Most of us men were raised by our parents to grow up as he-men. Our parents wanted us to be manly, that is they wanted us to stand up for ourselves, to be strong-minded, able to take risks and not to take any s*** from anybody. They encouraged us to participate in contact sports such as football, ice hockey and boxing. Our fathers taught us how to use guns and many of us received a rifle as a cherished Christmas gift. Our upbringing led many of us to join the military service during wartime. Others of us became police officers.

Those days will be gone if the American Psychological Association (APA) gets its way. Feminists have long bashed he-men and now they are joined by the APA’s attack on masculinity.

The Monitor On Psychology magazine has just published the 36-page “APA Guidelines for the Psychological Practice with Boys and Men” which links masculinity ideology to aggression, homophobia and misogyny. The APA wants parents and psychologists to stop instilling elements of “traditional masculinity” in men and boys.

The APA says traditional masculinity is harmful to men and boys because it includes elements of “anti-femininity, achievement, eschewal of the appearance of weakness, and adventure, risk, and violence.” That’s why men commit about 90 percent of all homicides in this country. The guidelines say that notions of masculinity “may influence boys to direct a great deal of their energy into disruptive behaviors such as bullying, homosexual taunting, and sexual harassment rather than healthy academic and extracurricular activities.”

If there is a shortage of police candidates now, just wait until we have a generation of men who were raised in accordance with the APA guidelines. No sissy would want to join the military or a police force. But then, if all men were raised to be sissies, we would not need a traditional police force. A police agency of all-female and sissy-men would be able to handle all criminal situations because men will no longer have guns. They will no longer commit murders, assaults and rapes. And best of all, men will no longer resist arrest.

The APA is concerned about the elements of achievement, adventure, risk and violence when these are some of the very characteristics needed by police candidates. Of course, by violence we mean that an officer will have to use force when necessary.

Thankfully most parents will tell the APA to stick it where the sun don’t shine. Men will continue to be he-men and we will not see the emergence of the all-female and sissy-men law enforcement agencies. Some men will continue to commit crimes of violence, use guns and resist arrest. That will require a police force of he-men and tough women.

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Howie Katz is a former law enforcement officer and retired criminal justice professor. He is a life member of the California Peace Officers Association and the California Narcotic Officers Association. In 1969 he founded the Texas Narcotic Officers Association. He currently resides in Houston, Texas. You can see more of his writing at http://barkgrowlbite.blogspot.com.