What is a Man?


The other day I was reading about maleness, in regard to something I was writing, and was intrigued by the notion advanced in the literature that “Maleness can only be validated by other men.” To a Tennessee boy raised on the mountain it sounded like something flatlanders would come up with. On the mountain, every man is a peculiarity not just to himself, but to the neighbors as well.

The thought that men exist as men only in the eyes of other men is not without an opposing viewpoint. If my memory serves, Sam Keene, in, “Fire in the Belly,” said the only real sin is looking at yourself through somebody else’s eyes. It is more accurate to say that the male ego conforms to the cultural expectations of maleness. If a man moved to a different culture the expectations would be different and he would normally conform to them. People who don't assimilate are a problem. It isn't personal. It is organizational, because men are needed to work in organized forces, like armies, for example, or factories or labor unions or contracting companies.

Brugh Joy said that the masculine exists only in defense to the feminine. Under this view the masculine ego is polarized in opposition to the feminine unconscious. Keene dismisses this polarity theory as outdated thinking. I am considering he's probably right. The divisions are artificially drawn.

One disadvantage of the masculine forming in opposition to the feminine is that it enforces a disparaging attitude toward qualities considered feminine in the particular culture, branding them inferior. For example, in the Arab world there is no higher masculine than the poet. In our society, however, poetry is suspect, and there is no higher masculine than total silence, which is, paradoxically, passive, if not always receptive.

We have a problem if there is an evolutionary demand in process which necessitates moving beyond a culturally determined ego consciousness, and thus beyond gender. I agree with Keene that it is the evolutionary jump that has to happen if we're going to survive. Just ask the guy on the next stool at the airport bar about that one.

"Are you hitting on me?"

"Not at all. In fact I find you sexually repulsive."

"You bring honor to my family. Some thoughts are not allowed into my temple. I have a temple set on a kind of pedestal. There's a wall around it, and the wall is fortified with guards. If anything wants inside it has to come with impeccable references."

"Where is this temple, exactly?"

"Where?" He taps a forefinger against his temple. "It's a metaphor for my pride."

“I'm afraid a temple full of pride would give me digestive problems. You go ahead, though." He leaves and somebody else sits down. He's a talker.

"Rome extended itself too far beyond its borders, and then had to hold and direct the governance of all this foreign territory. The foundational institutions broke down. Caesar decided his was a higher father than is found on earth, and he ascended to the realm of the gods. That wasn't likely to be missed by the gods themselves.

"When the masculine organizing principle is inflated to that extent, it requires muscular contractions to keep a more earthy and embodied nature pushed into the unconscious. That's why the Nazi elite suffered terrible abdominal problems. This level of repression takes energy and eventually there is a collapse back into chaos, just like when Icarus flies into the sun he's going to fall into the sea."

"One more?"

"No thanks. I've got a plane to catch." He leaves. The bartender is wiping a glass. He looks familiar but it takes me a minute.

"Hey, aren't you Patrick Warburton?"

"That's right, pilgrim, and I've been listening to your conversation. You need to consider we have our leaders to make the big decisions, and we ought to leave them to it, and support the home team. You know what I mean?"

"Watch the game and shut up?"

"That's a start, Pilgrim."

“So what validates you as a man, anyway?”

“Well, as a man I have only a referential existence, so I look around and align myself to the other guys.”

“Which other guys?”

“The ones in the beer commercials. How about you?"

"I'll align myself to Jack, I guess."


Posted: Mon - September 10, 2007 at 12:37 PM