Pink Boy! No, I’m not referencing anything to do with homosexuality. I’m talking about a character in a Strawberry Shortcake book geared for toddlers. It belongs to my 2 year old daughter. It was being read to her by my 7 year old son while his 4 year old brother looked on. By the end of the short book, “Pink Boy,” (not an official character in the Strawberry Shortcake series) was born.
The two brothers noticed that the sole male character in the book started out on page one dressed as a boy and looking on as a group of girls surrounded the main character, Strawberry Shortcake. By the end of the book, he was dressed in pink regalia as a full-fledged member of the Strawberry Shortcake baseball team. There’s even a button beside that particular page that, when pressed, will treat you to an instrumental portion of the old standard, “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.” I can imagine the author of this children’s book singing:
Dress me up in pink clothes
Because Boys and Girls are the same
Gender is merely a social construct
Womyn unite and let’s make men into myn!
So root, root, root out masculinity
And replace it with something pink
Cause for boys its’ one, two, three strikes you’re out in the old gender game.
Sarcasm aside, you may be thinking to yourself that the Strawberry Shortcake book is just an anomaly. That I’m making a mountain out of a mole hill. It isn’t and I’m not. Check out other cartoons available to toddlers and grade school children.
For example, how about the ever popular Scooby Doo? In the modern version, Fred, the super-sleuth leader from the original series is now a male version of a dumb blond. He’s an idiot and his classically male interests (e.g. race cars) are portrayed as the pursuits of a simpleton. In contrast, Daphne, the former ditz in the original series, solves the mysteries right along the side of the super intelligent Velma. Shaggy, as in the original, is still the lazy, cowardly, gluttonous comic relief. This time, however, Shaggy is a dedicated vegetarian . . . because everyone knows (and the liberal entertainment industry especially wants your child to know) that only barbarians like Freddy eat meat. The result? Not a single male character that a young boy can reasonably admire.
Scooby Doo is but one example among many. As young boys watch this stuff, the characters that they are guided to admire are all, invariably, women and girls. There’s nothing wrong with a strong female character. That’s not my point. The point is the total lack of admirable male characters. By watching this stuff, boys learn to disdain . . . themselves, for they are shown male characters that are invariably lazy, stupid, undisciplined, and failures. Young boys are taught dependency. Instead of learning an “I-can-do-it” mentality of confidence, they are taught an “I-better-rely-on-Strawberry-Shortcake-to-save-the-day” mentality of failure and dependence.
One could fill a book cataloging the assault on boyhood. In fact, someone already did. Dr. Meg Meeker, M.D. wrote, “Boys Should Be Boys: 7 Secrets to Raising Healthy Sons.” My very wise, homeschooling wife read it and then passed it along to me. Dr. Meeker makes a great quantitative and qualitative case for the assault on masculinity and its negative societal effects. If you’ve got a son or sons, this book is worth your time.
Also, be it known, that this issue, the dilution of masculinity, does relate to politics. A healthy society needs strong men in addition to strong women. We don’t need a bunch of pansy metrosexuals trading male beauty tips. We need involved fathers (Todd Palin comes to mind) to offer their children an untarnished example of what it means to be a man, and what it means to be a man is NOT the same as a woman. God created the sexes to be complimentary, not identical.
Feminism’s view of freedom is to dismantle manhood so that the sexes are exactly the same. This is a poisonous philosophy that is completely, utterly, and incomprehensively divorced from reality. It, if followed religiously (which is what political correctness requires), will only produce confusion, unhappiness, and more broken families. Children’s entertainment is steeped in this malignant philosophy . . . so, buyer (aka “parent”) beware.
Only by letting boys be boys will you best assure that future male citizens of this country are:
-
Good husbands
-
Good fathers
-
Good leaders
-
Protectors and nurturers of family life
-
God fearing
-
Men that care about the future that they will leave their own children & seek to improve society with virtue, discipline, and sacrifice. In other words, men that know how to love as God loves.
