A Perfect Storm, part 1
He’s lost in the wilderness
Many in today’s world have lost their footing as traditional hierarchies have been disrupted. The once stable male roles of family patriarch, provider, and protector have been replaced by new demands for personal flexibility and equality. The rise of democracy, women’s emancipation, and technological advancements have upset the old power structures, thereby unsettling the foundation of how men perceive themselves and their roles in life. A truism well worth contemplating. This is but one brick in the wall of our understanding of what is happening in the world just now. More pieces to come.
That water is wet might seem obvious – but try explaining it to a fish.
Highlighting something fundamental to those immersed in it is perhaps among the hardest tasks. The things closest to us are often the least noticeable, things we don’t realize until they are gone. Only then comes the awakening, followed by the struggle.
When we lose something valuable, that loss often becomes the only thing we see: the absence of what once was. Losing a loved one. Falling from a great height. Losing a job. But the hardest loss of all is to lose one’s sense of purpose. Every defeat leaves us with a kind of scar, something we can’t help but return to, like a scab we just have to pick at.
In such moments, we all become susceptible to messages that reflect our pain and promise to heal it. Messages that resonate with many and draw them in. For there is always some hidden wound, some vulnerability that needs tending, some emptiness seeking answers. Thus, while the messages from today’s authoritarian leaders may not touch everyone equally, they resonate with enough people to make their effects felt by all.
There are, of course, many questions about what is happening right now, and many are feverishly searching for answers. Numerous explanations abound. A common interpretation is that it stems from men’s longing for a return to what they perceive as normal, whether they themselves have ever experienced it or not. But there is an inner drive within them that wishes it to be so.
“This is a man’s world
But it wouldn’t be nothing, nothing, not one little thing,
without a woman or a girl
He’s lost in the wilderness
He’s lost in bitterness, he’s lost lost” – James Brown
“It’s a Man’s, Man’s, Man’s World” is a classic by soul artist James Brown. The lyrics reflect a central aspect of this more primal version of masculinity: the need to have someone by your side who makes you who you are. In this case, makes you a man.
But this doesn’t necessarily mean choosing someone who is their equal. The average man often chooses a partner who, in some way, reinforces his position in the relationship—choosing someone subordinate to him in many respects. Meanwhile, many women are often unbothered by submitting themselves.
The consequence of this reciprocity, of course, is that men’s relationships with women reinforce their perception of women as weak and in need of their protection and masculine strength. This is mainly because men seldom encounter women who surpass them in strength or stature. What many men fail to realize is that women superior to them usually avoid them. They prefer not to associate with them. They simply look down on them. This, naturally, reinforces the men’s perceptions of their own greatness regarding women.
Whether men’s and women’s behaviours are due to biological inheritance or cultural influence is, of course, an open question, but the most likely answer is that it is a combination of both nature and culture.
Power structures operate on many levels and are therefore hard to grasp. They are rarely black-and-white, where one always stands above another. Rather, power and dominance run all the way down the line. Those oppressed or cared for from above, in turn, oppress or care for those below them. It’s the survival of the fittest, all the way down to the last man and woman—where the last usually is a woman.
It is precisely the restoration of this natural and old power order that now captivates the frustrated across the globe. What is being offered to them this time is a new-old order in stark contrast to what liberal democracies with their transnational and bureaucratic structures have to offer.
One explanation for the widespread dissatisfaction we see in the world is that a large group of men has gathered, seeking validation for something they feel has been lost. Some channel their homelessness and anger toward society, women, and what they perceive as the elite. Others direct their inner restlessness into more hands-on interests such as cooking, physical training, outdoor adventures, and pursuits of daring. What they all share, however, is a feverish quest for male identity and purpose.
Men, of course, have always grumbled about those in power, but the fists once clenched in pockets can now be raised in public, as their grievances are now indiscriminately directed at targets in the liberal society. They call their struggle a cultural war, but one wonders if it isn’t fundamentally a war of nature they are engaging in.
What is unfolding is a movement that many men find thrilling. Something new! A place to release suppressed emotions and perhaps even fight, kill, and conquer. What is revealed before our eyes is the abyss into which Sisyphus’ stone inevitably rolls when we no longer have the strength to push it upward.
Today, most men are drawn to strong leaders and role models—men perceived to drive a distinctly male agenda. That these leaders have also garnered significant support from women does not contradict this argument, as women who choose to submit to men also follow them ideologically and politically. It is part of the natural order.
Creating a perfect storm of this kind requires, of course, many small factors to converge. This text is an attempt to depict a small part of this phenomenon. The perspective might not resonate with everyone, and some may find the argument exaggerated or strained. Personally, however, I would argue the opposite—reality is far deeper, more complex, and more serious than I can ever capture and articulate here.
Max Kern