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We may be decent individuals but we are severely unaware of the hidden relationships that create the foundation of a life built upon male privilege.
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In a world built upon patriarchal principles and misogynistic tendencies a man may want to consider abandoning his domestication and subsequent indoctrination when it comes to being raised within the industrial model of civilization. Once confronted with the fact that our living arrangement doesn’t solve problems but instead creates them, every conscionable man must face the choice of staying the course or embracing humility. Humility is rarely taught to men. Those who become familiar with it usually have had it forced upon them by life. Men must search for humility or perish while continuing a course of action that has no future.
Guilt for being a man is a waste of time. Facing what men have done and continue to do in the name of power, both personally and collectively, is a responsibility that requires hard work. Being loyal to your sex or gender, just because you were born or assigned to it, is misplaced and dysfunctional. Humility requires us to not only unravel our ingrained narrative but it also requires us to listen instead of always speaking and to follow instead of always wanting to lead. It requires us to become allies to those who our power oppresses, abuses, exploits, and destroys on a daily basis.
Usually at this point our collective script kicks in and quickly informs us that none of this applies to us because after all, as individuals we are good guys and we don’t oppress, abuse, exploit or destroy people by our daily actions. What this running explanation fails to tell us, is that patriarchy is systemic. We may be decent individuals but we are severely unaware of the hidden relationships that create the foundation of a life built upon male privilege. That’s how patriarchy works for men. It goes unnoticed by us so in turn we think it’s something that’s not really a problem. We then deny, blame or reject any notions that challenge the dominant male version of existence.
Being a good man demands exploration beyond the low hanging fruit we’ve been feeding on since birth.
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Becoming allies isn’t what those with privilege do. If it was something we did there would be no privilege. When it comes to our inherent privilege, we love to point fingers and tell folks to take personal responsibility while ignoring our own. We do this by denying our privilege and we chalk everything up to our hard work. What’s missing from this story we tell ourselves about ourselves is the truth. The truth is, being born with a penis is to be given a membership card that many use when it’s beneficial but also deny its impact when it doesn’t seem convenient (a rarity) to be a male or a man. We want it both ways.
The actual hard work is becoming a traitor to our privilege. It’s the most difficult thing to do. If it were easy then the world would be a different place. If it were easy there would be no rape culture, no bathroom bills, no fear-based male aggression. It is our turn to take responsibility. Here is where we can begin:
- Begin applying a radical feminist lens to the dominant narrative by listening to, reading and following the work of radical feminists.
- Begin applying a transgender lens to the dominant narrative by listening to, reading and following the work of the transgender community.
- Begin applying a non-industrial lens to the dominant narrative by listening to, reading and following the work of anti-civilization activists, indigenous peoples (worldwide) and anarchists.
Once one begins to go down this rabbit hole they will discover that there are conflicts, different points of view and no utopian solutions to the problems we currently face. Even the different lenses I mention above have conflicting points of view. Being a better man demands exploration beyond the low hanging fruit we’ve been feeding on since birth. It demands we evolve.
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Photo: Getty Images
Come on MIke, wake up, stop trying to impress the women in your commune and get a grip on “reality”. Your off grid living uses a lot more resources than the average apartment dweller. It is A CHOICE you made, your choices, but that doesn’t mean it is good for society. Especially when you alienate others.
I’m not sure what my off grid living has to do with this piece but I suggest you read it again and skip my bio.
Ah yes. The Art of Manliness. My favorite site on the internet, James. Brett is the man, kate a woman among women. I very rarely post (no need to), but I read it all the time, and have been since about 2010. Everything about modern men, taken from the past. Nothing is off limits for discussion. I’d suggest it for any man that is having issues with discovering what it means to be a man, if he feels himself less a man, if he seeks to find some self pride in being a man, if he just wants to feel… Read more »
an overview of a good man from a psychoanalytic perspective http://www.artofmanliness.com/2011/07/31/king-warrior-magician-lover-introduction/
Yeah, I’m not going to take responsibility for the bad things some men do simply because I happen to share a sexual organ with them. If that means I’m not “evolved” or an “ally,” I can live with that.
It’s this ridiculous “everything bad that happens to minorities is your fault/responsibility” nonsense progressives have been pushing that’s driving people towards clowns like Trump.
That is exactly right. I am taking responsibility for MY life as a man, and when I see social or environmental injustice, I oppose it. However, most of the injustice I see is political. most ironic thing of all, the “white male western christian ideology”…IS THE ONLY ONE where women and minorities have opportunities and laws to protect them.
You oppose it? How? As far as the opportunities and protective laws go I think you’re simply using the, “well at least we are better than them” argument, which is not what I would exactly frame as opposing injustices.
If one can’t move beyond their dysfunctional loyalty to their sex or gender then humanity will never be part of your make up. You’re confusing self inflicted guilt with being empathetic.
“Dysfunctional loyalty to my gender?” Congratulations, you completely missed the point of my comment.” I don’t have “loyalty” or any other kind of collective attachment to my gender, race, or any other arbitrary category you can list. That’s why I don’t take responsibility for actions committed by other members of them, good or bad. Doing so isn’t “empathy,” it’s stupidity. Like I said before, your idea of enlightenment is not one I’m interested in achieving.
“Begin applying a radical feminist lens to the dominant narrative by listening to,”
You mean the one that says only men can rape and only women can be raped? You mean the one that says that if we open a DV shelter for men, we’re taking away resources that could be “better” spent on women? You mean the one that responds to 60% of under graduate degrees being given to women by demanding that colleges work harder to get more women into STEM?
It sure would be easier to see my male privilege if it actually existed.
Listening is simply that…one doesn’t have to agree with every aspect of someone else’s voice but if we can’t move beyond our dysfunctional loyalty to our birth rite then reactions such as yours are par for the course.
” if we can’t move beyond our dysfunctional loyalty to our birth rite”
Says the individual pushing a radical class political ideology.