What are they so afraid of?

I honestly do not understand the right's obsession with "manliness." Somehow, in their minds, the US is always experiencing a crisis-level loss of masculinity.

Which seems quite odd given the fact that you can't drive more than a mile through the retail district of any city or town without seeing at least one MMA gym. Sports like football and hockey seem to be as popular as ever, as does professional "wrestling." Nearly every movie in the theaters these days is about powerful masculine heroes using brute strength and violent power to overcome their foes.

But yet, they seem terrified that our culture is somehow phasing out the idea of masculinity.
 For example, here's a couple things that came across my Twitter recently.

The testosterone is being sucked from our men right before our eyes 🤦🏻‍♀️

pic.twitter.com/SMM4FLgq8K

— Ashley StClair 🇺🇸 (@stclairashley) November 24, 2019

Because God forbid a father play with his daughter! Or maybe that's his son, either way who cares? Well, I guess this Ashley St Clair person does. Because somehow it's her business if someone is not conforming to traditional gender roles? And, it may surprise you to learn, she's apparently pretty upset that some kids are trans.

Your child is not trans because he put on a dress or tried on makeup.

My little brother used to eat grass as a kid but my mom didn’t call him a cow and send him to the slaughterhouse.

She told him to cut the shit & stop eating grass.

Be better parents!

— Ashley StClair 🇺🇸 (@stclairashley) August 16, 2019

And she starts out like maybe she actually understands something. She's right that putting on a dress or trying on makeup is not going to "make" your kid "turn" trans. Hell, if putting on makeup made you trans, I would have never gotten through the 80's as a cis male.

But her flirtation with reality doesn't last long. Her next sentence demonstrates her belief that being transgendered is somehow analogous to the weird things that kids do when they're little, like maybe eating grass, then she apparently thinks that the way to stop a kid from "becoming" trans is for the parent to tell them to knock it off. Problem solved!

Oh, and also, the existence of trans kids is a "movement" to be fought against for some reason.

South Carolina lawmakers want to ban minors from getting transgender surgery or hormone therapy

Shoutout to South Carolina for protecting our children— first with strict abortion laws and now leading the fight against the trans kids movement!https://t.co/Lj07uYqQAu

— Ashley StClair 🇺🇸 (@stclairashley) November 27, 2019

That seems to be a common idea on the right, that rather than  LGBT people  becoming more visible, less likely to stay closeted, that  what is happening is an increase in the number of gay people or trans people or that being gay, bi, trans, etc is some sort of a new invention. "We didn't used to have all these gay guys around in my day." Yeah, you did. They just kept their identities hidden.

Then there was this:

Daily Wire host criticizes Mr. Rogers for corrupting boys with his "metrosexual wimpiness," adding "if you really want to have a beautiful day in the neighborhood, call John Wayne and tell him to bring his guns" pic.twitter.com/cEhDqY7e9V

— Jason Campbell (@JasonSCampbell) November 25, 2019

Did I click on the video to hear what this tool was actually saying? I did not. And I would not recommend that you do either unless you like the thought of your cranium imploding.

But holy fuck, now they have a problem with Mr. Rogers? MISTER ROGERS?
All Mr. Rogers ever did was try to make kids happy. And this guy has a problem with that because he didn't teach boys to be violent. What has to go wrong in your life to make you think like that?

And what is the consequence that they are so afraid of? If boys are not trained up to love boxing and hate the ballet, what is it that they think is going to happen, exactly? Do they think that heterosexuality is something that needs to be taught? That femininity is contagious? And okay, let's say your son grows up to be a florist instead of the Marlboro Man. So what? If that's what he likes, how is it any skin off your nose? Wouldn't the much worse case scenario be that your son wants nothing more to be a ballet-watching, art-loving florist but you've got him so scared about his masculine identity that he forces himself to become a tobacco-chewing football-watching welder? I don't have kids, myself so ,aybe some of you parents can enlighten me, wouldn't you want your kid to be happy? Shouldn't that be the main thing?

I guess not for these nuts. I guess there are acceptable and don-acceptable ways of being happy.

And it's not like these two are some kind of outlier kooks. I mean, they are definitely kooks, but they are not unusual on the right. Just Google the phrase "Christian Masculinity." you'll find plenty of articles like this:

Christian Masculinity and Why It’s More Important Than Ever Before

Masculinity is something we’re seeing less and less of in today’s world. Christian masculinity is no exception. This is becoming a very serious issue

or this

Christianity’s Masculinity Crisis

WILLIAM KILPATRICK


It might seem odd to classify gender theory as a national security threat. After all, if a woman feels she was meant to be a man, there seems to be no reason why her personal desires should have any impact on national policy.

Here’s where the national security threat comes in. If there ever was a time when males in Western societies needed to be unconfused about their gender, this is it. We’re surrounded by enemies and potential enemies who are unapologetic about their gender identity and are quite prepared to rule over those weaker cultures that prefer appeasement to confrontation.

Islam, which is a hypermasculine religion, is the world’s fastest growing religion.  Indeed its appeal to basic masculine psychology is one of the chief reasons for its success. 

Ah, I see the problem here. If Christian men don't get a whole lot manlier, they might start, I don't know, turning the other cheek or something. Shit, they might beat their swords into plowshares if we don't watch it! God, what if they decide to love their enemies, or bless those that curse you? Oh, Jesus must be so upset at these wimps!


At least some churches get it. The churches that hold fight clubs in their basements. Which, yes, is a real thing because if there's one thing God loves, it's for one of his children to beat another of his children into bloody unconsciousness.

In Jesus' Name, Throw Punches: 'Fight Church' Christian Ministries Believe in Fight Clubs

Christian ministries across the country today who have embraced the brutal sport of Mixed Martial Arts have ignited a firestorm among men of the cloth.

But that hasn’t stopped pastors across the country from using fight clubs to spread the word of God, attract new members and even try to mold and reshape the modern Christian man.

Although, no church really gets it as much as this one:

Church criticized for promoting AR-15 raffle days after Las Vegas massacre

Now THAT'S the kind of masculinity Jesus wants to see!