Be a Man

Men are called to be a lot of things.  There are a lot of expectations on men.  That’s why, as a man, I was curious to read this Newsweek article on the decline of masculinity in our society.  There were a number of points in the article that I agreed with, but there were many others that I disagreed with.  It’s not that the author is completely off-base; I think that the author simply has an incomplete picture and has therefore missed the mark.  Essentially, the author of the article has attempted to solve a problem by addressing symptoms rather than the core issues.

So what are the core issues then?  Read this article by Jaeson Ma.  He does a great job outlining what he calls the “5 Pillars of Manhood”.  These are the core issues.  If men focused on these pillars, all of the other symptoms and side effects that the Newsweek article mentions would fade away.  Manliness has somehow been redefined in our society, but the basic nature of men hasn’t changed; it makes sense, then, to say that masculinity has been derailed rather than being in decline.

The biggest difference between these two articles is that Newsweek focuses on what men should do, while Jaeson focuses on who men should be.  The why is more important than the how.  If more men start adhering to the 5 pillars, our society will notice that men will once again have identities as men, and their levels of masculinity will reflect that.  And then they will naturally do what they are expected to do as men.

Advertisement