Earning Our Place as Men

Some say the world is stripping men of their authority or power. But maybe we’ve stopped doing what it takes to earn it.

I often think about what it means to “be a man.” Not just the biological randomness that we’re born as a male human, but what it really means to be a man worthy of the title.

A good man. A man worthy of respect. A man of dignity and honor.

This is not a default setting. We must step up and earn these accolades, and then we must maintain them.

I understand that many men feel lost and cast aside in modern society. They feel as though masculinity is under attack (it isn’t) or that they’re being restricted from “being a man” (they’re not).

What’s happening is evolution. Men are being called to undergo a renovation of sorts. An overhaul, an improvement, an elevation.

Some are resistant because it threatens generations of social norms which are perpetuated throughout the years by passive acceptance.

Now, though, society is rebuking the harm that can be done, and it calling for retribution.

There are two approaches to this reality:

• Men who angrily rally against the assertion and fiercely defend their own…