printNavy SEALs are incredible specimens, both intellectually and physically. Every interview, over the past few days, with members of this elite unit, has demonstrated the superman qualities SEALs possess. They even look like cut-out images from an episode of “The Unit.” It’s a shame that these magnificent men must place their skills at the service of the state. I suspect, however, that if you are SEAL material, you don’t have many options.
American men have endured decades of emasculation—legal and cultural—in civilian life. Hobbies and work that require such a perfect amalgamation of mental and physical prowess, as being a SEAL demands, are hard to come by. Or are illegal. These men are … manly men; they are chivalrous and disciplined. These qualities are penalized in the feminized workplace culture that has been crafted by the feminists manning Human Resources (Y chromosome carriers included). Frankly, manly qualities are being bred-out of men.
(HR makes my contact behind enemy lines—the American corporation, which works a lot like the US State does—take “Diversity” tests and PC quizzes to keep him in-line.)
Punish a little boy time and again at school for “Bang-bang you’re dead,” of for playing “Cowboys and Indians,” and then teach him do so to his own tyke—and you get generations of girly-boys (down to the fussy sounding falsettos with which many heterosexual men now speak).
I even wondered in “Manly No More,” whether it was possible that “the feminization of society over the last 20 to 30 years is changing males, body and mind. Could the subliminal stress involved in sublimating one’s essential nature be producing less manly men?”
In any event, if one were so endowed, where could a man find private-sector work or hobbies that allowed him to put into practice the skills he would use as a SEAL? That is, without being arrested by the powers that be, or sent to de-Nazification camps/programs (Dr. Phil, anger management, etc).
Although Demi Moore kept getting in the way (and blocking views of Viggo Mortensen), I watched “G.I. Jane” many times over for the impossible training. Of course, not even Amazonian women should be considered for this kind of Special Operations team where, esprit de corps is everything. Fortunately, “G.I. Jane” was just fiction; women are precluded from the Navy SEALs.
UPDATE I (May 8): I think Robert G., below, has been reading and contributing to this (moderated) site long enough to know what a traditionalist means when she points to manhood. Mr. Glisson’s mentors are certainly of a piece with the manhood described. But there is more.
I was referring to something else SEALs seem to possess. We’re talking here about different expressions of manhood. However, the culture has prohibited open discussion of the things my post addresses, very specifically. These are a combination in some men (and certain women too) of qualities that make them scale mountains as the explorers of old did, take to the seas to discover new places, and slay dragons, to use a metaphor.
Have we forgotten the superman (one among a few hundred kids) who graduated with us, and who managed, with equal easy, higher math (in my days they divided us into groups according to ability), marathons, while charming everyone around him with his drive and decency? I remember the specimen! And I am not going to pretend he didn’t exist so as to make everyone feel better. I am quite able to live with the reality that I was not of that species; others prefer to deny that there is such a specimen.
Mr. Glisson seems to want me to say that such supermen end up as killers for the state. As a young girl who partook of the mixed-sex scouts in Israel, I remember so well our 16-year-old group leader. A mere boy, who, when we were lost in the scrubby mountain range of Israel’s tiny interior, in temperatures of 120 degrees, with one water container per child—how with absolute cool, this boy navigated back to base, using the primitive navigational instrument of the day—the compass—sans cellphones and 911 helis hovering above.
On his back he carried the kids who passed out for lack of water. He was already about 6 feet and 3 inches tall. I was but 12, but I recall looking at his face to see if I should be fearful. His young face reflected the enormous responsibility he had undertaken—and was given. But by looking at him, I also knew he’d get us back to base. I even recall his name: Avner.
Doesn’t any one remember that kind of kid? Serious, studious, focused—nothing he couldn’t do??? I doubt these types are allowed to flex their mental and physical muscle to the fullest these days—and certainly not in the repulsively politicized, feminized scouts. The Avners of today, if they persist in contributing to society to the fullest—in the scouts, for instance—would be programmed not to show superior skill (lest stupid, fat kids be made to feel bad); not to comfort sad kids, not to mentor kids like themselves, in case he risked transmitting and excess of machismo competency. Blah, blah.
UPDATE II: rch’s note: It’s succinct, apolitical, and to the point; as you would except from One of These Men. I’m proud to know him too. Enough said.
UPDATE III: Mr. Glisson and I always have a good dialogue; between us we get to the soul of the subject. Each SEAL is an individualist, capable of becoming a leader at the drop of a hat. It is sad that this kind of core character is under assault. This pushes men—whose biology and mentality craves the excitement and the challenge—to serve the state.
