This is sort of an interesting point, because the complaint from conservatives here is that "men have feelings too" which is sort of the same feminization they supposedly hate about the culture. Yet, here is a commercial supposing that "real" men can take a joke and aren't emotional babies that are going to be wounded by viewing it.
I've never told anyone anything like that, or been told that myself. Shit, I'm living the idea of men being able to half-ass it and succeed. Maybe I'm just a little more self-aware thats all.
So I the one hand I live in a cave, divorced from society, on the other people like me are out there indoctrinating boys that they have to defer to women ... you gotta make up your mind bro
Men used to be straight shooters, say what was on their mind. Now they hide behind this sort of stuff. Sad!
Good points. One other thing I want to mention is I think people underestimate biology sometimes when talking about human behavior. We are animals. And until the last 1-2% of our evolutionary history, we behaved much more like animals. The rapid advancement of technology and the corresponding rapid changes to society have moved faster I think than evolution. Men spent 150-200 thousand years working in small groups killing things on a regular basis. There isn't a modern corollary for that besides maybe warfare - I sometimes wonder how much our evolutionary history contributes to the struggles of modern men and the recent successes of now, more socially liberated, women. In a world where violence, strength, speed, and vitality are not as important as empathy, understanding, care, and organization, women have an advantage. Biologically, on the average, they are going to be better at those things than men.
We underestimate boys saying boys will be boys. The thing about trades, if you aren’t accustomed to learning and educated, you get pigeoned holed into the entry / dead end jobs. Just like carpentry, not everyone is equal. Life long learning and improvement should be the goal. Using trades as a catch all for drop outs never works long term.
The most formative and consequential event in human history happened long ago, before history could record it. The invention of agriculture. More or less all the struggles of society to this day (mainly the labor & land required to harvest and feed large populations), religion, ideas about gender & reproduction come out of that. I mean, that was basically the invention of civilization - which means we haven't been animals for a very long time, particularly as it concerns our conception of time relative to our own lifespans. To the extent that women have the advantage of empathy, understanding, etc. it is only because we teach girls those are the things they should have and dont as much with boys. And if you did, you'd get conservative types saying we were trying to feminize them and turn them gay. If the economy does value those things, then we are doing boys a disservice by not teaching them those things. So its a self-fulfilling prophecy that men will fall behind in a service oriented economy. On the same token, you dont need strength, violence or vitality to work a Fordist assembly line either. So "traditional" masculinity fails in any sort of economy that isnt say, raiding and plundering. But even then, a child can shoot a gun or fly a drone. So even then ...
With respect to the boys/men who are consciously choosing not to go to college, for example, the fact that they have a choice seems consistent with opportunities being there, generally speaking. The problems we're seeing with boys and young men seem like more of a cultural issue to me than the sort of structural and discriminatory barriers which historically existed for other groups. For years, I've seen various leaders and influencers demeaning the importance of formal education to young men. I'm sure there are practical realities as well. Perhaps boys/men are simply less interested in certain fields/jobs.
I didnt really say that. But they dont need Trig or College Algebra in HS. Spanish 1 is enough. Teach them welding instead of Spanish 2. (Just spitballing examples. And I suggested it work like dual enrollment. Meaning they are doing both simultaneously.
I have no idea who that is or if its even a real person ... but it does seem interesting that your example is a man (assuming dude is gendered), telling young boys what to do ... which seems like patriarchy functioning as it always functions - men acting as the agents for how women should be treated.
I used trig and algebra on a regular basis in furniture making. From dividing shelves and drawers to gold proportions for overall design. I’m certain I could have learned them later, but it was nice to have a problem and the knowledge to solve it.
I mean you could just say "my kids 5th grade teacher" ... and you cant 'dox' public figures, like politicians or celebrities. As if the full name of some random person you know would mean anything to me anyways. Mainly I was attempting to discern whether you were blaming faceless "culture/media" or you know, specific people giving this message to your children directly.
