Why Today’s Men Are Less Masculine Than They Used to Be

Mark Bell’s Power Project is usually a fantastic podcast that mostly focuses on fitness-related topics, but every once in a while they go a little off-topic. Well, they did a show called, “The Rise of Weak Men - Are We Becoming Less Resilient?”

Even setting aside the fact that we all know the answer to this question, this was one of the worst podcasts they’ve ever done. They clearly hadn’t put a lot of thought into the subject, they were spit balling the answers and they had a lot of “you gotta be kidding me” takes on the subject:

Yet and still, this is a really interesting topic worth digging into. Yes, men are obviously weaker, less resilient, and less masculine than they used to be.

Why is that?

As a starting point, it probably shouldn’t surprise anyone that in a world where half the population doesn’t even know what a woman is, there’s a lot of apparent disagreement about what masculinity is in the first place.  

This confusion comes from multiple angles.

On the male side, as we’ve noted on Culturcidal before, there have been incessant efforts on the Left to “redefine” masculinity in a much more feminine and gay way. Of course, this has a lot to do with liberal men generally tending to be more effeminate and gayer than the rest of the population. In other words, many men on the Left see the masculine standard, they fall short of it, and their reaction to that is to try to change the standard to what they already are rather than meet it.

On the other hand, there is a feminist element to this as well. Feminists have both encouraged men to be more feminine and women to be more masculine. Toward that end, they’ve worked very hard to blur the difference between men and women. In fact, many feminists would object to the idea that there are masculine and feminine traits in the first place because it makes them uncomfortable to note, for example, that being a hard-charging boss “b*tch” doesn’t mesh well with being a desirable, feminine woman. At least to a certain extent, you need to pick a lane, and they want to have it all, even if they have to bend reality to do it.

Yet and still, despite all this propaganda, masculine traits are not really a big mystery to most people.

We know what they are almost by osmosis because we see them reflected in the heroes of our books, comic books, up on the big screen, and in the people of yesteryear that we admired.

Why is there a statue in New York of these men building a skyscraper casually eating their lunch on a beam thousands of feet in the air?

Because these men were brave. Because they did what it took to get the job done even though it wasn’t easy.

Why do we admire the soldiers that stormed Omaha Beach which was recreated in this classic scene in “Saving Private Ryan?”

Because they were incredibly courageous. Because they did what was necessary. Because they were willing to kill or be killed under the most dire circumstances imaginable to preserve freedom and their country.

Why were the characters that John Wayne played considered to be the pinnacle of masculinity for so long?

Because he played characters that were tough, stoic, who could handle themselves, who got the job done, who could fight, and who took nothing off of anyone.

We can go on with this.

Masculinity is about being a leader, strong, a warrior, hard-working, tolerating pain without complaint, providing for your family, dominant, aggressive, competent, competitive, confident, rational, dependable, resilient, worthy of respect and finding a way to win even when it gets hard.

So, if this is what masculinity is, WHY do we have less of it today?

Well, let’s start with the fact that we’re much richer than our ancestors. Many Americans do not realize how much poorer our ancestors were a few decades ago or even, comically, think they were financially better off than we are. How much richer are we today?

Here’s an explanation from ChatGPT:

What was the per capita income of Americans in 1900, 1950, and 2022 in real dollars?

Here are the estimated per capita incomes of Americans in 1900, 1950, and 2022, adjusted for inflation to real dollars:

1900: The per capita income was approximately $5,000 in today's dollars (inflation-adjusted).

1950: The per capita income was around $15,000 to $16,000 in today's dollars.

2022: The per capita income was about $60,000 in today's dollars.

These figures show the dramatic increase in real per capita income over time, reflecting both economic growth and rising productivity.

In other words, compared not just to most other countries, but to our own ancestors, we’ve grown up in an extraordinarily wealthy country

There are many things said about poor people that aren’t true, but one thing that is true is that poverty tends to make men more masculine almost by default. If something breaks, they have to figure out how to fix it because they can’t hire someone to do it. Poor people often do a lot of hard, unpleasant jobs that wealthier people don’t want to do because they need the money. They are resilient, tough, and figure out ways to solve difficult problems because they don’t have a choice.

Struggling makes you tougher and more masculine while being in a soft, comfortable, unchallenged environment makes you more feminine. There’s a reason most fighters grow up poor and a reason that soft rich kids who grew up with a silver spoon in their mouth are a stereotype. It’s part of human nature.  

One of the biggest reasons we’re softer people than our ancestors is because we can afford to be. We can financially afford it, mentally afford it and most of us aren’t facing any real threats. No Mongols are coming over the hill to burn our hovel, slit our throats and take our children as slaves. You CAN hunt your food, but if you come up empty, you still get to eat because you can go to the grocery store after you’re done. For most of us, there’s no need to wring a chicken’s neck for dinner, build your own house, or spend all day tilling a field by hand in the sun to make sure we’ll have something to eat this winter.

Our ancestors were harder, tougher, and more masculine than we were because they had to be. On the other hand, the Internet, games, pornography, a boring job in an air-conditioned office, and an unchallenging life are there waiting for modern Americans almost by default.  

Do you want to be masculine today? You have to CHOOSE that life. That goes double if you grew up without a dad in the house and spent your formative years being taught and surrounded mostly by women. Still, you certainly can. Go pump some iron. Get to the shooting range. Pick a martial art and learn to fight. Do some things just because they’re uncomfortable and hard. Take on some challenges that push you to be better. Start a business. Learn to build something. Commit to doing something so challenging it scares you a little bit. Get competent enough that you feel like you can handle pretty much anything that comes up. Make sure you spend some time around other real men. Hopefully, you have a dad in your life who can fill that role, but whether you do or don’t, get some guy’s guys in your orbit and absorb how they live.

No masculine man ever regrets actually being masculine, but these days, it’s something you’re going to have to want. If you’re a man who doesn’t pursue masculinity, in many cases you’re probably going to end up weak, soft, and a little pathetic almost by default. Don’t let that happen to you.

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