I read your article on Peterson's comments. A few observations (and I do NOT profess to have a solution of course ...).
I think it is entirely telling that Peterson addresses Muslims just like he addresses Christians. I know you would never do this, but I took myself off to a few unpleasant days of research about the treatment of women in the evangelical sphere. In as far as this bubble blames "feminism" for the confusion of their menfolk, and in the cures they advocate, they are frighteningly close to any old ayatollah. One shudders to think what would happen if these forces realised that they have a common interest.
You bemoan the identity crisis of modern men, but in order to have an identity crisis, one first has to be freed from existential concerns such as food, shelter and safety. We are increasingly looking inward because we have the time, the education and the language of philosophy, even if our grasp on the latter might be tenuous ...
As a woman, I do not recognise the men you describe. Are men in general confused about their roles? I doubt it. I have a lot of male friends and nobody seems to spend much time being in a masculinity crisis.
Has a certain number of men (AND WOMEN!) been revealed as inadequate because the millennia-old straightjacket of work and survival has been removed? Most certainly. We now need to adjust and develop ways of being in this kind of world. Pretending we can return to a world that never was is naive.
It seems to me that every life has its challenges. Maybe we angst more than our parents' generation. Maybe in a world that offers a thousand avenues to purpose, finding yours is harder. I dare think, though, that the gospel was written as much for neurotic hipsters as it was for illiterate peasants ploughing a field in 1547. I bet the latter didn't spent a bleeding minute talking to his pastor about whether his wife should have a career.
I would therefore recommend that men buckle up and stop obsessing. I find Peterson very helpful - move out of your mama's basement, clean your room, make a healthy decision about finding a partner and strive to be a decent person. I'd add ignore the men's groups who blather on about "muscular Christianity" - they are selling you a lie, the lie that it will get easier if only we find new ways of steeling ourselves.
I also think that everybody is called to be "gentlemanly". Adventure, conquest, chivalry, heroism, grit and leadership are as much for women as they are for men. For me, this is the true sphere of God. None of us, neither woman nor man, is called to be a simpering, frilly pile of mush obsessed with avoiding "sin" and pleasing others.
And putting a photo of James Bond with the article is an odd choice! He got laid about twenty times per film. I hope this isn't what you had in mind when talking about men.
Thankyou for reading. However, you are quick to speak, but slow to hear. Listen to the podcast episode linked in the article and you might see the way I and others see it with a little more nuance (including what we think [and don't think] about James Bond, misogyny, etc.).
We are always dealing with flawed approaches to these issues (both from men and women) but you seem unaware of the ways the masculinity crisis really is a crisis, and not merely because of a transition to an urban industrial age which relies less on physical strength. The extent of factors are too numerous to get into here.
As I've said in other comments, the Bible has much to say on these issues and the Bible is manifestly not "feminist" in orientation. You may believe we've progressed beyond the authority of the Bible on these issues. If this is the case, then I'm afraid your Christian faith will not last long-term. You will continue to find things you wish to "edit" from God's Word whenever the Zeitgeist changes. Jesus said those who build their house on the sand will not survive the storms. Build on the rock. It's good.
I read your article on Peterson's comments. A few observations (and I do NOT profess to have a solution of course ...).
I think it is entirely telling that Peterson addresses Muslims just like he addresses Christians. I know you would never do this, but I took myself off to a few unpleasant days of research about the treatment of women in the evangelical sphere. In as far as this bubble blames "feminism" for the confusion of their menfolk, and in the cures they advocate, they are frighteningly close to any old ayatollah. One shudders to think what would happen if these forces realised that they have a common interest.
You bemoan the identity crisis of modern men, but in order to have an identity crisis, one first has to be freed from existential concerns such as food, shelter and safety. We are increasingly looking inward because we have the time, the education and the language of philosophy, even if our grasp on the latter might be tenuous ...
As a woman, I do not recognise the men you describe. Are men in general confused about their roles? I doubt it. I have a lot of male friends and nobody seems to spend much time being in a masculinity crisis.
Has a certain number of men (AND WOMEN!) been revealed as inadequate because the millennia-old straightjacket of work and survival has been removed? Most certainly. We now need to adjust and develop ways of being in this kind of world. Pretending we can return to a world that never was is naive.
It seems to me that every life has its challenges. Maybe we angst more than our parents' generation. Maybe in a world that offers a thousand avenues to purpose, finding yours is harder. I dare think, though, that the gospel was written as much for neurotic hipsters as it was for illiterate peasants ploughing a field in 1547. I bet the latter didn't spent a bleeding minute talking to his pastor about whether his wife should have a career.
I would therefore recommend that men buckle up and stop obsessing. I find Peterson very helpful - move out of your mama's basement, clean your room, make a healthy decision about finding a partner and strive to be a decent person. I'd add ignore the men's groups who blather on about "muscular Christianity" - they are selling you a lie, the lie that it will get easier if only we find new ways of steeling ourselves.
I also think that everybody is called to be "gentlemanly". Adventure, conquest, chivalry, heroism, grit and leadership are as much for women as they are for men. For me, this is the true sphere of God. None of us, neither woman nor man, is called to be a simpering, frilly pile of mush obsessed with avoiding "sin" and pleasing others.
And putting a photo of James Bond with the article is an odd choice! He got laid about twenty times per film. I hope this isn't what you had in mind when talking about men.
Thankyou for reading. However, you are quick to speak, but slow to hear. Listen to the podcast episode linked in the article and you might see the way I and others see it with a little more nuance (including what we think [and don't think] about James Bond, misogyny, etc.).
We are always dealing with flawed approaches to these issues (both from men and women) but you seem unaware of the ways the masculinity crisis really is a crisis, and not merely because of a transition to an urban industrial age which relies less on physical strength. The extent of factors are too numerous to get into here.
As I've said in other comments, the Bible has much to say on these issues and the Bible is manifestly not "feminist" in orientation. You may believe we've progressed beyond the authority of the Bible on these issues. If this is the case, then I'm afraid your Christian faith will not last long-term. You will continue to find things you wish to "edit" from God's Word whenever the Zeitgeist changes. Jesus said those who build their house on the sand will not survive the storms. Build on the rock. It's good.