The war against masculinity tends towards assumptions, particularly in regards to stereotyping men in a most cartoonish fashion and treating them not as biological males but as imperfect females to be re-moulded into an even more stereotypical woke “β”-male.

Myriad such examples have been making the rounds as of late, one of which received a rather unrestrained fisking by author Larry Correia. However, in this little article, your humble author would like to point out the false manichean narrative from said article that assumes that it is an exclusive dualistic choice between “toxic masculinity” and “wokeness”.

One article, fisked by others already, sets up some false either/or choices replete with nonsensical and ignorant stereotypes. An examination of said false choices:

Hunting vs. Knowing How to Cook

It is understandable that many men in an urban and suburban setting don’t have a need or even a local opportunity to hunt (outside of pests, rodents, and rabid hobos) or otherwise don’t have an opportunity to get a hunting license and go out hunting. However, just because one doesn’t hunt, does not mean that there is anything wrong with hunting or even knowing how to hunt. Hunting, furthermore, isn’t even just a “man” thing and a woman who knows how to hunt can be both feminine and sexy due to her hunting. Those who hunt, both men and women, don’t somehow have to choose between being able to hunt and being able to cook, as if this were a dualistic choice in some rpg character creation. Indeed, cooking is a basic skill that everyone ought to be able to handle, at least to the degree that one can create a healthy and balanced meal that is at least palatable.

Fighting vs. Learning How to Mediate

Being able to mediate between other people is a basic life-skill that, again, both men and women ought to know. This is a question of basic human interaction and learning to read the mood. Being able to mediate and get along with people is necessary for any institution or society to function. Guess where else mediation is important? Between allies and comrades fighting with you. Team building and fighting are not exclusive of each other, dontchaknow. Further, sometimes it becomes necissary to fight, mostly because the other side wants to fight or otherwise give you no choice. And yes, this is something that both men and women should have at least a modicum of understanding of how to do, even if it means using weapons and firearms in self-defense and defense of others.

Repairing Your Car vs. Learning How To Code

The article posits that people just aren’t driving like they used to so they shouldn’t both knowing how to fix a car they don’t own and then learn coding because the internet or something. Pro-tip: One doesn’t have to know how to rebuild an engine to drive a care, or know C++ to use the internet. Basic knowledge of cars and how to deal with minor issues (e.g. changing a flat tire, recognize a dead battery, &c.) is just as useful as knowing a bit about computer maintenance (e.g. knowing to use an anti-virus, understanding how to connect to wi-fi, &c.); knowing either in depth just means you can earn a living helping those who don’t have said depth of knowledge… or even knowing both.

Fixing Things at Home vs. Learning How to Decorate

Knowing basic home repair is a life-skill that both men and women ought to know. Now, there may be a good reason to leave simpler things to others, such as the problem being the responsibility of the landlord and not yours, or having a good home warranty that will save you money on parts alone, the more basic home repair skills one knows means the less one has to rely on licensed experts. On the flip side, knowing how to do basic home repair doesn’t preclude having some type of decorating sense. Sure, it may not be “Queer Eye” level of Chic Couture, but men are as capable as women of creating a comfortable and well maintained living environment.

Being a Leader vs. Learning How to Collaborate

This is two sides of the same coin. Invariably one has to collaborate with others on a team, even when one is a leader, knowing how to work effectively and efficiently with others is a basic life skill… that both many men and women today don’t seem to fully grok. Sometimes, one will rise up the ranks and be in a position where they have to lead, and if you neglect this, then you will be relegated to the very drudges. This isn’t just a “man” thing, it is human thing where both men and women need to know how to lead others in collaboration between themselves and with their team leaders.

Being a Disciplinarian vs. Learning How to Communicate With Your Children.

The author doesn’t seem to realize that mothers are often far more strict than fathers are? Of course any parent has to have good communication with their kids, but any parent needs to know to punish their kids if their kids to something stupid. This isn’t some bizarre choice between a distant authoritarian dictator and a gentle empath who solves all problems with “wuv”.

Holding Your Emotions In vs. Learning How to Talk About Your Feelings

There are times when men and women are just not only physically but physiologically different. Perhaps for women, openly sharing all the details of one’s problems brings an important catharsis in a way that it doesn’t for a man, who regardless of how much they share their “feelz”, still ultimately need to come to terms and figure things out on their own? Men can talk, share their concerns and worries for example, without need to therapy or outpouring all their emotions. Of course men should feel free to find kith or kin to talk about such private matters, much in the same way that a woman should be able to deal with things internally without having wash an emotional torrent over others; both can be learned, and used accordingly, based on one’s parents (assuming one is lucky enough now-a-days to have both a father and a mother).

Ultimately, this isn’t some dualistic choice between “obsolete man skills” and woke new behaviors, but of knowing basic life skill that any adult human being ought to know to some degree or another.



Tweet