I hear people talking about feminism in both positive and negative connotations. As a man, I can only empathize and try not to be a vessel of the patriarchy.
Tangentially, however, there is another thought that crosses my mind in regards to what men can learn from feminism. Women saw the injustice of their lives and decided to raise their voice and take action. It's high time we men did the same. It is time to learn from feminism.
I'm not talking about men's rights. I'm talking about men taking responsibility for our own needs. Getting our manliness back. Reconnecting with our roots.
Rhetoric has led us to believe that being a bread-winner is all that a man is. We have one drive and we invest all our time and effort into it. But, does wearing a lanyard and being a loyal, hard-working employee equal being a complete man? Does hauling the most money into your bank account make you the best man out there? Since when did a "real man" become the guy with the most houses or land or cars to his name?
We keep finding a bunch of reasons to resign ourselves to such shallowness, conveniently forgetting that the entire point is to walk the path without any directions or rules written down for us.
It is time to reconnect with what manliness is - how accountability, diligence, fortitude and morality are pillars of what it is to be a man; not the 'smartness' to maximize one's own gains with no regard for others. The latter only leads to a victory of selfishness (tragedy of the commons).
The fundamental glue of human civilization in the fact that man is a social animal with empathy, cooperation and other prosocial behaviors. But today, questionably funded mass-media wants to be anti-social by feeding us the lie that humans are innately selfish and deceitful. More ant-social means less sharing. Less sharing means more sales. The Nash equilibrium is a narcissism epidemic!
Morality is being modified right before our eyes by masters of manipulation. The 'art' of doing this has been glorified so much that it is considered a key 'skill' to have in the pursuit of 'success'. 'Success' - ah, another word that has been hijacked by people who literally decide what you live your life for! The main question is, how do we distinguish between what is real and what is manipulation? The answer is time.
It is time to find time. It is time to reclaim time. It is time to fight for time.
Time? Yes, to become complete men again, we need the time to open our eyes to our true social role. We need to rediscover our place as informed citizens who do not let governments exploit our lack of awareness and attentiveness. We need the time to commune and debate ideas and opinions to arrive at solutions that benefit everyone. We need the time to strengthen our shoulders so that they may bear the weight of all our responsibilities, comprehensively. And we also need the time to rediscover our humaneness.
We are dads wanting to spend time with their kids; young men wanting to spend time with their love; sons wanting to spend time with their aged parents; men wanting to spend time in nature; human beings wanting to spend time pondering about life.
We, as men, need to retrace our steps and figure out where we went astray.
Where we stopped caring about making the best environment for our loved ones.
Where we gave up on being vigilant of bad-actors corrupting our society, our surroundings and our minds.
Where we forgot our gratitude for what we have, our pride of our relationships and our love for freedom.
Where we stopped being examples of good men.
Women have made it clear that they want to spend more time out of never-ending family obligations.
As men, this is an opportunity for us to take a share of these and learn to become more well-rounded individuals.
Women clearly are more mentally ready today, to face the challenges in the path to achieving their goals.
As men, we need to become mentally ready to take a new path, to recognize and address our mental-health needs, banishing all the made-up fluff around manliness.
Women are focusing on themselves guys.
Let's learn!
