A Little Bit of This, and A Little Bit of That...

Dear Bloggers,

Forgive my delayed response, but I hope that my following comments give us more to talk about and provide answers to some questions, and of course raise more questions based upon your recent comments to our last post, WANTED: Virtuous Women for Great Men.


Just a question to begin with, but are not a man and woman meant to interact in a complimentary way that brings out the best of her femininity and his masculinity?

I do believe that men should lead and teach other men and young boys to response accordingly to the cues women give that can inspire men to be their best for the domestic and civil order of life. I believe we are to cooperate in society in a complimentary manner. A blogger asked, “Why can’t men regulate themselves?” Well I agree, so… men, where are you? I invite you to speak up, show us doubting women that you are leading and teaching young boys to be men so that women can step out of this role, because I agree, women should not be teaching boys how to become men because obviously we are not men. Look back in history; this was not the way in any social and cultural period of time. Thank you blogger for that question. Men should always be demonstrating self-control and personal accountability. What kind of man was Christ?

I will reiterate that women can drive society and families based upon their influential attitudes and behaviors. Is it our influence upon the men that can help them become great men and maintain their roles in society based upon our support? So really it isn’t that women should lead men, but how can we support authentic masculinity? Now, this does bring us back to the question of identifying authentic masculinity, which a blogger, La Italiana, raised. Again, we are still discussing and trying to identify the answer to that question: what is authentic masculinity? If we know this maybe we can get back to the discussion on fatherhood that "He" proposed earlier.

Recently, on a plane ride I had a conversation with a man in his 40s, African-American, married and father of two young children, and I asked him what makes a man a man? I wanted to know his perspective on what makes a man truly masculine especially since he works in the sports industry, a traditionally masculine domain. He summarized what makes a man a man as his ability to lead his family or circle of influence by being supportive, accountable, ethical, self-confident, and prudent. He also described true male traits as timeless, and that what makes a man a man really depends upon environment that affects his natural tendencies.

Considering his last point,I think we can all see that we are confused in our roles and how we interact because distinctions between femininity and masculinity are no longer appreciated. The current culture has depreciated human nature causing a breakdown in our relationships and the social systems. So I think this is why we are asking and looking for the authentic forms of manhood and womanhood because we recognize that there is a problem. We have spent so much time seeking gender equality that we have now distorted our understanding of human sexuality. It is okay to celebrate and use for good these differences between men and women. We are not equal in nature; God did not intend us to be neuter. He made Adam, a man, and Eve a woman, and asked them to work together.

I agree with a recent blogger that it is a two way street, and it is about complimentary interaction, but we do need to recognize that there are differences in the natural tendencies of masculinity and femininity in order to restore balance to things like fatherhood, as previously mentioned, and other social and cultural systems. The concept of being neutral or somewhere in the middle as a blogger raised is contrary to our nature.

Well, like a I said, these are my thoughts on a little of this and a little of that from our week's discourse. Please continue to reply and share your thoughts openly with an authentic desire to seek Truth. I appreciate everyone's input and varied perspectives!

Thanks again,
She said