This is a guest post by Jared Trueheart of Legends Of Men a blog where he writes about masculine, literature, and art. Jared is a much needed voice on this topic as it’s very important yet very are addressing it. In this article Jared talks about the importance of masculine literature in a man’s life and for his development. Enjoy.
Perhaps the most overlooked way men can improve themselves is to read. This understandable for several reasons; reading can be time-consuming, books today are rarely written with men in mind, those that are written for men are typically non-fiction. Non-fiction books can come from experts just as much as they can come from “experts.”
For example, if a young man seeking masculine self-development searches for a book about the subject he’ll probably find a book by Charles Sledge. However, he can just as likely find a book by male feminist Michael Kimmel. No wonder men are wary of picking up a book and devoting time to it.
Yet reading is one of the best things a man can do. Reading a good book is an act of meditation in which you allow your mind to focus on only one thing; what you are reading. That is why what you read is so important. When you are focused so completely on one thing you pour your mental energy into retaining it. You don’t want to retain the bad stuff.
This is also one reason why men typically choose to read non-fiction books. We want a return on investment for dedicating our time and mental energy. Another reason men choose non-fiction is that today’s fiction is made for women. Of course, it’s made for women because women buy it. It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy. The last reason men choose non-fiction is that they don’t understand the value of masculine literature. This is not only tragic, but another reason men today are so weak and androgynous.
But the value of masculine literature is so great we need it now more than ever.
Absent and Weak Fathers
There’s no doubt that so many beta males out there grew to be so because their father was either weak or absent. Boys need an invested masculine role model to teach them how to be men. Absent fathers or dead-beat dads can’t do that. Step-fathers can but they’re not so invested as biological fathers. Uncles can but in our culture uncles aren’t so close to their nephews.
With masculine role models out of the picture, boys will naturally latch on to some masculine ideal. That’s where masculine literature comes in. Boys can read of the masculine men that should be in their lives but aren’t. They can read of an ideal masculine figure so that they have some figure of aspiration. In the past, a boy’s hero was his dad. Boys with dead-beat dads need a masculine model to take the place of their dad. With so few masculine characters in literature lately is it any wonder that entire generations of fatherless children are growing up as betas?
Weak fathers contribute just as much to this problem. Even beta, feminized men can have sons. How are those sons going to learn to become men? By watching their emasculated fathers? We hope not. If a boys hero is his father and his father is weak that boy is doomed to weakness and androgyny. More than ever we want the son of a weak father to pick up a Conan the Barbarian story and learn what real masculinity looks like.
If masculine literature were more prominent there wouldn’t be so many emasculated males around us.
Aspiration for Adult Men
But masculine literature isn’t just for boys. Men need it as well. In fact, we need it more than any other generation of men.
In our post-industrial society, nearly every masculine thing we do is a self-imposed hardship. We don’t need to go to the gym, we do it because it is good to be strong. We don’t need to make tons of money to survive, we make money to fund our masculine endeavors. We don’t need to go hiking/camping/white water rafting/skydiving etc… we do it because facing our fears makes us stronger. We don’t need to learn Muay Thai to be safe, we do it because knowing we can whoop some ass gives us the confidence to never have to.
All these hardships are simulations of real perils our ancestors faced. They genuinely had to be strong and brave and productive to survive. We do not. Masculine literature is so important because it grounds us. It reminds us that even though overcoming these hardships is optional to us, for others they were not. Masculine characters in fiction have to be strong, brave and productive. Their stories convey the high stakes of their failure in any of these masculine qualities.
When we connect with masculine characters we meditate on the importance of masculine characteristics and ingrain their significance in our psyche. Our ancestors faced these same hardships and risks. When we connect with masculine characters we connect with our own history. Then when we train ourselves through artificial hardships to be better men we simultaneously honor our ancestors.
Movies aren’t good enough. They don’t force our brains to focus so completely. Even if movies had the same effects as books there aren’t any with great masculine characters. James Bond films are once in a blue moon. These days it’s all Captain America and Thor. Don’t get me started on the poor messages they send to men and boys.
Pick up a masculine story, finish it from beginning to end, and I guarantee you will walk away better for it.
My writing on masculinity and literature can be found at www.legendsofmen.com.
