The Manhood Conundrum - By Jared

Here is another article from Jared. Jared from http://legendsofmen.com/ He broke off from ROK some time back and created a site of his own.

The Manhood Conundrum

What drives a man to be more masculine? Today, it’s only our own drive for self-development. The best you is the most masculine you. The world doesn’t need us to be more masculine, we do it because it is good to be more masculine.

Historically, and through every era of history except the modern era, necessity drove men to be more masculine. To survive we needed to be stronger, braver, more skilled. To provide and protect for our families we had to be more masculine. But the masculine mind sometimes works against himself.

The harsh environment of history drove men to be better men, but it also drove a technological arms race. This race for better technology was first intended to better provide for and protect our families. It was slow for a long time. Eventually, however, technology started to perform functions that only our masculine bodies could previously perform. Technology started to replace the masculine means to providing for and protecting our families.

There is the manhood conundrum. We are spurred by our masculine nature to create the technology that eliminates the need to be masculine.

Barbarian Savage’s Desire Technology

Most masculine scholars would agree that human masculinity was forged in the harsh natural environment our ancestors had to navigate. When we live more like they did we have to become more masculine just to survive. That harsh environment makes men better at being men. Yet, the people who live in those environments do not desire the hardship that makes them masculine.

In Noble Savages, famed anthropologist Napoleon Chagnon describes how he lived with the Yanamamo, then a tribe largely uncontacted by the civilized world. The Yanamamo get by on their own. They have everything they need to survive, though survival is in no way easy. Do they appreciate and relish the hardship? Do they seek it?

No. When Chagnon gives gifts of simple tools, stuff like fish hooks or metal pots they gladly accept it. In fact, they bug him night and day for more items. To the most honored men in the tribe, Chagnon offered machetes. Did these men refuse the machetes because it would make them weaker? Of course, not. They gladly accepted the machetes. When other anthropologists offered shotguns to the Yanamamo (an ethical violation) the barbarian savages did not refuse. They were cherished gifts.

The men who live in harsh environments that make men better at being men want better technology. They want the things that make them less masculine. As do we.

Technology Slowly Degrades Our Masculinity

In Manthropology, a book I highly recommend, Peter McAllister writes about how technological improvements to weaponry make us less masculine. I have written about this also in Making Manhood in Modern America. The example goes something like this;

One of man’s first weapons was essentially a spear. To kill with these early spears men had to get up close and personal with their prey, whether it is dangerous mega-fauna or an enemy from another tribe. Eventually, spears that could be thrown were developed. Men could kill from a safer distance requiring less bravery. Slings, bows and arrows were developed. Men could kill from even further distances, requiring even less bravery. These weapons still required strength and skill though. When guns were developed the distances grew even greater and the need for strength was greatly diminished, but marksman skills were still necessary. Fast forward to an era where drone strikes occur and all courage, strength, and skills are no longer necessary to kill a man.

That mostly applies to warfare but it can just as easily apply to hunting, building, or anything that requires strength, courage, and skill.

The Modern Simulation

We know that being better men improves us in every way, shape, and form. We know that living in a harsh natural environment forces us to be more masculine. So how many of us are abandoning modern life to live off the fat of the land? Nobody. I know I’m not.

Even men who actively make their lives harder than necessary do not go that far. We still live in the modern world governed by social norms, laws, and logistic necessities. Men still earn their livings by collecting a paycheck in exchange for their labor or skills. Quite frankly, we are not equipped to survive off the land because we weren’t raised to be able to do so. We were raised in the modern world and it is the modern world we must navigate.

So we simulate the need for strength at the gym, or the need for courage by doing an extreme sport, or the need for both by doing a combat sport.

The path to becoming a better man lies in putting yourself in situations where your strength, courage, and skills are needed to provide for and protect your family. As I write in Making Manhood in Modern America; because the modern world is what it is, we have to expand our definitions of these words. Strength can be displayed through power, not just physical strength. Courage can be displayed through calculated risk-taking, not just risking your life. You’ll have to develop skills that are needed in the modern world like sales or accounting. Hunters aren’t needed (though many men enjoy it as a hobby).

This is the world we must navigate because of the manhood conundrum. It’s not easy, but we wouldn’t exercise our masculinity if it was.