Art is a lot more important than we think. Art is more powerful than facts, then reason, and then essays and the like. Yet most people, especially men, dismiss art (regardless if it’s “high” or “low”) as frivolous nonsense. Unfortunately many more traditional cultures, that get a whole lot of things right, hold this few. And it greatly limits those that grow up in this culture as well as leaves them vulnerable to attack and subversion from others who wish to prey on or destroy these cultures and that have an understanding of art.
Art is powerful, extremely powerful. And we’d be foolish to dismiss it and even more foolish to write it off as “frivolous nonsense”. Also by art I don’t necessarily mean paintings or sculptures though they part of it. I also mean movies, music, TV shows, and of course novels. So please don’t see a discussion of these things are low level nonsense, things that we shouldn’t care about. Because the state of a culture’s art (or lack of it) says a lot about the health and priorities of that culture as a whole.
It’s no secret right now that masculine art is very hard to find and is hated. This holds true in TV shows, music, novels, and everything else. There are many factors to this from sheer capitalism and understanding that women control the pursue strings and therefore the culture and art should be produced for them as that’s more economically viable. To more communistic type leanings where art should be produced solely for certain political causes regardless of the quality of the art.
Right now (and perhaps always) strong, healthy, virile masculinity is out when it comes to politics and economics. Sure a few years ago a certain level of “masculinity” was allowed that was more parody and compensation then anything substantial and worthwhile. By masculine art I don’t mean art with naked girls, explosions, and low development of plot or character. That’s not what I mean at all, though there’s nothing wrong with naked girls and explosions when done right.
Why Is Masculine Art Important?
I’m realizing now that this essay is going to be longer than I intended so I’ll keep this brief. Why is art, in particular masculine art, important? So first day on the job at sales you’ll learn that people are sold by emotion and not be reason and what is life but the constant selling of different things? Different ideologies, different ways of living, different religions, different cultures, and so on and so forth. In a way, good sales skills, could prevent war. At least in theory. When cultures form, essentially it’s that people have all been “sold” on a certain set of values and ways of living. And by sold I don’t mean tricked but rather come to agreement on.
Anyways coming around to my point, art plays on the emotions like nothing else. Good art bypasses the mind and gets straight to the heart. It like sales on steroids. Maybe a crass way to look at it but I think you get the gist of what I’m getting at. Art can, has, and does influence the way that people view the world, see themselves, and what they believe in. Art is more powerful then facts or logic by a long shot. Those that wish to subvert most healthy cultures understand this and bring it against those that don’t.
So good masculine art encourages men to be men, and why does this matter? Well to be frank for more reasons than I could hope to cram in this paragraph but essentially everything good flows down from masculinity. Not that everything good comes directly from masculinity but flows down from it. Sort of like how the warriors of a tribe allow for the mothers, storytellers, hunters, artists, builders, and everyone else to even exist. If you want a more in depth explanation this article scratches the surface.
Why Happened To Masculine Art?
So we at least get the general understanding that is powerful and that masculine art in particular is powerful for creating and sharpening men, and that this is something that is critical to everything good in life. So what happened to masculine art and why is it not being created anymore? There are a couple factors that were mentioned in the introduction. For example commercial and political wants. It’ll be hard for a publishing house to consider publishing masculine fiction when baby boomer women make the majority of consumer dollars spent and women the majority of fiction readers.
Likewise it’s not politically expedient to do so and most of the Western world is a weird combination of Communist-Capitalist so politics seeps its way into every facet of life. Making businesses have to nod to whatever the political ideology of the time is, but it’s more than that. Even with self-publishing there are very few masculine fiction novels being produced, even though there is a market there. And some authors are trying. For example “grimdark” which unfortunately amounts to politically correct “edgy” dorkiness and little more. Now one could blame political correctness and that’s certainly a factor but it goes even further than that.
Art is hopelessly influenced by the author that produces it. At first glance this statement seems blindingly obvious yet all the time we think art is produced “without bias”. But art comes from a humans soul and if there is one thing that a humans soul is, it is biased. Biased towards certain ways of living, things believed, and so on and so forth. Just because there are no obvious political biases in a work doesn’t mean it isn’t biased. And this isn’t to say that bias is a bad thing, it’s not. It’s a human thing, though obvious political bias is what one usually means when referring to bias in negative way and not what we’re talking about here.
So the lack of masculine novels has just as much to do with the authors. If the authors themselves lack masculinity (something build by hardship, suffering, and seeing the horrors of the world clearly) then their work will reflect that. The question comes up “Can a modern male even write a masculine story?” is it even possible? A male who’s never tasted his own blood, never had calloused hands, never been knocked on his ass by the cold hard reality of this world? My answer would be no. What amounts to edginess for many of these authors is laughable for men living in the real world and thus a disconnect.
Why This Matters For You
Given the importance of art and culture and given that we all have to live and exist in a certain culture at any given time and that the dominant culture will affect that culture this all matters. When you complain about the various ridiculousness that comes out of modernity whether political, economical, or personal understand that much of it comes from the subjugation of art. Art gives us vision we otherwise would not have had. Don’t get me wrong a good speech, lecture, non-fiction book, or even conversation can do the same but art does it at a level that clicks almost right away.
Art is powerful, very powerful. It’s a way of conveying deep truths in the strongest way possible. Whether it’s a myth, a painting, a movie, a short story, a novel, or anything else. Art changes the world around us in profound ways. It can shape entire civilizations, cultures, and even how the world is shaped and formed. It does all of this because of the affect that it can have on the minds and hearts of men. True masculine art is the answer to saving, building, growing, and fighting against so much. Understand it’s importance and why its lacking.
If anything I said here interests you I’d highly recommend you check out The Ultimate Alpha Collection which is a compilation of 16 of my books for the price of 5. It covers everything from being a man to making money to getting the right mindset to getting girls to fighting and more and is a resource no man should be without. Pick up your copy today!
-Charles Sledge
