What Makes a Man?

Our society kills men and thinks that it is doing the world a service. I'm not talking about actually killing men, I'm talking about taking a MAN and turning him into something much less. . . a man. There is something to be said for the stereotypical western gunfighter--as portrayed in writing by people like Louis L'Amour, or in film by John Wayne. These were men who pitted themselves against nature, who didn't back down from a fight, who worked with muscle and sinew, and never cussed in front of the ladies. Our society, where men try to become women, and women try to become men, doesn't even seem to know what a man is. There is a gradual blurring of the lines of the traditional gender roles that is gravitating our society to one gender, neither man nor woman. Our society wants to domesticate men, it kills their adventurous spirit, it expects them to be passive, subservient, even effeminate. It is taking away the claws and teeth of a bear and putting him in a cage. And there is a world of difference between a bear in this state, and a bear in his natural element.


A MAN is meant to be a little rugged. They are built for this purpose so they can do what they are meant to do, work, and fight. But they also have an intense love for nature. Nature, the frontier, or the unexplored, is something that constantly calls to a man. It is a challenge, but a challenge that offers a hint of a reward. So men pit themselves against nature, they ache to cross the mountains that dominate a horizon, the sea is like a temptress which sings an alluring song, and the pursuit of an adventure is always on a man's mind. They do this because of the reward that is offered, beauty. Men love beauty, even though they are always a little at odds with it. Men aren't beautiful themselves, so they seek to experience beauty in any way possible; they immerse themselves in nature, seek the company of women, and even strive to create beauty with their hands, because when a man finds beauty there is something in his soul that resonates with it, and for the moment, he is at peace.

The ultimate beauty, so I am told, is a wife and kids.

But society distorts this by promising something different, the idea that men should be beautiful themselves. The result is men becoming women, whether figuratively or literally, which is evidenced in today's society.

A MAN is also meant to be a worker. He is ruggedly built with muscle and bone so he can strive against the elements and provide for his family. "By the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread," God said to Adam, and thus has it been through the course of history. A MAN is meant to sweat. But today, men are becoming lazy, while women are working harder. A true man is happiest after a hard day's work, when he can come home and bask in the beauty of his wife and children.

A MAN is also a warrior. There is something inside, a trigger, that once tripped sets his blood boiling and prompts him to violent physical action. A man is meant to have this type of aggression, it is necessary to defend his family and sometimes even his ideals. But this should also be controlled, which men today can't seem to do very well. Thus, the opposite trend of men becoming effeminate, is those who become brutes. These men are animals, not knowing how to properly channel their aggression they lash out violently at women and children. They destroy whatever beauty they find. Why, I do not know. This is a sickness that kills.

A MAN also respects women. He treats them as if they are divine, because they are. When a woman is present, a true man stands straighter, he talks cleaner, he defends her honor, and he treats her with respect in every way possible. There used to be a time when a fight would start if a man cussed in front of a lady, but now men are just as vulgar in front of women as they are away from their presence (women are also quite vulgar these days, but the destruction and masculinization of women is a completely different, but interconnected topic). Today, women are an entertainment for men, an object, which stems from the idea that a man's pursuit of beauty is somehow connected to lust, which is something entirely different. This skewing of a man's duty around women is a result of this de-genderification that is happening in our society. Why should a man treat a woman with such respect if they are essentially the same?

There are two worlds that are completely different, but our society is trying to make them the same. There is a mistaken idea that a woman can enter the world of a man, and a man can enter a world of a woman, but there are aspects of each world that the opposite gender will never understand. A woman will probably never truly understand a man's need to continually cross over to the next horizon, or use lethal violence to defend his ideals, and likewise, every aspect of a woman's world is completely beyond the comprehension of any man.

Christ was the perfect MAN. He was a carpenter who worked by the sweat of His brow, He defended His ideals with both word an action, and He treated the lowest of women with perfect respect. He was a God, who was compassionate, merciful, and loving without ever being effeminate. And He was bold, strong, rugged, and determined without ever being vulgar. These are the attributes that men (and women) should pursue. Christ shows that it is possible to have character traits that are commonly associated with each sex without adopting that persona. He is who men should emulate.




A strong man need wish for no more than this: a sword in hand, a horse between his knees, and the woman he loves at the battle's end. ~Louis L'Amour