-
In sum, good citizens
When you try to make boys into girls or at the very least, teach them to despise their own maleness and view it as an abnormality, then you get . . . Democrats, Hollywood elites, academics, and other assorted malcontents . . . not the kind of citizenry capable of ensuring that a great nation stays that way.
Neil Stevens
Daniel Horowitz
Moe Lane
Steve Maley
Nice one mailloux....
Attack Mode (Diary) Monday, February 9th at 2:09PM EST (link)You are absolutely correct with this too.
In the search for “equality” between the sexes the feminist leftists have decided that differences should not be allowed. They have an absurd sense of what equality is.
“Land of the Free and Home of da Whopper” Peter Griffin…Family Guy
conform and celebrate diversity….or else!!!
Steel-Belted Radial Right Winger
“I’ll create 5 million jobs from out of unicorn farts and pixie dust” Justatron paraphrasing Obamessiah…yes I love it that much.
Aaron,
mailloux (Diary) Monday, February 9th at 2:13PM EST (link)Thanks for the comments and the reco too!
Take Care, mailloux
Actually, their idea of equality resembles affirmative action
itrytobenice (Diary) Monday, February 9th at 5:50PM EST (link)The Womyns groups aren’t happy unless the men are portrayed as hapless morons while the wise, suave womyn, who have the men firmly under their thumbs, are there to keep the world in order.
It’s the reason my kids aren’t allowed to watch the New Scooby Doo. They are allowed to watch the old ones, but those bitchy, catty, hateful, smart-alecky womyn on the new ones are nothing that I want my son *or my daughter* exposed to. And I explained that to them as we watched our final show and told them not to ever watch it again.
And plus, the old ones are way better, so the kids never argued with me at all.
Proper grammar saves lives.
Let’s eat Grandma.
Let’s eat, Grandma.
I've ranted about the "Berenstain Bears" before.
Steve Maley (Diary) Monday, February 9th at 2:55PM EST (link)Crafty kid bears.
Wise Mom bear.
Doofus, F’up Dad bear that Mom & the kids have to rescue in every installment.
I banned them from my house, and Mrs. Vladimir agreed.
The blogger formerly known as ‘Vladimir’.
Vladimir
mailloux (Diary) Monday, February 9th at 3:03PM EST (link)If you’ve posted on this subject before, please provide the link. I would like to read it.
And, thanks for a corroborating example . . . those bears aren’t present at our house either.
Take Care, mailloux
mailloux, I'll go you one better
Steve Maley (Diary) Monday, February 9th at 4:39PM EST (link)See The Feminization of the American Male, a classic RS 2.0 diary by illustrious poster bs.
Also see: Official: Men are Just Sperm Donors, by kowalski, to whom this is something of a pet issue.
My comments in particular can be found by searching the page for text “vl”.
The blogger formerly known as ‘Vladimir’.
Vladimir,
mailloux (Diary) Monday, February 9th at 4:51PM EST (link)Thank you! I will read them both, but later this evening . . . I’ve got to take my son to Cub Scouts.
Take Care, mailloux
My son is 21 and...
Tanggor (Diary) Monday, February 9th at 3:49PM EST (link)…has a few residual effects from the PC teachings of his mom (my ex), and the rabid school system. Things have improved since he came to live with me 5 years ago.
However, I’ll be taking him to a local range soon to fire automatic weapons.
Sometimes you must follow a simple recipe:
Take 1 slightly PC infected male child
Mix with large amount of testosterone
Provide manly examples of behavior and chivalry
Repeat (the most important part)
“It will be found an unjust and unwise jealousy to deprive a man of his natural liberty upon the supposition he may abuse it.” – George Washington
Tanggor,
mailloux (Diary) Monday, February 9th at 4:06PM EST (link)Thanks for the reco and the comments.
I like your recipe . . . and it conjures fine memories of my own father taking me to his uncle’s cranberry bog to shoot his collection of guns. There were a pile of beat up cars in the woods that we were allowed to target shoot (my uncle was the very definition of a Swamp Yankee, God Bless him). I can hardly describe what exhilarating fun that was!
