Connect the idea that our manhood as men is directly tied to
the freedom and liberation of women. We must not be paralyzed by the fear of
giving up the domination role that we have so fervently taken. Men must not
give in to the notion that “it’s a man’s world.” It’s not.
Rather than bash a man when he is compassionate and gentle,
we should applaud him. Our sons should be rewarded when they exude patience,
gentleness, empathy, courage and humility. The last of these may be one of the
most important of all.
Most men give in to peer pressure which guises itself as
embarrassment and defeat. No man wants to feel the pain of defeat or the
inner-fires of embarrassment. Thus, men and boys perpetuate the ill-conceived,
despicable stereotypes of modern-day masculinity. To combat this we must slowly
turn the tables and redefine masculinity.
We can begin with addressing mans inclination towards
violence, both physical and structural. Physical violence, one would think,
should be the easier of the two to curb and measure. However, for thousands of
years, men have asserted dominance over other men, as well as women, to gain
control and power. From world leaders to schoolyard bullies, violence is a tool
used for intimidation and fear.
Physical violence used in ANY circumstance outside of last
resort, self-defense is only cowardice and weakness masked as dominance. The
pseudo-dominator gains only a mere instance of power but weakens himself from
the inside out. Power from the inside out can only be manifested through love.
The same holds for all violence, especially domestic.
The only way to nurture and grow a powerful relationship is
through nonviolent, authentic love. Manhood should reflect this and be a goal
to strive for, not something you adopt by age. It should feel as if anger,
resentment and hate are all fleeing the body and mind.
Jealousy, conceit and envy are all triggers that become
dormant inside a peaceful mind. Violence stems from traits like these but we
must teach our boys HOW to deal with these human emotions once they arise. Boys
must feel comfortable expressing themselves emotionally rather than physically.
Instead of suppressing authentic feelings and telling boys
to simply “man up” we need a far more evolved reaction as adults. Boys need to
understand right away that it is far better to be an open book than a volcano
in disguise. It’s time as men to finally look in the mirror and redefine what
makes us….us.
This starts by redefining our character traits in a manner
that encompasses more than just one side. I’m not talking about completely
alternate definitions but rather tangential definitions. For example, a trait
that has been revered by men since the beginning of time: Courage.
When men/boys typically think of courage, an image of
putting oneself in physical danger in a heroic attempt to do something bigger
than themselves may arise. Other images may include: speaking in front of a
large crowd, taking responsibility for an entire group, making the ultimate
sacrifice and selflessly saving someone else at your own expense.
But what about the courage to be sensitive, the courage to
feel empathy and compassion towards all things, or the courage to put your
pride down? These are, more often than not, the images that are most overlooked
and underrated in society today.
We are slowly dehumanizing ourselves to the world around us
and in fact pushing further and further away from holistic courage. Boys are
often taught from an early age to numb pain, both internal and external. I
still have this problem. As a young boy, I bottled emotional hurt and pain
until the seal would break and I lashed out physically or verbally.
Boys look to society (i.e. fathers, sports idols, movie
stars, media outlets) for guidance to manhood. And what are we telling them…what
are we SHOWING them? Some fathers showing sons that it’s OK to hit Mom. Sports
stars boasting about the number of commas in their paychecks or the number of
women they have slept with instead of communicating the messages of duty,
discipline and class. The media perpetuates the idea that the bigger Pecs you
have the more chiseled your abs are then the more “manly” you must be.
This continues to display manhood and manliness solely on
the physical level. Masculinity is not determined by your physical attributes
as much as it is your character.
This is all not to say that there aren’t any great men,
fathers, sports stars and media outlets out there that are combating this
modern plague against boys. We are all leading our boys to a path of violence
if we are bystanders and don’t help redefine manhood for them.
Objectively, it is easy for men to abuse women, to degrade others,
to physically abuse and punish the weaker. We must make it subjectively
IMPOSSIBLE and inconceivable that these things could happen. Let's hold ourselves to a new standard and become the gentlemen that the world deserves.
-Jeb
