It’s masculinity to the rescue. By Miranda Devine
Excerpt: When a knife-wielding killer went on a bloody rampage through the streets of Sydney, Australia, this week, he was stopped in his tracks by a group of courageous men using just a milk crate and a chair. Brandishing a butcher’s knife and yelling “Allahu Akbar,” 21-year-old Mert Ney already had allegedly murdered one woman and stabbed another in the back when six men armed themselves with weapons, ranging from a café chair to a firefighter’s ax, and chased him down. With the killer pinned to the ground, one of the men yelled at him in outrage over his violence against women: “You’re a piece of . . . You stabbed a chick, mate.” In every story of bloodshed and mayhem, it’s the same. Tales of selfless male heroism and chivalry emerge in the face of mortal danger. These are men who rush toward danger, risking their lives and even dying in the noble cause of protecting women and children. We saw it in the El Paso and Dayton massacres. There was David Johnson, 63, who pushed his wife and 9-year-old granddaughter to safety under a counter at the El Paso Walmart before he was fatally shot. There was bar bouncer Jeremy Ganger, who stood his ground at the front door of the Dayton bar Ned Peppers, reportedly pulling people inside as they fled from the shooter who was firing an AR-15 and wearing body armor. Ganger suffered a shrapnel leg wound. (Here's the hit list of terrible things about "masculinity": stoicism, competitiveness, dominance, aggression, anti-femininity, achievement, “eschewal of the appearance of weakness,” adventure, risk and violence OK, "anti-femininity" might be a negative, if it implies anything about looking down on women, but if it just means most men don't think it's cool to wear make-up, I'm not sure it's worth worrying about. Dominance and aggression when overdone aren't nice, but they aren't nice from anyone, male, female, straight, gay, or trans. The one that really gets me is "violence", since being prone to violence is not good from anyone (again) but being capable of violence when the situation calls for it is a survival trait. But stoicism, achievement, not wanting to look weak, some adventure, some tolerance of risk, these are not remotely bad things. At least, having tried to live my life that way and seeing the bulk of men I like and respect doing the same sure puts me in the corner of such traits. What are the alternatives, being a wimp who doesn't achieve anything, won't take the slightest risk at any time? Not the kind of male person I particularly want to be around, OK, call me macho. And this crap comes from the American Psychological Association? That confirms my belief that brainy people with degrees can still be fatuous idiots. Del)
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