Correct – even the girlymen, neocons, chicken hawks, neolibs, feminists, and metrosexuals like to have a few real men at their disposal for certain tasks like disposing of Osama bin Laden – Tony Soprano style.
Sadly, war fits the agenda of the girls and girly men since it ships the macho guys over to some obscure Jihadistan where they are too far away to block the feminization of America.
I’m glad to see I’m not the only one who’s noticed this. I try to make men for a living, and every single day it’s a battle, even when the men I’m working with have come to me because they’ve recognized their own wussification. I shudder to think what this world will be like in another 20 years, or another 50. Thank you for helping me get the message out.
The SEALS are tough blokes. I would also like to commend the pilots of the choppers (I think you folks in the US call them Helo pilots). Those blokes also go through intense training and are often overlooked by the civilians in times of warfare.
Whether compelled or consenting, any behavior that is reinforced will indeed restructure brain processes within individual cases causing tangible change.
Consider research of the Internet’s effects on the memory consolidation process: If it is reinforced, it will indeed cause measurable change. If that were probable with one behavior and/or activity, why would it not be for all behaviors and activities.
Although expected to be within certain genetically predetermined tolerances, why couldn’t a given curriculum produce demonstrable change in individuals of any age.
In other words, neuroscience seems to support the anecdote.
The point isn’t so much to make girly-men, although that is all too often the result. The real goal is to sublimate what’s seen as the more aggressive instincts in males and to “even the playing field” gender wise in the workplace and in overall society. But mainly, I think the goal is to create a kinder, gentler, more passive male for the purposes of more efficient indoctrination. Once the progressive movement has achieved its goal of total power and irrevocable control, the girly men would be the first to go. There would no longer be a need for them.
Everything you say is true Ilana. There is another side of feminization. Those young men who do not wish to become feminized drop out of a hostile educational environment in alarming numbers. They are usually from fatherless homes. They gravitate to the only openly masculine environment available to them, gangs. Here they get masculinity in its worst form, unrestrained by social convention. Male youths are given the choice of feminiaztion, social ostracism, or joining gangs. The consequences are becoming ever more catastrophic.
Instructive vid and commentary. Among the many salutary effects of our coming System Collapse and extended re-set is as follows: Men will once again be and act like Men and Women will once again be and act like Women.
There are millions of men in the US with the same psychology the SEALS require. These civilians never considered the military. They are armed. The beast is well aware of this fact and keeps his distance out of fear. These men have been feminized to the point they will sit back and watch the destruction of their culture if they are provided with enough distraction and the destruction occurs at an acceptable “rate of decline”. When the clock strikes midnight these men will rise en-masse. Too bad we have been emasculated to the point we allow this madness.
I’m having a small problem with this article. As a man who wore a pink Cummerbund to his son’s wedding (into normal dress for the reception)only out of respect for his son; I have to question “What is a real man vs a girly-man.” I personally do not idolize the Seals. They may be the best trained killing machines, that deport themselves in mixed company with polite and honorable behavior; but my father and uncles, non-military all; taught me by example that manhood consisted of the intrinsic values, responsibility, honor of keeping their word, respected by other men. Are we saying that girly-men are men without those qualities, or just not fighters?
From the beginning — of time of our country — decisive, history-altering actions have been accomplished by very small numbers of very determined men. Long ago and far away, I was privileged to be a member of such a group. Our classified mission, disclosure of which could result in jail-time, involved penetration of enemy camps to take prisoners and/or gather information by more covert means. It was a triple-volunteer unit one could quit at any time. I don’t recall anyone exercising that option. Losses were heavy. Many are still there. And today? This country continues to produce such men. I don’t fully understand how or why. I am simply eternally grateful that we do. I got along just fine with no parades or public thanks. So will these guys. It’s just part of the job.
My point, if I have one, is that there is one characteristic being promoted today- Team players- SEAL-SWAT-NFL; the design team at ? Fifty years ago, we had John Wayne, the Lone Ranger, High Noon, ie the individual. I believe your scout leader is the type of person that we as a nation should be emulating and I think the type person you had in mind for the article, the update verifies it. You take a man that can run six miles and still hit the bull’s eye at a quarter-mile, teamed with someone that can throw a fragmentation grenade fifty yards after a six mile run, you have a good team; however, to find an individual that when dropped into the fire, walks out with ten people on his shirttail or leads his company to the top, like Sam Walton, you have exceptional. As a long time reader, I am aware that I have to question some things to get you to bring out what you really think is important. I appreciate the description of your scout leader and hope he has done well. The ‘natural leaders’ are few and far between.