Perhaps this is a most appropriate forum to raise my disliked topic given this forum's Highbrow title and my viewpoint often condescendingly framed as being Lowbrow. In any case, while pop editorialists ponder whether America needs men to protect the women in their lives, the call of human nature goes unabaded in every new generation.
It is an unofficial, yet definitive, natural, instinctive, inclination for a healthy man, young or old, to need to protect the women closest to him: wife, daughter, mother, sister (other women being included in this to various lesser degrees). It is found in every human society in every era of human history. It is also found in various forms in the complex species of the animal kingdom: from primates to rodents, and its even found in reptiles, birds, and many kinds of aquatic life. It is only through rigorous social conditioning and perhaps years of soulcrushing (de?) repression that all flickers of that fire are extinguished so that a man is empty of this need, rather this void becomes filled with something else.
So why are modern, American, leftwing pop writers, presumably all women and a few emasculated men, condescendingly casting aside what otherwise would be an endearing quality in the human male? That he would want and NEED to protect and care for those particular women in his life, which in another era would have been beloved in men, has become scorned and ridiculed- what does that say about America today?
Certainly in American history, and perhaps much of human history, that particular male inclination has translated into various forms of oppression of women. Certainly in the Judeo Christian heritage of America wherein women were deemed as property and/or themselves unable to own property and therefore command wealth and afford to protect themselves in some way. Similiarly in the Muslim world, though women were originally allowed to own property and wealth and were actually individuals, over time men found ways to oppress them. And in Latin and East Asian (Chinese, Japanes, Korean) societies too, all the same social traits emerged at various times of men relegating women to property to be managed and controlled.
Nonetheless, modern human society with its scientifically advanced organizational capacities has practically rendered a man in tune with his human nature to be relatively obselete. Certainly electronic doors which open on the slightest weight, or trigger, have made the gentlemanly act of door holding irrelevant. And likewise, the new rise of the stun gun has made anyone strong enough to whip out her gun in a moment of struggle or stress and pull the trigger with sufficient aim can sufficiently protect herself from known unknown violence. And the massive credit industry has actually elevated young women above most young men of similar age by enabling them to improve their credit rating enough to buy that nice dress, or that new car; at that same time most young men of that same age are rather concerned about getting the next drink, finding a willing partner and a warm bed (or mattress), and just making it to the next day. To no surprise, after years of working to maintain her credit rating, she is more inclined to own property, have investments, and manage the most costly expenses of college loans, mortgages, and 401Ks, than many men of her age. Young women now readily engage in the most brutal sports as men do, including boxing, MMA, football, wrestling, soccer. There are increasing occurences of women competing directly with men, though this is still an anomaly. Modern entertainment has indeed found sexy female heroines that best male counterparts a winning business investment, if not cultural draw: such as Laura Croft of Tomb Raider, Mr & Mrs. Smith, Bionic Woman, Alias, Buffy, Aliens (et al), and a host of other heroines of like form.
To no surprise, marriages are increasingly less relevant in modern American society. A woman can maintain her own financial status; her own protection, including adding a dog to her collection of possessions for unquestionable companionship without sexual needs; and if need be, the large variety of sexual toys or sperm banks can satisfy her sexual and reproductive needs.
Where does that leave men? Straight men, I mean. Video games, porn, or struggling against the financial and social norms to build and maintain a traditional family?
[Incidently, the underlying factor which has shaped this state of affairs is the overwhelming influence of the 'free market, liberal' corporatist, capitalist, economic model which relegates humans to being individual units and their human relations to cost/benefit analyses, robbing them of any other competing significance]