Take Care, mailloux
I recommend this, and I want to add my comment...
Cheetah772 (Diary) Monday, February 9th at 4:05PM EST (link)As Adam was the first person created by God and in His image. For better or worse, males have always played important roles in building up societies and family life. If males turn out to be wimpy, then the foundation for a healthy society will soon crumble to ground.
If the war on boys succeeds, then may God help us all.
Daniel 2:20 And he [God] changeth the times and seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding.
Cheetah772,
mailloux (Diary) Monday, February 9th at 4:09PM EST (link)A great comment (and thanks for the reco too).
From a religious perspective, the war on boys is indeed a rejection of the Lordship of God.
Take Care, mailloux
My boys could take on 50 of the fairy boys
izoneguy (Diary) Monday, February 9th at 4:09PM EST (link)Wimp is not a word spoken around our house. Some times my wife gets crazy with all the flowing testosterone, but I tell her it is for the good of our country.
The point cannot be made often enough: Modern liberalism, as embodied in the Obama presidency, is the defender of the status quo. And the status quo is a road to economic ruin. Political forces cannot redistribute the wealth that the economic system does not produce.
izoneguy,
mailloux (Diary) Monday, February 9th at 4:19PM EST (link)Thanks for commenting and the reco.
Metrosexuals (aka “fairy boys”) could not have possibly won the west or, for that matter, crossed the Atlantic to settle the new world.
Take Care, mailloux
I sympathize with your wife...
Steph C (Diary) Monday, February 9th at 4:29PM EST (link)But it’s the same here and I’ll grin and bear it. I’m surrounded by boys who want to be like their redneck paw-paw.
“[I]f the public are bound to yield obedience to laws to which they cannot give their approbation, they are slaves to those who make such laws and enforce them.” –Candidus in the Boston Gazette, 1772
Hillbilly Politics
redneck paw-paw
izoneguy (Diary) Monday, February 9th at 4:32PM EST (link)LOL, rednecks unite!!
The point cannot be made often enough: Modern liberalism, as embodied in the Obama presidency, is the defender of the status quo. And the status quo is a road to economic ruin. Political forces cannot redistribute the wealth that the economic system does not produce.
Feminism is backwards from what it should be.
Steph C (Diary) Monday, February 9th at 4:36PM EST (link)yet, they think they’re doing something great by denying what they are. What they’re really doing is cheapening themselves and men but they don’t get it.
I couldn’t stomach being married to a metrosexual. They’re wimps. I want somebody at least as strong as I am and I don’t mean phsycially because most would be stronger in that respect but of character and purpose. Besides, who wants a man who’d spend more time in the bathroom grooming than I would?
“[I]f the public are bound to yield obedience to laws to which they cannot give their approbation, they are slaves to those who make such laws and enforce them.” –Candidus in the Boston Gazette, 1772
Hillbilly Politics
I want to note something...
kowalski (Diary) Monday, February 9th at 4:36PM EST (link)People who believe gender is primarily a social construct look upon the fact that diaries like this exist as evidence that it’s a social construct. Otherwise, why would anyone need to write them, if not to defend a social construct?
In their minds, if you weren’t worried about it, you’d never have to write something like this, because the facts would be crystal clear, like whether someone has blue eyes or green eyes.
Having said that, maybe we shouldn’t care if it’s partially a matter of social construction that’s influenced by biological imperatives. My educated guess is that it’s both, it has always seemed to me that it is both. [This does not, by the way, imply approval at social attempts to alter sexual orientation: I don't think they work, but they occur all the time.]
For what it’s worth, what we should be asking is this: even if gender is (partially) socially constructed, is one way of living better or worse in terms of how children are brought up? I think there are very good answers to that question, and I think that boys have gotten the short end of the stick (pardon my french) in the past 20 years.
Defend Liberty — Join the NRA | Live in Massachusetts? Join GOAL.
