Key to the Left’s loathing for most every aspect of Western Civilization is its conviction that Western Man, in his Patriarchal Arrogance, has always treated Women as second class Beings. That the technology available to us today, which allows Women to deal with the burdens of Menstruation and Pregnancy, was not available a thousand years ago, is apparently irrelevant. At the same time the declaration that millions of Muslim Women continue to be treated with far less respect than that granted here in the West, is dismissed as mere Islamophobia. Indeed the fact that Greek philosophers such as Socrates argued on behalf of Women’s Rights 2500 years ago, simply does not enter the Left’s anti-Western narrative of Oppression!
We are an imperfect species and the fact that Women are intoxicating objects of desire to Heterosexual Males, has and no doubt always will inspire acts of abuse by Men devoid of Moral Conscience! But the notion that Western Civilization has always been Systemically rife with Patriarchal Arrogance is simplistic. Out of the Dark Ages, which ensued upon the fall of Rome, emerged the Age of Chivalry born in 12th Century France which implored Men to be courageous, protective and courteous in their treatment of Women. To the Woke Intellectual, of course, this entails an element of condescension and the suggestion that Men obviously felt superior to the “weaker sex.” But while this notion no doubt infected Western Cultural Norms for centuries, it never led to the sort of horrifically oppressive treatment of Women evident in various Islamic nations to this very day. Indeed Shakespeare’s plays, written over 400 years ago, are rife with Female characters who are intelligent, courageous, and sometimes evil, suggesting an awareness of the superficiality of the traditional vision of Women as mere Mothers and House Wives!
Shakespeare was a genius whose vision far exceeded that of the average man. Dying in 1616, he was an integral part of the Cultural Renaissance which began to unfold during the reign of Elizabeth the First. Later in the 17th Century, that Renaissance blossomed into the Enlightenment, a movement amongst Europe’s Intellectuals to make Reason and Objective Reality the arbiters of all human beliefs. No one is suggesting that Women were immediately granted their Rights as Intelligent Beings. But the Post-Enlightenment Centuries in the West, abetted by the freedoms implicit in the Principles of Democracy, relentlessly though not without opposition led to the affirmation of Women’s Rights in the late 20th Century. While certainly not perfect, Western European Civilization has always been infinitely more evolved than cultures evident throughout the rest of the world. Yet while Women in various Muslim Nations are still punished for failing to wear the proper head-gear, the Left continues to focus on the West for its Patriarchal Arrogance. Truly ridiculous!
On Nov. 5, Prager U. posted a video of the Manhattan Institute’s Heather MacDonald discussing the recent assault on the Boy Scouts of America, an assault motivated by the notion that as Masculinity is inherently Toxic, an exclusively Male organization must be equally so. The concept of the Scouts was born of the early 20th C. efforts of Britain’s Robert Baden-Powell, who was convinced that young men needed to be imbued with a respect for Honesty, Integrity and Courage. Yet as Identity rather than Morality is the focus of the superficial Left, the last few years have seen mounting criticism of the Boys Scouts of America, insisting that it cease to affiliate itself only with Boys and that it grant membership to Females. Hence the removal of Gender from the recently adopted term “Scouting America,” and the startling fact that of the 1 million Scouts now in the United States, approximately 200,000 are Girls!
Inasmuch as The Girl Scouts of America has existed since 1912, one wonders why its Male counterpart needs to welcome Females. The answer, of course, is the Left’s devotion to Inclusiveness, a perspective which simply refuses to acknowledge the Facts of Reality, in this case the Fact that Men and Women are significantly different, not only physically, but emotionally and psychologically. The more aggressive approach to reality typical of most Men, therefore, becomes to the Woke not a simple fact of Nature, but an expression of Toxic Masculinity!
While the evolution of Women’s Rights in the Post-Enlightenment West was slow and fraught with complexity, it was never Systemically opposed in nations such as England. The 19th Century saw a host of wonderful Female writers, most of whom published under Male pseudonyms, explode onto the British cultural scene. Mary Ann Evans wrote as George Eliot, while the amazing Bronte sisters also tried to hide their true identities. When it was discovered that the creator of Heathcliff, a character of obvious sexual significance, was Emily Bronte, Wuthering Heights was widely condemned. But it was also celebrated by many as a work of true genius! Such is the complexity born of a commitment to Freedom of Speech! In 1858, the iconic Charles Dickens wrote a letter to George Eliot in which he said he suspected Eliot was actually a Woman, given that the sensibility evident in his/her works seemed quite beyond the capacity of the average Male. Whatever your gender, he nevertheless stated, I will forever hold you in “loving attachment and respect.” This was 13 years before Eliot’s publication of her masterpiece “Middlemarch,” and suggests Intelligent Males to be anything but slaves to a Mindless Patriarchal Arrogance!
We Men, apparently, tend to reduce Females to nothing more than objects of Sexual Gratification. Are there Men out there guilty of such? Of course there are! But these simpletons do not define Masculinity. While Women who brazenly exploit their bodies for money or fame may very well inspire lust in millions of Men, the concept of Female Beauty, as validated in thousands of Western literary works, utterly transcends the dictates of the Libido! That Women are for me the most enchanting creatures on the planet, has nothing to do with the size of their breasts or the contours of their butts. Rather it is their sensitivity, their courage, their intelligence, the sparkle in their eyes and the gleam of their smiles, along with a certain degree of physical beauty, that fill me with enchantment. My list of Women in the public arena whom I adore includes hundreds, from Audrey Hepburn to Olivia Newton John in the entertainment realm, to Tommy Lahren and Candace Malcolm who are political commentators, to the wonderful Danielle Smith, the present Premier of Alberta. Not for a second has my admiration for any of the above included the intervention of my Libido. Not for a second have I seen any of them as Inferior by the very fact of their Gender! Gee, is it possible the contemporary Left’s assault on Toxic Masculinity is grossly simplistic if not Idiotic?