010: The Status of Young Men
The Status of Men, From a Man’s Perspective
A housekeeping item, first and foremost, is necessary. I plan on one or two more lighthearted entries on here for the rest of the month. I hope to share a bit about Christmas celebrations in different cultures, including a few which have directly affected my life. In the last few weeks, however, I keep colliding with this topic in the process of navigating life.
Men. They experienced a downfall. They are taking less advanced classes in grade school. They are attending colleges in significantly less numbers than their female counterparts. They are contributing to the workforce in a troublingly less way than they did a few decades ago, while women are doing the opposite. Their suicide rates have skyrocketed, their general health has plummetted, and they have been told by societal narratives that they are being a cancer on the world just through their existence on this planet. I’m one of the lucky ones–I had a productive upbringing, a great education, and I maintain a decent career with a personal life I can generally assess with some pride. That said, what I see in others is too obvious to ignore.
While female empowerment continues to dominate the narrative, men seem to have interpreted that to mean that there will be no seat at the table for them in the future. Right or wrong in this thought, that is their impression–and who is to say they are incorrect for having this state of mind?
The Response As I Currently See It:
Before going forward, it should also be noted that the paternal role in parenthood has been diminished. Many leaders have vocally suggested this. Former President Obama has made such claims about the absent father being a contributing factor to many broken homes. This has affected men as well as women. It was in a recent podcast I listened to involving Andrew Huberman in which he quoted another, I don’t remember exactly who, who said that “the hold of the remote father leaves a gap in the boy’s life that demons can enter through.”
So with that said, boys and young men are looking for direction. This has in some ways been aimless and can be destructive if not done carefully. Applying no caution to this can lead one down the path of following the likes of Andrew Tate, Nick Fuentes, and other less than desirable figures. Some who are aligned with the apparent narrative aiming to prevent such a resurgence of male relevance in society will link the part to the whole, and they will make the accusation that young men are being more encouraged to rediscover their power and to use it for malevolent intent.
However, the figures who are having the more substantial influence are not the Tate and Fuentes types. Thank goodness for that. They are philosophers, religious leaders, health and fitness advocates, and successful professionals in their respective fields. This includes the likes of Joe Rogan, Lex Fridman, Bishop Robert Barron, Jonathan Pageau, Dr. Jordan B. Peterson (when in his element as a psychologist and philosopher, he is unparalleled), Andrew Huberman, and many others. They are from many walks of life. Young men are undoubtedly taking lessons from these exceptional people and figuring out how to apply them to their lives. While they all have different backgrounds, it is critical that we recognize that a theme which weaves all of these people together is the need for men (and women, for that matter) to own their decisions and actions. The goal is to become more intelligent so that we can become productive members of society, not to use this newly attained knowledge for malicious purposes. That is a misconception driven by legacy sources, and it is a toxic one.
Young men are absolutely seeking this new path ahead though. The Gen Z vote for Trump was shocking. I don’t want this to be a political blog entry, but that was indicative of a disapproval of the narrative they’re forced to receive. Also noticeable is the return of young men to religion–and not just any religion, but largely to more traditional Catholic churches as well as Orthodox Christianity. This is good for the long-term health of these traditional faiths, but that is for a different day. Of course, the legacy media has painted these as the new macho religions. If the most theologically dense, purest, and oldest forms of Christianity are macho, then consider me macho as well.
The Path Forward:
It should be noted that the future will continue to be a challenging one for young men. It is on them to move the needle back to something resembling an equilibrium. We in part arrived to where we are due to a desire to make up for past evils by enacting current ones, which is a belief from which we need to depart. However, there is a media structure which recognizes them now. They have inspiration. They have information, knowledge, suggestions for improving their discipline, for taking ownership, and they have accessibility to all of it. It will be demeaned for being separate from the legacy sources, but does that really matter?
The challenge will be for young men to take this information and to shape their lives accordingly–this will require the courage to break through the narratives currently being force-fed to our society. It can be done, and it will be interesting to see where it all goes. Humility–staying low, if you will–should go a long way in reaching desired heights. Patience with the self will travel in parallel too, should this new resurgence of relevance succeed. There is indeed a long way to go, but the pendulum is in motion.