Kowalski,
mailloux (Diary) Monday, February 9th at 4:50PM EST (link)Very good points . . . from my own perspective (which is admittedly religious), I view the sexes as first and foremost God’s plan for humanity. But, I also believe in free will and that opens the door to nurture (the part that reasonably could be called social construct). Radical feminism, instead of cooperating with God’s blueprint for the sexes, completely rejects it and proposes to build it from scratch according to its own image.
The idea of some element of social construct also opens the issue to study, as indicated by your question, “is one way of living better or worse in terms of how children are brought up?” Dr. Meeker, in her book, addresses just this question.
Thanks for commenting and the reco.
Take Care, mailloux
Welcome
kowalski (Diary) Monday, February 9th at 5:01PM EST (link)It’s also important to note that in many cases the social aspects of someone’s demeanor have nothing to do with their sexual orientation. I don’t know how many women have told me they thought I was gay: after all, I was trying to use everything I could think of to get in their pants.
It’s a little crass, but there it is. I’m probably atypical. If someone took my brain out of my skull and examined it closely, I would guess that somehow mine developed in a bit of a bizarre way.
As far as changing sexual orientation (in terms of your basic, crotch-level attraction to the two sexes are concerned) through social means is concerned: I tried it and nope, nothing happened. It doesn’t work. I lived in one of the largest gay neighborhoods in the United States for more than five years and I had no shortage of opportunities to be a “switch hitter” if I can use the term. This applies just as well to trying to “socially convert” gay people into being straight; my guess is that will fail just as miserably.
Defend Liberty — Join the NRA | Live in Massachusetts? Join GOAL.
By the way
kowalski (Diary) Monday, February 9th at 5:04PM EST (link)Acting “emotionally expressive” using all your skills I can tell you is a reliable “get in their pants” tactic only on women who are looking for it. Which I think says a lot, actually. Most women who aren’t in trouble with their own personalities aren’t looking for a mirror in their sexual partners: they’re looking for a contrast.
Defend Liberty — Join the NRA | Live in Massachusetts? Join GOAL.
Kowalski,
mailloux (Diary) Tuesday, February 10th at 12:05AM EST (link)You’re right about the contrast. My wife definitely compliments me and I hope I compliment her. The contrasts are appealing from soup to nuts. If folks are simply looking for a mirror, then they should put the relationships on hold and just go shopping at Bed, Bath, and Beyond!
Take Care, mailloux
As a single father
woodsman (Diary) Monday, February 9th at 4:54PM EST (link)who has raised a daughter for the last 16 years by himself I can say the opposite happens for girls also. Girls without good role models have a similar situation as you have described.
Kids only grow into strong adults when there is someone paying attention.
woodsman,
mailloux (Diary) Monday, February 9th at 5:02PM EST (link)Couldn’t agree with you more. That same author I cited also wrote, “Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters.”
Girls too have plenty of horrible media influences. In my opinion, the sexualization of children in particular affects girls. Witness the slutty looking “Bratz” dolls. What kind of message does that send to a 5 year old? The innocence of childhood is under attack and when that is lost, it does indeed affect the kind of adults they become.
Thanks for commenting and the reco. And, kudos on raising a daughter as a single father . . . a difficult, but rewarding vocation.
Take Care, mailloux
Thanks
woodsman (Diary) Monday, February 9th at 6:51PM EST (link)With all the trials, it has indeed been interesting. More so, when I find out she defended herself against a frisky guy. Apparently, when she says no, she means it. I’ve heard she has a mean right cross!
Your points on the toys are well taken. There has been a lot of this stuff where the ol’ man put his foot down and said no. The people who market this stuff to kids should be ran out of business. The same applies to Brittany Spears and others.
