Not long ago, I was watching a television talk show. The featured guest was a professor who was teaching a college course on “toxic masculinity.” This subject made it onto a national program because classes of this sort have been popping up like mushrooms.
In any event, the host asked her to define toxic masculinity. She responded with an example. If a man, she said, enters a bar alone, he will be taken more seriously than a woman. He will be able to throw his weight around because he is a man. This, she further elaborated, is evidence of “male privilege.”
As should be evident, the professor identified herself as a feminist. She believed she was defending all of womankind against the unequal treatment accorded them by men who are not entitled to regard themselves as special. These bullies are too assertive for anyone’s good.
What struck me is that radical feminists have been trying to demonstrate that there are no biological differences between men and women for the better part of a century. During this period, one disparity that never washed out is that men—on average—are more aggressive than women.
And because men are more aggressive, there are many situations in which they receive greater attention. This may not be fair, but there are numerous differences that provide individuals with social advantages. For instance, taller people, if all that is known about them is their height, are generally regarded as smarter than short people. (Incidentally, I am short.)
Of course this is unfair. But so is that fact that some people really are smarter, or stronger, or more attractive. All of these inherited characteristics furnish benefits others do not share. These may be described as unearned privileges, but, then again, as president Jimmy Carter noted, life is not always fair.
There also earned privileges. If you successfully navigate medical school, you will be able to prescribe medications that laypersons can’t. Or if you obtain a pilot’s license, you can apply for a job at an airline that would not be open to most folks.
What’s more, many of these advantages, or, if you will, privileges, are socially useful. Don’t we need qualified doctors and pilots? Meanwhile, male aggressiveness can also be beneficial. When it results in high male crime rates it is not, whereas when it protects our nation from external aggression it is essential.
Then I got to thinking about the feminist and her situation. There she sat with her Ph.D. Wasn’t that a privilege? Not everyone has one. She was also teaching a course at a university. Wasn’t that likewise a privilege? Didn’t provide her with a platform to her spread ideas?
Ironically, her invitation to be on television was also a privilege. How many people get to communicate their beliefs to millions in this way? Should she have declined to come on the grounds that this proffered an advantage others do not have?
The notion that complete equality in everything—including our abilities, motivations, and social connections—would make society better is absurd. Human communities are patchwork quilts of interlocking characteristics that are largely synergistic. The fact that we are different, but cooperate on joint ventures, helps us all.
I am sure that the feminist guest is proud of her achievements. I also have no doubt that she believes she is contributing to the good of society by broadcasting her beliefs. As it happens, I disagree. I am convinced that in using her feminist privilege she is causing untold injuries.
To dismiss assertive masculinity as a kind of social poison undermines interpersonal solidarity. It makes families unstable and the workplace untenable. In fact, strong men make for strong husbands and fathers. Strong men also make for effective bosses and innovative thinkers.
A world inhabited solely by male wimps and female viragos would not only be unpleasant; it could not last. The glue that holds societies together stems from coordination derived, in part, from our assertiveness. To implicitly equate such forcefulness with uninhibited violence does a disservice to everyone—including strong women.
If evidence of this truth is needed, just look around. There never has been a viable society of the sort feminists demand. The equality they crave is merely a figment of their envious imaginations. Heaven help us if this is an aspiration we collectively pursue.
Melvyn L. Fein, Ph.D.
Professor of Sociology
Kennesaw State University
No comments:
Post a Comment