Dr. James Chastek blogs at Just Thomism.
Of the fate of masculinity in the modern world, he has written eloquently that,
As our power over the natural world increases, so increases the fear and horror at masculinity and fighting spirit. Sure, warrior ethos is all well and good when we sent men out to the field with pikes, lances and perhaps even muskets, but as soon as we figure out how to make machine guns, mustard gas, high altitude bombers and nuclear weapons the warrior spirit seems to come at too high a cost. Civilization then directs its entire educational and cultural system toward the stamping out warrior masculinity: little boys must sit as silent and attentive as girls, they must be fitted with all manner of padding and protective gear to prove their fragility, they must be kept inside and away from kinetic activity, their schooling must be void of any of the Western classics (as these glorify war, fighting spirit, the sort of ideals that lead to conflict -like the value of the West). Boys cannot be allowed any sense of honor since this is just the sort of thing that leads to violence – and so they have to place no value on, among other things, their nation or feminine virginity.
Among the topics covered in this podcast are these:
‘The male porn-dream of a world full of women eagerly burning with desire for him would, far from making him an alpha male, be a negation of his masculinity.’ What is masculinity and why would this negate it?
‘The alpha male is simply another human personality, nothing less, nothing more. It is not a paradigm of masculinity or the keystone of a socio-sexual hierarchy.’ Who is the best paradigm of masculinity and why?
‘Even if one could walk the Alpha walk and, say, win a Barbie wife, he’d then have to suffer through what would be, for him, the intolerable state of having to live with her.’ Why would this be intolerable for the Alpha male and is this a flaw in his masculinity?
‘Multiplying sexual conquests isn’t going to make anyone happy, whether Alpha or not.’ Why not? What role does sex have in happiness?
‘The sexual revolution has had a great deal more success at getting women to change their attitudes about granting easy sexual access than at getting men to change their feelings about them when they do.’ Why is this?
‘Consent to a sexual act is only good if the act itself is good.’ Why? And what is a good sexual act and why?
‘Political opinions are a very good means of attaining to philosophy, perhaps they are even the best way.’ Why is this? Is all politics ultimately philosophical?
‘It’s always a bad sign when someone unifies too much evil in a certain group’. Why?
‘Lust is…fundamentally a rejection of authority and faith, and so a handing over of what are, in fact, our higher powers to our lower ones. There is a demonic inversion of the true God in excelsis who reveals and stands in authority over nature, and these natural powers are themselves renamed and usurp the name of “God.”’ If autonomy is the essence of liberalism, what role has lust played in its unfolding and is the sexual revolution still ongoing?
Dr. Chastek’s recommended reading:
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