Good Cartoons for Boys that are on the air now
Raven (Diary) Monday, February 9th at 5:03PM EST (link)Buzz Lightyear of Star Command
Recess
StarWars: The Clone Wars (I hate to reco this show to anyone for any reason for continuity reasons (I’m a nitpicker) but it really isn’t a bad show)
King of the Hill
Avatar: The Last Airbender
even Kim Possible (yes, I know Ron is a bit of a doofus and Wade is rather fat; but Ron shows the need and power in facing your fears and standing by your friends even when they don’t seem to need you and Wade is a male Velma-type super genius; and there’re the Tweebs and Ron’s dad…)
Let’s see…
Phineas and Ferb is good for the younger boys
Ben 10 (really good one)
Ben 10: Alien Force (not as good as the original, but not bad)
Danny Phantom
The good old X-Men are back (the original series, I mean. I haven’t bothered to watch the remake “Wolverine and the X-Men”)
Fairly Oddparents
Teen Titans
I just wanted to point out that it’s not all anti-masculinity in our kids’ pop culture today. We have some very good, new stuff for them. And yes, I actually do watch many of these regularly and all of them occasionally. It’s a lot better than most of what is targeted at adults these days…
“If you do not have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one.”
Luke 22:36
Raven,
mailloux (Diary) Monday, February 9th at 10:41PM EST (link)Thanks for the tips . . . getting a children’s video from the library sometimes feels like playing Russian Roulette.
One recent one that my sons really liked was a DVD that had an old Hardy Boys episode from the 1950′s. It appeared on the old Mickey Mouse Club. I’ve almost never seen my sons enjoy a show as much as that one.
Take Care, mailloux
I agree except for Fairly Oddparents
Beaglescout (Diary) Monday, February 9th at 10:59PM EST (link)Every male character on the show is an especially doltish idiot. Timmy Turner. His dad. His fairy goddad. His teacher Crocker. His friends. His enemies, except Vicky. The only strong characters are Wanda (the female fairy) and Vicky (the babysitter from hell).
…I can officially say I have seen way too much of that show.
On the reco tip, how about Spongebob?
“A nation which can prefer disgrace to danger is prepared for a master, and deserves one.”
Beaglescout,
mailloux (Diary) Tuesday, February 10th at 12:07AM EST (link)Old Looney Tunes . . . now there’s a set of cartoons that I highly endorse.
Take Care, mailloux
(and thanks for commenting and the reco)
Gods no!
Raven (Diary) Tuesday, February 10th at 7:21PM EST (link)Keep your children away from that just as fervently as you would Barney or Teletubbies or Blues Clues.
Got children of the age that was made for? Send them to Bob the Builder, or Dora or Diego or the Backyardigans…
“If you do not have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one.”
Luke 22:36
I have to disagree
Raven (Diary) Tuesday, February 10th at 7:27PM EST (link)Timmy is a great character. Considering the people who made the show and where it originally aired, I’m not surprised that they had to be sneaky to get him through as is.
He’s a very typical little boy with fairy Godparents who give him anything he wishes for and he has to learn the folly of getting what he wishes for. A lesson we all have to learn again and again and again (like, say, “Punishing the GOP?”)
“If you do not have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one.”
Luke 22:36
I say Dextors Laboratory
gekster (Diary) Monday, February 9th at 11:06PM EST (link)In spite of a meddling girl, his sister, he still manages
They say Republicans are for the rich, Democrats are for the poor.
If they need more voters,
then they have to make more of who they are for.
We are there in the various Tea Party groups, leaderless, but not rudderless.
We steer always toward the Constitutional principles this nation was founded upon.
Erick Brockway
Ok folks, 2012 is here. Get involved
You have to go old school toons
CarlSchurz (Diary) Monday, February 9th at 11:14PM EST (link)First generation Transformers. You cannot get any more masculine than Optimus Prime.
He-Man. Just the name alone. He-Man. It is like double the manliness.
GI Joe, the Real American Hero, need I say more?
Then there was a toon about a family of barbarians that had Dinosaur like critters as pets, and they were all magical. Forgot the name. Kind of Conan like.
Lots of others whose names I cannot recall. But Transformers, He-Man and GI Joe are on the top of my list. I need to buy a boxed sets of the originals and give them to my nephew before my sister turns him into a Nancy Boy.
