Masculinity has been defined and measured in many different ways throughout time. There’s been plenty of books written about the archetypes of man, the most popular being King, Warrior, Magician, Lover and there’s much to be gained from these archetypes. Another way that man has been defined and measured is by the three P’s which is his ability to protect, procreate, and provide. And then there’s Jack Donovan’s tactical virtues of strength, courage, honor, and skill.
And a whole lot more. With all of these it can sometimes be confusing what exactly makes someone a man and what that means. Here I want to get away from the more ethereal big picture stuff, after all what does it mean to be a king in the modern world? Or what does it mean to protect? To have a good lawyer? And get more into the nitty-gritty basics of masculinity and its development.
The “Crisis” Of Masculinity
We heard a lot today about the crisis of masculinity, about how masculinity is nowhere to be found and how this signals the end of a society. And there’s a lot of truth to that. However the difference is that in today’s world masculinity has become a choice. Back when you had to fight for your survival, masculinity is produced as a byproduct of that drive for survival. If you’re hunting, fighting, and living a natural life you’re not going to have a problem with “masculinity”.
As a matter of fact having a problem with masculinity, in many ways, is a modern world issue. Masculinity is the byproduct of survival in the natural world. However because we don’t live in the natural world by an artificial one to develop masculinity and the many positive things that come along with it, like stable societies for example, we need to take it upon ourselves to make sure we end up masculine.
The Many Paths & Roles Of Masculinity
I think its impossible to fully lay out everything that you’d need to be a man, all we can do is provide a basic layout and go from there. Above I mentioned four things warrior, poet, craftsman, and scholar as a way of developing masculinity. These are obviously not the end all be all however I think they provide one more tool that’d benefit the majority of men out there. One more to throw in with the archetypes, the P’s, and the tactical virtues. Sort of like when writing a novel it’s good to know various structure types to figure out what works for you as well as learning from each one.
These all cover the different facets of being a man and a human. We have warrior covering the physical but also dipping into the mental and spiritual. We have scholar to cover the mental but also dipping into the spiritual. We have the craftsman which deals with all three on some level but also provides money and work for life. And then we have the poet which primarily covers the spiritual but also dips into the mental. And so we have all three areas, adding in money and sustenance covered.
In another age the craftsman could be a hunter or farmer whereas now it could be a novel writer or a salesman, all depending.
Developing Each Facet Of Your Masculinity
If you’ve read my work for any length of time you know I’m a big fan of balance. Of developing yourself along multiple lines and never letting anywhere become deficit. Man is not a singular thing, he’s a multitude of things all encompassing what it means to be a man. It’s great to be in shape, its great to have good social skills, its great to be able to work the land, but its even better to be able to do all at a decent level. Choose one or two things to specialize in and the rest to become proficient in.
But what to do to develop these facets of your masculinity. Sometimes I feel like a broken record because so much of all of this ties together and helps men become men. So I’m going to say things I’ve said before but the point is that you actual go out and do it. For warrior there’s the gym, combat sports, competition, hunting, climbing mountains, and essentially anything where you’re facing a challenge in a physical sphere and overcoming it.
Scholar there’s books, courses, reading, writing, and figuring out complex problems. I’d recommend always reading some sort of nonfiction book and writing either in a journal, a blog that never gets published, or just for yourself trying to figure things out and learn about the world around you. Craftsman is going to depend on what craft you choose. I think everyone should learn the basics of sales but beyond that the sky is the limit.
Maybe you’re an accountant, a plumber, a truck driver, or a million other things. Sure some things you can learn more about than others but whatever you do, do the best you can at it and become the best you can at it. Always work to better your position in whatever way you can. Read books on the subject, takes courses, get certifications, learn to sell yourself and your skills among other things.
The poet, create art of some sort and enjoy art. Maybe its painting, writing novel, sculpting, woodworking, ironwork, redoing cars, whatever. Have something that seems like an art to you and allows you to express your creativity. It can be in a nice room with classical music or it can be out in a garage with heavy metal or it can be deep in the woods with only the song of the birds in the air.
Whatever works for you.
Man Is A Multifaceted Animal
As Heinlein said “Specialization is for the insects” develop yourself along multiple lines and dive into the richness of the world around you and your masculinity. Masculine men make times and worlds good and it all starts with you. Look at the four archetypes, quadrants, paths, or whatever the hell you want to call them warrior, poet, scholar, and craftsman. Where are you weak? Where could you use improvement? Where is doing work going to help the most?
Figure it out and get on it, because time is going by.
If you have any questions you would like to see answered in a future post send them to me at charlessledge001 (at) gmail (dot) com. If you found value in this post then I would encourage you to share this site with someone who may need it as well as check out my books here. I appreciate it.
-Charles Sledge
