Demonizing Masculinity ... J. D. Longstreet

Demonizing Masculinity
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet
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Whatever happened to real men?  If that question leaves you a little stunned, a little off balance, a little peeved, a tad amused, or even a little angry, then I MAY have made my point, already! 

Our 21st century American society is so screwed-up today that, honestly, I don't think we even know what a REAL man is anymore.

Today we have at least three kinds of males:  heterosexual, homosexual, and metrosexual.

I think we understand the first two well enough, at least, for the purposes of this "diatribe." So, let's look at the metrosexual because I fear that is the genus of males that is really screwing up the world view of what a REAL man is these days.

When you "Google" metrosexual the following seems to be the agreed upon definition, at least on the Internet:

"Metrosexual is a neologism, derived from metropolitan and heterosexual, coined in 1994 describing a man (especially one living in an urban, post-industrial, capitalist culture) who is especially meticulous about his grooming and appearance, typically spending a significant amount of time and money on shopping as part of this. The term is popularly thought to contrast heterosexuals who adopt fashions and lifestyles stereotypically associated with homosexuals, although, by the definition given by the originator, a metrosexual "might be officially gay, straight or bisexual."

For a shining example of a metrosexual male one only has to look as far as the Oval Office of the White House today. At least that is my opinion. 

It is also my opinion that metrosexuals are not much use to anyone. They are sort of like drones -- except LESS useful.

It is also unfortunate, in my view, that they are able to, occasionally, aid in the reproduction of another human being with a roughly fifty-fifty chance of producing another male who, after years of instruction and indoctrination, will become another adult metrosexual male further reducing the role of contributing males in American society and intensifying the weak strain of masculine DNA in the approximately three billion chemical base pairs of the American genome.

It is said that today women do not want real men as mates.  What they really want is another sensitive female for a "husband."  Enter -- the metrosexual. 

Many blame the women's feminist movement for destroying men.  Feminists have taken the role of men upon themselves.  I must tell you as a man myself, women acting and sounding like men is not becoming, in the least, to me, anyway.

These ladies, er, women, will tell you they don't need men.  OK.  That's fine. But women of such a mind set should realize that men, sure as hell, don't need them, either.

Back when the movies actually had male actors who not only portrayed real men, and were, in fact, real men, real man roles were far more easily defined on screen and off.  This was also before the day of the feminist movement.

John Wayne was the supreme example of what being a real man looked like on screen.  Fortunately, according to those who knew him personally,  he was the same man off screen.  Then there was Gary Cooper, James Cagney, Clint Eastwood, Steve McQueen, Robert Mitchum, Kirk Douglas, Sean Connery, Charlton Heston,  Lee Marvin,   and a few others who wore their masculinity without apology.

Try coming up with a short list like that today.  I'm thinking Sam Elliott, Tom Selleck,  ..., ..., uh, gimme a few minutes.

Oh well, moving right along ...

Consider this from Wilbur Smith at the Daily Mail, a UK newspaper:

"The world has changed. Today, men are afraid to say what they think, to stand up for their beliefs, to fight for what has become an unfashionable cause. Women’s rights have been the great driver of so many social changes in the past 40 years. But what about men’s rights?

One of the worst inventions of the 20th century was political correctness.

It has forced a generation of males to keep their masculinity under wraps. It has made millions of men too timid to admit their true views about the world. It’s not fashionable to be a macho man today, is it?

Even the concept of a ‘hero’ is not politically correct. In this new climate of supposed equality, uniformity is to be treasured above the outstanding."  SOURCE: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-1376688/Wayne-Rooney-Whatever-happened-real-men.html#ixzz2ajftNzW6

Now a few words from an insightful lady at "Coffee Talk Mom." 

"What happened to the real men? The men who make decisions (leader), lock the doors at night (protector), check the oil in all of the cars (thinker). I have a feeling that we "do it all" moms are kicking ourselves in the butt! After all, our controlling natures have taken away the very essence of who men really are…What do you expect from your man? Maybe we need to be better with the quick communication skills men have."   SOURCE:  http://www.coffeetalkmom.com/my-blog/2011/09/whatever-happened-to-real-men.html

It seems humans need role models.  Boys need men to teach them how to be men, and not perpetual boys. And the real men role models just aren't there today.  Now, in 2013, you see,  we idolize wimps and sissies. 

Whatever happened to testosterone?   You know -- the hormone that gets things done!   Now we are cursed with a new ailment called "Low-T."   

I just read that the military is going to have to redesign its uniforms to fit the female form ... tucked in at the waist, let out at the buttocks.  There's goes the army.

The question is, I believe, what does all this mean for our country?  For the answer, simply look about you.  We are a nation in indisputable decline.  We are leaderless.  Our Congress is pathetic, our President is a metrosexual, our military has just been feminized, and we are preparing to elect a woman as the next President of  the United States. There is NO LIGHT at the end of the tunnel. 

I hear it referred to as the "New Normal" in America.  Believe me.  It's NOT NEW and it's NOT NORMAL!  What it is  -- is a perversion of the natural order.  (A normal society does not place its women in harm's way intentionally.  It is they who reproduce life and perpetuate the species.  A normal society protects them at all costs ... even when they don't want to be defended -- or think they don't.) It is an abberation.  It is an abberation that has already cost America its leadership role on the world stage and has us a fair distance down the slippery slope to becoming a third world country.

Real men would not have allowed placing women in combat roles in the US military.  But then, real men in positions of leadership in America would not have allowed the country to decline as it has.

Yeah, I'm old, and I am a romantic in the sense that I am idealistic and, some would say, unrealistic.  But I long for a return to the days when men were men -- and the women were glad of it.

© J. D.Longstreet