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John F Lang's avatar

Aaron makes a number of important points. The central one is this: "... men need to learn to stand up for themselves and their own legitimate interests."

I believe the primary reason for their reluctance to stand up for their legitimate interests consists of two factors: The first is that almost the whole of society, including men, has deeply bought into the idea that equality (a very American ideal) requires that men and women be regarded as interchangeable. Anything short of that means that women would be denied access to certain roles. You see this reflected in multitudinous ways. An example would be the statement, "I don't care who is chosen for the job so long as the most capable person is chosen." The implication is that the right woman could just as easily fill the position as a man. When you hear such a statement, don't you find yourself inclined to agree with it? The problem, however, is that despite our equality-loving impulses to the contrary, such reasoning is deeply flawed. There are major differences in the legitimate roles of men and women, as naturally reflected in human history from ancient times to modernity and more importantly in the source of all wisdom, the Bible. These differences, properly understood, do not imply inequality but rather different roles consistent with our male and female natures. Both men and women are deeply troubled today because we are not living within our natural spheres. Just because some woman may be able to engage in combat does not mean she should be allowed to be a soldier. Allowance of such exceptions leads to other women demanding the same, the exception becoming the rule, and men no longer seeing manly valour and bravery as a characteristic of military service. Hence, lowered standards and a recruitment problem.The legitimate roles of men in society are hollowed out in this fashion, and a flawed understanding of equality prevents men from seeing it. The second problem to men standing up are the anti-discrimination laws which act as a witch-hunt to enforce feminist goals.

In short, men need to recognize their natural, and therefore legitimate, roles in society before they can stand up to demand them.

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Mr Black Fox's avatar

There’s something to be said about a culture that silences men from speaking up for themselves in mainstream discourse.

Radical individualism (you do you) and feminism (girl power & girl bossery) has driven many average men and boys into obscurity.

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