The Sept. issue of the American Enterprise magazine has nine articles on men, part of its cover story, Real Men: They’re Back.
Only three of the nine articles are online so I ordered a single copy of the print issue. The editorial overview by Christina Hoff Sommers is titled Men — It’s in Their Nature and it encapsulates their overall perspective that the nature of men can’t be changed, it’s back in fashion, and that that’s good.
“The gender activists who fill our schools and government agencies will continue with their efforts to make boys more docile and emotional. But fewer and fewer Americans will support them. Maleness is back in fashion. And one reason is that Americans are increasingly aware that traditional male traits such as aggression, competitiveness, risk-taking and stoicism—constrained by virtues of valor, honor and self-sacrifice—are essential to the well-being and safety of our society.”
I like most of what she and the other article authors have to say. Vive la difference as I’ve blogged here before.
But as I wrote in my blog a month after Sep. 11 in reaction to Peggy Noonan’s piece: Welcome Back, Duke: From the ashes of Sept. 11 arise the manly virtues, this characterization of what makes a man manly seems just a little too thin.
Male traits constrained by the above-named virtues? Yep, good point. But it’s often not enough to prevent damage to ourselves and those around us, as evidenced by the epidemic of male depression in the general population, and the psychological impact to FDNY rescue workers after 9/11: “During the 11 months after the attacks, 1,277 stress-related incidents were observed among FDNY rescue workers, a 17-fold increase compared with the 75 stress-related incidents reported during the 11 months preceding the attacks. As of August 28, 2002, a total of 250 FDNY rescue workers remain on leave with service-connected, stress-related problems. “
I generally agree with the article authors’ who lambast various feminists, academics, and others who campaign to get boys and men to share their feelings. But that has nothing to do with being psychologically smart about yourself and others, a trait that’s very likely to make you more effective and happier in all your pursuits, manly or otherwise.