In a world now tilted on its head, where the traditional roles of men and women seem as up for grabs as the latest TikTok dance craze, it’s time to pull back for a moment, adjust our figurative bow ties, and dive into the age-old notion of manhood. There’s an idea here that if manhood spirals down the drain, the future follows suit, no future left to speak of, unless you count the watery dwelling of said drain as some sort of dystopian voyage.
In this topsy-turvy digital age, where gender reveals are an endangered species and the only thing less fashionable than paisley patterns is the notion of a man as a hero, we might want to retrain our intellectual lens on this issue. Wasn’t it God who purposefully created this jigsaw puzzle of humanity for more than just our own amusement? One might argue that understanding reality itself springs from understanding divine design, so isn’t it curious that our societal scripts seem all too willing to erase the paragraphs dedicated to strong male figures?
It almost feels like we’re starring in a soap opera that’s lost its script, where tales of valiant knights and heroic feats have been swapped with narratives of power struggles and dismissive glances at what could be considered traditional valor. Remember the heyday of television when shows like “The Sopranos” and “Breaking Bad” walked that fine line between good guys and anti-heroes? Those were the modern-day epics, resonating with audiences because they grappled with the blurred lines where outlaws stood tall simply because society at large decided men were better suited jumping from cliff to cliff on moral high ground.
One might see these stories as art’s desperate cry for help — please bring back a space where men are men, not because of chiseled pecs, but because they wield their power for good. Where are the female characters worth standing up for, ones that inspire men to not just play protector out of duty, but out of genuine resolve? If women can’t be portrayed in such roles, how can men rise to meet them in kind, playing their parts in the dance of life that has kept society from tripping over its own two feet for centuries?
So where does this tangled mess leave us? The arts, like a jilted lover, seem restless, trying to find the pathway to depicting the hero’s journey once more. There’s a call to action: men, it’s high time to reclaim the mantle of ‘good men.’ That doesn’t mean turning into prehistoric caricatures or overzealous gym-goers. Instead, it’s a challenge to embrace the deeper aspects of what it means to stand up, be counted, and see that the future isn’t flushed down the drain but instead burnished with integrity — an integrity born of strength, wisdom, and the genuine pursuit of the good, the true, the beautiful. If not, the drain is always open.