War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things: the decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth a war, is much worse. A man who has nothing which he is willing to fight for, nothing which he cares more about than he does about his personal safety, is a miserable creature who has no chance of being free, unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself.
CarlSchurz,
mailloux (Diary) Monday, February 9th at 11:52PM EST (link)Through an inter-library loan, I was able to get a few DVD’s of the original transformers. It was great. My boys loved it. They also love Transformer toys. They’re pretty nifty mechanical creations and they allow the kind of play that young boys enjoy (and I believe is good for them too) . . . an old fashioned battle between good and evil. None of that rescuing sea lions from a runaway iceberg stuff . . . just the good guys really giving it to the bad guys and teaching them a lesson they won’t soon forget.
Thanks for commenting,
Take Care, mailloux
You are welcome
CarlSchurz (Diary) Tuesday, February 10th at 10:30AM EST (link)And I can think of no better ideas of manhood then what is found in the Old Myths and history.
I am talking about men like Herakles, Achilles, Sigurd Fafnirsbane, King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table, Egil Skallagrimsson, Leonidas and the brave 300 at Thermopylae, Herman the Cheruscan who led the German tribes to wipe out 3 Roman Legions at the Teutobergerwald in Germany, even Prince Yamato Takeru.
I’ll raise my boys on Clint Eastwood, John Wayne, Robert Mitchum, Henry Ford, Bruce Willis, Sylvester Stallone Arnold Schwarzenegger, Kirk Douglas, westerns, war movies, detective movies like the Maltese Falcon. They’ll grow up to be men.
War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things: the decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth a war, is much worse. A man who has nothing which he is willing to fight for, nothing which he cares more about than he does about his personal safety, is a miserable creature who has no chance of being free, unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself.
I haven't seen it on the air unless you can afford a more expansive package of programming
Raven (Diary) Tuesday, February 10th at 7:22PM EST (link)Same with most of the older cartoons that we grew up on. Tom and Jerry are on, though…
“If you do not have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one.”
Luke 22:36
If you have sons, pick up"The Dangerous Book for Boys" by Ilgulden
olsmithie (Diary) Monday, February 9th at 6:00PM EST (link)(or possibly if you have a Tom Boy.)
Dad will enjoy the book, too!
Regards
Conn Igulden is awesome
Beaglescout (Diary) Monday, February 9th at 11:01PM EST (link)There’s a book out called “Hatchet” that’s a prize too.
“A nation which can prefer disgrace to danger is prepared for a master, and deserves one.”
Also check out "The American Boy's Handybook"
tcgeol (Diary) Monday, February 9th at 11:57PM EST (link)by Dan Beard – an old book but a great one. There is another book called the “Boy’s Omnibus” I believe, but I’m not positive. It is also old and hard to find, but worth looking for if you can. Both of these are the forerunners of books like “The Dangerous Book for Boys.”
Also, look at G.A. Henty’s books for great fiction with manly role models.
Just your typical bitter gun- and God-clinger
Even the Left admits we’re Right
and Backyard Ballistics
itrytobenice (Diary) Wednesday, February 11th at 9:19AM EST (link)We have Dangerous Book for Boys, about 20 GA Henty books, but the one Son loves the most is Backyard Ballistics.
You can make all kinds of things that go boom with common household items. And plus, it’s something the whole family can do together. And when you find a really good one, you can do it at the family 4th of July picnic for an interesting day for everyone.
The Chapter names (which will be enough to interest you guys raising boys) are:
1. Keeping safety in mind (because we really do want to raise them)
2. The Potato Cannon
3. Back Porch Rocketry
4. The Cincinnati Fire Kite
5. Greek Fire and the Catapult
6. The Tennis Ball Mortar
7. The Flinger
8. Pnewton’s Petard
9. The Dry Cleaner Bag Balloon
10. The Carbide Cannon
11. The Ballistic Pendulum
And if you want a quick, easy one, put a golf ball sized amount of aluminum foil in a two liter bottle, add a similar amount of toilet bowl cleaner, put on the lid and stand back. Do it outside.
