Quotes from

The War on Masculinity will End Badly

By J. B. Shurk in

American Thinker

Commentary by Win Lose or Draw

Some men seem to feel their identity as men is being threatened.

“I have long believed that one of the most dangerous mass movements gripping the West today is the suicidal drive to emasculate, and even infantilize, men.”

Mr. Shurk paints a picture of Western men being herded into pens for gelding or to be forced to wear diapers and suck on pacifiers. Terrifying!  If it were actually happening.

“Every sexual orientation and gender-bending self-idolization is encouraged and celebrated as some magical, revelatory personal truth.”

Admittedly, some “gender-bending” is tolerated these days, but not “encouraged” or “celebrated”, not in most neighborhoods anyway.

“For men, however, everything about their nature must be denied.”

This level of hyperbole is usually reserved for comic-effect and seems out of place in a serious essay. However, it does, in a sense, fit, because the above quote is laughable.

“Young boys, play-fighting, are punished.”

Sometimes when their parents decide they are playing too rough.

“Aggression is labeled “toxic.”

At times, when the aggression is truly over the top.

“Competition and rivalry are derided.”

Check out any of the sports channels, Mr. Shurk. They are very popular, so you may be missing something with that statement.

“When men whose masculinity has been harnessed for the benefit of their countries arrive to conquer those frivolous nations that have sidelined masculinity for metrosexualism, the West’s survival will depend upon how resilient manliness is despite the efforts of leaders such as Trudeau, Obama, Biden, Macron, and Johnson to remake their countries’ men into their own images.”

Mr. Shurk feels the Western nations are in some danger of being overtaken and defeated, and he seems to hold some, but not all, political leaders personally responsible. Mr. Shurk’s ideological motivations are showing.

“None of this is to suggest that masculinity should be celebrated in its most brute and reckless forms.  Far from it.  Just as manliness should be appreciated and respected, it should also be channeled as virtuously as possible.”

You seem to be contradicting yourself, Mr. Shurk, but at least you have finally said something with which we can all agree.

“How dare that young man hold the door open for the female behind him!  How dare he choose to guard her safety by walking between her and the curb!”

If you want a straw man (or woman) to knock down, just use italicized dialogue to fill their mouths with words they would not say.

Men, we hope your sense of your own masculinity is not so fragile that you see threats to it everywhere you look. We also hope you see that it is inappropriate to turn masculinity into a political football.