boys. That's a bit too painful for me. He's dead right about the "narrow box." I was painfully aware of that reality when I was a kid. Perhaps he brings up another issue of which I'm not aware later in the video. Maybe that would be a different matter. Perhaps I'd disagree with him, but probably not. (I just thought I'd throw that one in for fun. Y'all don't have :mrgreen: .)

I'm not scared of my testosterone. Medically speaking, at the age of 64, I'm quite grateful my body still manufactures it in abundance. (I certainly don't have to take Viagra! ) I'm sure it's been helpful in my bodybuilding program, which has involved a lot of work and slow progress. But I'm not driven by my "testosterone" (speaking from a psychological/social point of view now) to ridicule some other guy because he has a scrawny build or because he's fat. In fact, I would regard such a view to be completely stupid. I suppose I should show how "tough" I am by becoming some sort of bully, something I've detested all of my life.

I'm on a bodybuilding program simply to feel good about myself. (Well, also because I've got late onset type II diabetes and have therefore got to exercise!) Unlike some other people (women as well as men), I don't feel compelled to get on some campaign to put down some guys simply because they supposedly aren't masculine enough according to standards that are superficial and phony. Besides, it's none of my business!

I'm also quite aware that a guy who happens to be physically weaker than I may be more intelligent, spiritual, or courageous than I. Why? Because I know just how diverse boys and men are. After all, we comprise half the human race; so, there's bound to be a lot of variety. But some (such as all the proponents of machismo) want all men to be the same. Has never been, 'twill never be.