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Afternoon gents, it’s Max from The Young Gentleman’s Guide here! So today’s post is more than likely to ruffle some feathers, but nonetheless, I feel like it’s something that needs to be said, since it very closely ties to why I even write this blog at all. And I’ve said in the past that I try to stay generally nonpolitical on here, but this subject has unfortunately started to work its way into our politics, as much as I wish it weren’t the case. In any case, let’s get started on today’s topic: toxic masculinity.

Anyone who’s seen the rise of third-wave feminism or has kept a watchful eye on the mainstream media has more than likely heard the term “toxic masculinity” more than once, and the term has started to become even more widespread with the rise of things like the #MeToo movement and the entire Brett Kavanaugh debacle. More often than not, this term is used to shame men and call out society for teaching men and young boys to become rapists, murderers, and warmongers. A lot of what these movements try to tell people is that a young boy being raised with traditional masculine values will grow up to be a racist and a misogynist who wants no more than to serve his own primal, sexual desires. It’s practically gotten to a point where if a man even so much as holds the door open for a woman or offers to help her carry a heavy load, modern feminists and the media automatically peg him as guilty of an unforgivable crime of sexism and should be shamed thusly. And before I continue, I have to address that I understand not all modern feminists and media pundits act that way. They are most likely not the majority, but they are the most vocal minority and the ones who get the most media attention. But now I’m starting to get off-topic, so let’s move on.

The media and feminist representation of masculinity does not in any way represent the traditional masculinity that I and others like myself advocate for. Masculinity in and of itself is in no way a bad thing. Quite the contrary, men who “embrace their masculinity in a way that’s healthy and productive” are able do an inordinate amount of good for themselves and the world around them. Someone like Teddy Roosevelt is someone I would describe as traditionally masculine, but he was no tyrant who wanted to rule with an iron fist or put down anyone that he saw as below him, if he even saw anyone as that way. He was a friendly, charismatic, and altruistic leader who stood up for the everyman and  was an ardent proponent of environmental preservation. The Great Emancipator, Abraham Lincoln is someone I would describe as masculine. He carried loads of authority and respect, he was funny, and he was incredibly devoted to his family, on top of the myriad of other accomplishments during his presidency. Even fictional characters like Jack Arnold from The Wonder Years were fairly masculine. He was the “man of the house”, he was the one who busted his hump at his job so he could provide for his family. He didn’t do this because he hated his family or saw them as subhuman or in any way below him. He did it because he loved his wife and his kids and wanted the best future possible for them. And it’s these very tenets that I try to teach my readers.

It should come as no surprise that I try teach my readers how to be traditionally masculine, just like the men I mentioned above. I try to teach them to respect others, especially women, not rush to judgement, and treat everyone how they deserve to be treated. I also try to teach them to embrace their masculine traits – to be more assertive, to stand up for themselves, and rise up to lead and protect others when no one else will. If even these things are what is considered to be “toxic masculinity”, then I must be teaching my readers entirely wrong.

So there it is! Apologies if the end of this article sounded a bit incendiary, I in no way intended for it to come across that way. This is just a subject that gets under my skin more than most, and I wanted to put my opinion on it out there. In any case, I hope you enjoyed reading today’s article. Please be sure to share the article, follow the blog, follow The Young Gentleman’s Guide on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and support us on Patreon. And on that note, this is Max from The Young Gentleman’s Guide, and I’ll see you next time!

Afternoon gents, it’s Max from the Young Gentleman’s Guide here! I know you’re probably tired of hearing this, but I want to apologize for not having anything up on here or social media in the last while. School has been putting me through the wringer, and it’s generally been hard to find any inspiration to write lately. But hopefully I should be back to my old posting schedule soon. I’ll still have to start by putting up just one article a week for now, but I’m hoping to be back to my twice-a-week posting schedule before too long. In any case, let’s get into the rest of the article.

So for today’s article, I want to go into the roots of why I even started this blog in the first place. In today’s society, especially in the US, the art and value of being a gentleman is being seriously downplayed and even demonized in certain circles. And on paper, I can see why people think that. Some of the worst atrocities in our human history like the Holocaust, mass enslavement of the Africans and the Jews, and persecution of women in the Middle East can be easily attributed to men, whether individually or as a group. These can be reasonable examples of the “toxic masculinity” that many a social justice advocate or modern feminist try to fight against. However, that doesn’t mean that men should feel guilty for the history of their gender and become emasculated for the sake of appeasing women. Allow me to explain.

