The real crisis in masculinity
Yes, there is a 'crisis in masculinity'. The plot twist is that our capitalist establishment couldn't be happier about it.
Today’s men are in a worrying state. Suicide levels are up as is depression and general bad mental health; financial situations are dire; boys are still lagging behind girls at school and fewer young men are enrolling at college. The people to blame for all of this are, of course, women. Well, feminism, specifically, but that is really just code for ‘modern women’.
Ever since the #MeToo movement took off and feminism has increasingly infiltrated the mainstream, today’s men have been barraged with headlines, articles, forums and social media posts blaming and shaming them for all manner of sins: manspreading, mansplaining, being the overwhelming perpetrators of rape, sexual harassment and violent crime, the ingrained misogyny of gaming, music, movies etc., the lack of equal effort and accountability in relationships… the list goes on. Credible charges but you can’t blame young men for being a little defensive.
Right wing (and far right) media pundits pretend to be outraged by all of this but behind closed doors they are laughing and rubbing their hands with glee. And why not? It plays right into their hands. ‘They’ is the establishment - the government, military, law, and corporations - who prize a rigid, old-fashioned view of masculinity: one that upholds the values that not only serve them but also believe (funnily enough) that they are what’s best for everyone. A ‘patriarchy’, one might say.
‘Men have an unfortunate habit of taking our anger and frustrations out on other people rather than look inward and do some work on ourselves.’
But these powerful rich men are, in reality, a tiny minority of our population. So who do they count on to protect and uphold this worldview? The vast majority of men who do not hold powerful positions in the aforementioned institutions. The men who, despite having no real say in or influence over the decisions of these institutions, feel a strangely passionate need to defend them. Defend them through whatever means necessary which can even include violence. As Joe Glenton says about this years recent race riots:
“Fascism serves capitalism. It serves the ruling class… [It] has a particular masculine appeal. It prizes masculinity, particularly a kind of militarised and violent masculinity… An important uniting factor when looking at these kind of events, when we look at killings, against women and girls but also against other people is that it’s basically always blokes and violent masculinity.”
The real ‘crisis in masculinity’ is not some out-of-control feminism or a hyped up ‘gender divide’ but an exploitation of angry, frustrated young men to serve interests that don’t benefit them. The same way they try to argue feminism is a gender war being waged by women against men, they demonise and create a moral panic over millions of brown and black chaps coming over to rape our women and girls (a time honoured fear of ‘other’ men), and that queers, trannies and drag queens are out to induct and molest our children (fear of the ‘other’ again). It’s an all-out assault against white, heterosexual, masculine values - a ‘war on the west’ and they need men - real men! - to fight for it.
The irony of these ‘traditional values’ being totally at odds with the unregulated capitalism they champion is apparently lost on them. Capitalism encourages us to put ourselves above all else, prioritising the pursuit of money, consumerism and status. It’s no coincidence that so much of modern life feels so emotionally empty and devoid of purpose. Depression, loneliness and apathy have become rampant in our western capitalist societies and men, particularly those of lower economic status, are feeling the brunt. Isolated, unhappy men are fit for moulding and the ruling class knows it.
Men have always had an unfortunate habit of taking our anger and frustrations out on other people - people who are in no better position than us - rather than look inward and do some work on ourselves. We also feel a need to belong to some kind of group or order; a hierarchy that lets us know exactly where our proper place is and what is expected from us. Today’s men have never been less sure of their place. The ‘traditional’ roles that men took on have changed in our newly digital world. White collar jobs and increasing corporatism have removed them from more urgent, physical, community-focused work. Work that gave a clearer sense of purpose.
There is a real conflict in trying (and failing) to live up to some outdated ideal of masculinity and the insecurity in how to move forward. Young women today have no trepidation in moving forward. Meanwhile, young men seem to be either standing around, scratching their heads, wondering what to do or overcompensating in their chosen professions, be it banking, advertising, law, stand-up comedy, gaming or podcasting.
‘In [young men’s] inarticulate frustration at the world they get swept up in all this angry, over-the-top sermonising because it gives them a simple answer and solution to their problems.’
“Hard times create strong men, strong men create good times, good times create weak men, and weak men create hard times,” so the saying goes. Speaking of podcasting, we can’t talk about ‘toxic masculinity’ without looking at the ‘manosphere’ - a collection of websites, blogs, podcasts and online forums that have taken this phrase and run with it. While it includes everything from Men’s Rights Activists (MRA), Men Going Their Own Way (MGTOW) and incels, to podcast bros, pick-up artists and father’s rights groups, the one thing that binds them all together is the conviction that feminism has gone too far, swaying much in our society in favour of women.
Its figurehead is one Andrew Tate. Tate’s worldview is effectively one that encourages men to put themselves before everyone else, fuck what other people think and be everything you can be. Nothing so wrong in all that except his practice of this philosophy includes making money by any means, no matter how morally questionable, rampant materialism and a complete disregard for others wellbeing, especially, it seems, women. His bulldozing style which stresses a need to be strong, ruthlessly ambitious and authoritarian has struck a chord with one particular group: under-confident young men.
Many of these fans and followers would argue that his persona is just a joke or a put-on for the cameras but just as many seem to take his ‘teachings’ seriously. It’s hard not to laugh at how hysterical and desperate this display of hyper-masculinity is: the focus on physical prowess; flaunting status symbols of wealth and luxury; the desire to “conquer the world”; the insistence that any man who disagrees or takes issue is a ‘cuck’, a ‘snowflake’, a ‘beta’ etc. Bullying and intimidating other men by attacking their masculine ‘credentials’ is nothing new and it never come across as anything more than fear and insecurity.
The success of Tate and others like him is in their ability to appeal to the prejudices that so many young men seem to have. In their inarticulate frustration at the world they get swept up in all this angry, over-the-top sermonising because it gives them a simple answer and solution to their problems. Everyone who isn’t a straight white male is given preference - the ‘woke agenda’ which, they feel, prioritises women, LGBTQ+ people, blacks and immigrants way above them. This hopelessly confused point of view is seized upon by reactionary figures like Donald Trump and Elon Musk, who believe everything is a conspiracy against them; Jordan Peterson and Douglas Murray, endlessly bleating about the attack on western values; and useful idiots like Tommy Robinson and Laurence Fox.
‘Bullying and intimidating other men by attacking their masculine ‘credentials’ is nothing new and never comes across as anything more than fear and insecurity.’
These men love to frame themselves as rebellious outsiders who are being attacked by the establishment because they are the only ones who dare to speak the truth. Rebellious young men have an unfortunate tendency to turn into what they hate. They correctly assess that the system is rigged. They see its hypocrisy, corruption and how disposable it thinks they are. But rather than challenge it they become obsessed with grabbing the piece of the pie they’ve been denied, becoming as greedy, entitled and oblivious to others suffering as the system itself.
Most men will not become far-right thugs who serve the interest of fascism but many more will just ignore the problem or outright deny it exists. The contention that young men need greater purpose and to improve their overall confidence is correct but it’s up to both them and us to make sure that this doesn’t get swept up in the exploitation of a ruling class interested only in protecting itself and using the violence of angry young men to do it.