I have noticed a rather absurd trend in a number of books and online videos by Traditional Conservatives and that is the attempt to rebrand and repackage traditionalism as fun and enjoyable, an activity that all men should actively seek out.

A number of books are now being released by the conservative right who seem to be going all out to portray fatherhood as enjoyable and good for you. As most fathers will confess fatherhood on the whole it is anything but fun. It is expensive, hard work and one that should be avoided like the plague if you value your financial and emotional well-being.

A well-known pundit in the right circles, Jim Geragthy, has released a book, titled “Heavy Lifting: Grow Up, Get a Job, Raise a Family, and Other Manly Advice!”

What’s different about this man up book is the actual absence of finger wagging, these guys realise that this does not work with the modern male, no amount of shaming will get a guy who is convinced that marriage is a bad deal to change his mind, shaming, in fact will likely entrench his beliefs. What Jim and his ilk are now resorting to is far more insidious, and that is to sell traditionalism as fun, a friend of mine received an email about this book, he is a member of a book recommendation website, he forwarded the email in question to me,

The emails headline was “What’s wrong with young men today?” and it went on ‘Too many twenty- and thirty-something men are living in a stage of extended adolescence. They’re playing video games and playing the field, unwilling to “settle” for a serious career or serious relationship—the very things men used to ambitiously pursue. Marriage and kids? Forget about it! Today’s young men act like becoming a dad might as well be a prison sentence.

In their new book Heavy Lifting, Jim Geraghty and Cam Edwards let their younger peers in on a secret: growing up and starting a family is actually the most fun a guy could have! With laugh-out-loud stories from their own rocky paths to adulthood, Geraghty and Edwards give readers some much-needed man-to-man advice about landing good jobs, surviving weddings, navigating marital fights, being a strong father figure, managing home repairs, and more!

These guys are trying to sell the virtues of slavery. I expect this repackaging of traditionalism to pick up pace over the next few years. Expect to see a myriad of content on youtube, print and TV where fathers are ‘celebrated’, and no longer mocked and derided.

Something that immediately came to my mind when I was reading the email my friend sent me was, if fatherhood was such a great situation, if “growing up’ and abandoning leisure, peace and video games was such a good deal, why would one need these people to sell the idea to us.

Look around you at fathers in these traditionalist setups,

– How many of them have their health?

– How many of them seem genuinely happy?

– How many of them seem well rested and content?

– How many of them are in good places financially?

– How many of them are not chronically stressed?

Another book that has been launched also in 2015 is by P.J. O’Rourke, and Jonah Goldberg, titled “The Dadly Virtues: Adventures from the Worst Job You’ll Ever Love”

this book attempts to portray fatherhood as something so inherently wonderful that only the downright insane would avoid it. They dedicate chapters to youthful mischief that involves bottle rockets and potato guns; and the dreaded paternal talk about “the birds and the bees.”

How about these men describe the real state of fatherhood these days. Arguing with the bitch of an ex-wife, having restricted access to your children after a 4-year divorce battle, arrests after she calls the police on the advice of her divorce lawyer……

The authors even staged a media get together to promote their book, about 12 minutes in one of the panelists explains his reasons for not having any kids, its well worth a watch

Most fathers that I know in these traditional, ‘grown-up’ relationships are miserable and want divorces, they are not happy and any fun they might have once enjoyed vanished long after the honeymoon period. These traditional relationships are a graveyard, where men go to die after all hope has been abandoned. In-fact many of the happiest, most content men and financially stable men I know are men who either refused marriage or divorced early and worked hard on staying single.

Please don’t fall for this repackaging of slavery, traditionalists are panicking on mass as women are complaining quite vocally about the absence of ‘real men’ who want to settle down, there is absolutely a man shortage now and of course being the white knights that they are, these Trad-Cons will do the modern day version of a press gang and attempt to persuade and bully men back in line. Their attempts to suggest that being in a relationship, providing for a family and manning up, are fun activities, are actually pathetic, look back at your father, did he ever look happy? Did he ever have time for his hobbies?