As stated by CRTV host Allie Stuckey in a video on Prager University, “When men embrace their masculinity in a way that is healthy and productive, they are leaders, warriors, and heroes.” (https://youtu.be/U-kxdyJs6y8?t=93). Masculinity in and of itself is not a bad thing. While yes, unbridled and unchecked masculinity can lead to such atrocities stated above, healthy and virtuous masculinity can lead to massive change for the betterment of society and the world. Such masculinity can lead to things like the ending of slavery in the United States, the harnessing of electricity, or the writing of timeless stories and music. And that’s what I’m trying to teach my readers with this blog.

I encourage my readers to be traditionally masculine, but not in a way that’s harmful to others like what sites like Return of Kings may advocate for (I might write more about them in the future). What they advocate for can be argued as “toxic masculinity”, but that is nothing close to what I try to teach my readers. As Stuckey states in the video, virtuous masculinity has helped end wars, create nations, and foster strong families. It’s this kind of masculinity that I try to imbue into my readers. I try to give them ideas like general respect to your fellow man, treating women with dignity and respect, and not treating anyone as lesser than human regardless of race, gender, religion, or anything else. I encourage individuality and egalitarianism, as I believe these virtues that are the most necessary to creating strong men, strong families, and by extension, a strong society. In today’s society where the importance of fathers and strong men is being increasingly downplayed, I feel a responsibility to show men what value they can actually bring to this world, thus, here we are. In any case, I hope you enjoyed reading today’s article. Please be sure to share the post, follow the blog, follow The Young Gentleman’s Guide on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and support us on Patreon. And on that note, this is Max from The Young Gentleman’s Guide, and I’ll see you next time!

Afternoon gents, it’s Max from The Young Gentleman’s Guide here. So, I’ve been writing on this blog for almost two years now, and in those two years, I’ve acquired my fair share of critics and naysayers. Of course, I welcome criticism and a lot of the criticism I’ve received has been relatively well-deserved. That said, I’ve also had a fair share of just straight-up haters, which is to be expected when writing the content I put out. I’ve even had a couple of people say that they’ve had to completely stop following my writings, either here or on The Classy Libertarian, because of something I said in an article or how something I wrote might have come across, saying it was sexist, misogynistic, bigoted, or something in between. In light of all of this, I just want to open up to you young ladies and gents reading, and allow myself to be a transparent as possible in order for you readers to understand where I’m coming from.

For starters, I just want to say that I try to generally stay non-political on this blog. I’ve gotten political on this blog a couple times before, and it has not been pretty. The problem is that a lot of the things I write about have become political issues, quite polarizing issues at that, as much as I wish they weren’t. With that in mind, I think that being clear about my core political beliefs will help to clear things up. If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you’ll likely know that I hold quite a few traditional right-wing beliefs. I am pro-life, I am in favor of gun rights, I believe that the family is the strongest foundation for a strong society, and I believe that men and women are fundamentally different.  But even with all those beliefs in mind, the core of my political beliefs is this: the bottom line is that I am an individualist and an egalitarian. I believe that any one, whether they’re a man, a woman, white, black, Christian, Jewish, Muslim, or anything else, can and should be able to make their own choices and live their life how they see fit, as long as they’re happy with the decisions they made and they’re not hurting anyone. While I may say that marriage and the family are the strongest building blocks for society, that does not automatically mean that I have a problem if a woman wants to continue working and not get married or start a family. I’ve known women even in my own family who, even though they are married, decided to further their careers as opposed to starting families, and I’m perfectly okay with that. In that similar vein, while I do believe that men and women are fundamentally different, that doesn’t mean I view one gender as superior or inferior to the other. Just because two things are different doesn’t mean one is better, and gender is no different. Moreover, I don’t believe that you should completely shut someone out or alienate them just because they have a different opinion than your own. I myself have a very “live and let live” mentality. If you respect me, I’ll respect you, that’s it. Even if I completely disagree with someone about any given subject, I’ll still respect you as a person as long as you respect me back, regardless of your gender, race, religion, or sexuality.

Sorry if this article seemed a bit all over the place, this is just something that I really felt like I needed to do. Apologies if you were expecting a regular article today, I’ll be back with that on Monday! In any case, I hope you enjoyed reading today’s article. Please be sure to share the article, follow the blog, follow The Young Gentleman’s Guide on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and support us on Patreon. And on that note, this is Max from The Young Gentleman’s Guide, and I’ll see you next time!