He is a media personality who consumes raw lamb testicles, while demonizing carbohydrates, doubting vegetables and evangelizing that MEAT is the food that will make us recover our lost glory. Her diet was born before the internet, but in recent times, she has amassed more than 1.7 million followers. Why has she been so successful?
On the surface, it’s a counter-trend, a reaction to the proliferation of vegan diets and alternative meats. But a much more powerful and profound explanation; is that the Carnivore Diet promises dominance over the environment, at a time when many feel vulnerable, and out of control. Likewise, it suggests masculinity and virility in the face of the threat and confusion generated by the powerful current of feminism and gender fluidity.
As traditional religions have waned, secular religions are emerging to fill the human need for community, belonging, and order. At a time when masculinity has lost its referents, or has been beaten in general. This current exalts the traditional masculine role of the hunter.
But then Masculinity is in crisis? We don’t want to see Alpha males anymore?
A quick search on Google returns the following most anticipated movies for 2023:
“John Wick: Chapter 4”
“Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning: Part One”
“Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny”
“Creed III”
“Extraction 2”
“The Equalizer 3”
What do the movies on the list above have in common?
They all have a strong male main character.
The strange thing is while the market expresses a clear desire to see this type of protagonist; the current in Hollywood is diametrically opposite: they demonize masculinity, and kill off the most traditional heroes. This phenomenon has even occurred in soap operas; with emasculated, bland, and downright boring leads. And maybe yes, we prefer to see empowered women, with the reins of their lives in their hands, and we reject the “crying submissive”; but they don’t like these pusillanimous and almost ghostly characterizations of the male characters either.
So what will happen when Hollywood’s male icons disappear? (Tom Cruise is already 60; Denzel Washington is 68 and Harrison Ford is 80.) Will the escapism fueled by powerfully male leads end? And what will be the model or models to follow for our children? This one-sided vision that equates masculinity with “toxic-masculinity” only creates insecurity, disorientation and anxiety and fertile territory for fanatical leaders who take advantage of the confusion.
Healthy masculinity does not threaten female empowerment, and true, self-assured men do not fear women in or with power. To condemn all men as the enemy does not make any sense.