Masculinity podcast - Comp II Project

The speaker discusses the importance of boys and young men finding purpose in life and embodying masculine traits such as strength and independence. They interview their father to gain insight into what makes a man a good man. They also discuss the benefits of masculinity for men and society, including increased happiness and stability. The speaker emphasizes the role of fathers in raising boys to be masculine and the importance of balance in a child's upbringing. They argue against the idea that masculinity is toxic and advocate for men to improve themselves and help others. The speaker concludes by mentioning the negative consequences of weak or insecure men and the need for strong, empowered role models. Hello. What is up? Welcome back to the roundtable. This is a podcast for my advocacy project for my Composition II class of high school. I'm Mustafa Rahmanzai. I'm a senior in high school. I'm joined here by... I'll just let them introduce themselves. Abdul Malik Rahmanzai, also a senior at Gretna High School. Claire Sully, also a senior at Gretna High School. Taylor Ure, and I am also a senior at Gretna High School. Perfect. So, we got that out of the way. So, I have to preface this before I start. My call to action was that boys and young men should take time to find their purpose instead of wandering aimlessly in life. They should try to possess traits like strength, courage, and independence, and this can all be made if they tap into their true masculine nature. For my primary interview, I decided to interview my dad because he is someone I look up to, and he is my role model, and I looked him for answers about life, I guess. I asked him what makes a man a man, or what makes a good man. He said a man puts others before himself and still manages to take care of himself. He strives to improve himself and those around him without putting them down. He also has to be a good father, a father who provides, protects, and inspires his children. I would like to ask you guys, who are your role models in life? I think mine is also my dad. I look up to him. Okay. I would probably say both of my parents. I would say both of my parents. Let me add something real quick. I also look up to my mom. It's not like I don't. Yes, obviously. It sounded like I only regarded my dad, but that's not how it is. What I meant by that is that I'm able to relate more to my dad because I'm a man myself. I wanted to discuss the benefits of masculinity for both men and society. From my secondary sources, I found that men benefit from masculinity because they are simply happier with their lives. It is much better to face the discomfort now and enjoy life afterwards than indulging in the pleasures now and living in regret later on. Society can benefit from it by crime rates going down, rates of fatherless homes going down, more role models for boys to look up to, and an overall sense of security and comfort by good men around. Do you guys have anything to add to that? I agree with that. Perfect. I also wanted to discuss the ways in which masculine men make contributions to society. One being that there are more good men around that people can look up to, and they provide an overall sense of protection, security, and happiness to the people around them. I also wanted to say that they can provide leadership for young boys because nowadays I would say that the amount of young adults, young men specifically, are very misled, I feel like, from society. They don't have a goal to work towards. They are aimless in life, and this is why I think masculine fathers are a good thing because they then have something to look towards in life. Would you agree that boys, or young men today, are not the best of what they could be? Yes, I do. Looking even at our school here, I see kids just wandering around, not focusing on school, not focusing on life. They just want to live the moment. Nothing is wrong with that, but they also have to focus on the bigger picture and think about their future and what will become of it if they live the way they are right now. Yes. Anything? Personally, I don't agree with that statement. What statement? That you had made previously about the young men today having no purpose in wandering aimlessly. Okay, how do you disagree with that? Elaborate, please. You make it sound like you have to have a masculine figure to look up to in order to be successful and have a purpose. Yes, well, that's not the end all, be all, but I'm saying it definitely helps for boys. Okay, I also want to talk about how men benefit from being masculine. One of my sources, they did a study where they surveyed a bunch of different men and they ended up having results come back and said they surveyed them and questioned them. They came back with having the information that more masculine men tend to have more stable life outcomes and a deeper desire for a stable partnership. They tend to be more successful and they tend to be happier and healthier in both the mental and physical aspects. A quote from McQuivey is that men higher in feelings of masculinity may also report more stable and resourced life outcomes including higher income and education, a healthier weight, better religiosity, and increased general happiness and life satisfaction. The next point I wanted to make is the importance of fathers in raising boys to be masculine. My dad brought up how a man is supposed to be a role model for his kids and he needs to set the standard for them of what a man should be so that his boys and I guess daughters too can aspire to become or have a partnership with somebody like that. Any comments on the statements so far? Questions, concerns? I mean, I completely agree with you. I don't think there's anything to argue about here. Okay, moving on. My question to you is just what do you consider masculine to be? Just like someone who's willing to provide for their family? What kind of traits are we talking about here? Yeah, it mostly comes down to the traits a man possesses and I feel like what makes a man masculine is that he is the traits you would like to see in maybe your husband or your dad. A man who is honest, who takes care of himself and others, who is ambitious, who is a good leader, and who provides security and protection for his loved ones. And do you think that that cannot be achieved in a single mother household? That's a whole different issue that we could talk about, but I do not think that you can have the best of... I think the best way you can bring up a child is to have both a father figure and a mother figure in the house. I feel like there needs to be a balance for a kid to grow up in the best environment. Would you say that it's unnecessary? Unnecessary for two parents? No. Okay. Some kids don't get to choose. Yeah, and that's also why I wanted to... That was my other point where if we had more men with these traits, I feel like there would be less fatherless homes. That's also a big issue. Men are not strong enough to take care of their families mentally and they can't handle the responsibility and that's also an issue. The challenges I feel like nowadays that men face is that it feels like all masculinity is being viewed as toxic and society is pushing this new message of men needing to be feminine or not masculine. And I said this is not true. Men are men for a reason. We are here to serve a purpose and our purpose is to be true to our nature and be there for our partners and our loved ones and our family. And one might ask, what is a healthy way masculinity can be expressed? It's very simple. You need to start looking inwards. How can you improve as a man? What are ways you can better yourself and help others? That is my best take on that question. What would you guys say is a way to express masculinity in a healthy way? I'm not a man, so I genuinely don't know. Well, it's more of a trait that doesn't really apply to your sex. So like women can't be masculine? They can choose to be masculine, yes. I think also they can look up to great people and like you said, look up to good role models like fathers, even mothers in some cases. And you know, not their own person, not their own role model. Yes. I wanted to talk about the point of what happens when men are not masculine or when they are weak. There was an event where a, I'll just read the quote. It's from Olivia Riggio. She talked about a school shooter. She said, University of California shooter Elliot Rodger posted a YouTube video in which he ranted about women not being attracted to him and he swore to seek revenge. So he later went to the university and shot up the university. This is a very sad thing because in order for a weak man to feel power, he feels the need to go and shoot up a university. And I feel like if we had masculine men, there would be no need to be insecure about not being powerless. A masculine man knows that he doesn't need to prove his power to other people. He would know that he's a strong man who can provide for his loved ones. To wrap things up, I had a quote from another source, Michael Uren. He says, In reality, however, if boys are to survive and thrive in a complex world, they must work to be strong, resilient, empowered, able to perform in at appropriate times, stoic in the face of enemies and hardship, aggressive, assertive, motivated, and able to battle against bullies, as well as help us fight our wars abroad and at home, powerful, successful in work, in life, in leadership, and when needed in followership to leaders who are morally sound. That was my two cents on masculinity and how it can help us be better men and improve our world around us so we have more, I guess, better role models to look up to so we can be better husbands, better brothers, better sons, and better men in general. Anything you guys would like to add to that? Any coverage at all? Perfect. Thank you for listening, and I hope you have a great day.