Proper grammar saves lives.
Let’s eat Grandma.
Let’s eat, Grandma.
itrytobenice,
mailloux (Diary) Thursday, February 12th at 12:06AM EST (link)When my 4 year old turns 5 in April, Backyard Ballistics will make the perfect gift. Thanks for the tip!
Take Care, mailloux
Digressing a little, the feminist agitprop explains why the left is in denial about 9/11.
streetwise (Diary) Monday, February 9th at 6:03PM EST (link)The chattering classes were reduced to impotence while the destinies of thousands and thousands were in the hands of the police, the firemen, the EMT’s, the steelworkers and construction guys and all the blue collar types who were so essential. Guys named Vinny, not Fortescue.
No one called a lawyer, an academic, a metrosexual. When lives are on the line, you need strong men. And strong women, not some feminist who reaches for the vapors at the slightest threat to the comfy life in office buildings.
Great point,
Wayne (Diary) Monday, February 9th at 6:26PM EST (link)streetwise. And it still grinds on their souls that that is the way it was. I recall seeing a video clip, and pictures, of police officers, firefighters and the other “rough” trades running toward the danger, not away from it. Maybe that’s one of the reasons why the Lame Stream Media decided that we didn’t “need” to see any more of the video from 9/11.
“Hell, these are Marines. Men like them held Guadalcanal, and took Iwo Jima, Baghdad ain’t s–t”. Maj. Gen. John F. Kelly, USMC, Deputy CG, First MEF
streetwise,
mailloux (Diary) Monday, February 9th at 10:54PM EST (link)You make a relevant point . . . I can’t help but be reminded of a powerful photo from the Iraq War. It was of an American soldier cradling a severely injured Iraqi child. The photo made me tear . . . and it made appreciate are brave and virtuous . . . real men and women. And, that makes the metrosexual libs most uncomfortable.
Thanks for commenting and the reco.
Take Care, mailloux
I think that is the same photo
woodsman (Diary) Monday, February 9th at 11:00PM EST (link)Michael Moore used for some propaganda, which the copyright owner is suing him for. That photo was very powerful and moving. It’s a shame some wacko like Moore used it to spread his crap.
I’ve heard a saying that men run towards trouble, cowards run from it.
Yes she died on the trip to the hospital
Beaglescout (Diary) Monday, February 9th at 11:02PM EST (link)and she was killed by a suicide bomber piloted by an Al Qaeda stooge. Michael Yon shot the photo.
“A nation which can prefer disgrace to danger is prepared for a master, and deserves one.”
woodsman,
mailloux (Diary) Monday, February 9th at 11:55PM EST (link)Michael Moore is quite a wretched fellow.
My wife and I recently rented “An American Carol.” It’s quite funny and nicely sticks it to Moore.
Take Care, mailloux
GC HIGHLY RECOMMENDS - NT
Mike gamecock DeVine (Diary) Monday, February 9th at 6:45PM EST (link)Mike DeVine’s Examiner.com, Charlotte Observer and The Minority Report columns
“One man with courage makes a majority.” – Andrew Jackson
Mike,
mailloux (Diary) Tuesday, February 10th at 12:08AM EST (link)Thank You!
Take Care, mailloux
Where have all the men gone?
penguin2 (Diary) Monday, February 9th at 8:31PM EST (link)Diary title caught me and boy do I have some thoughts. My husband and I talk about this with concern. I’ve been noting this minimization of men in our society for years. Look at many of the t.v. shows-broken homes and single motherhood glorified. Men are frequently portrayed as abusive, mean or stupid. Look at the Lifetime channel-all movies portraying women as victims.
I noted in a previous comment (Susannah’s diary about Maureen Dowd), that Rush calls them “feminazis.” I also liked Smagar’s “failed persons” 2/8/09. So, we have women hating themselves and men also. I think that they are out of touch with their own femininity and are self absorbed.
The TV Land cable channel has classic tv shows portraying strong father images.
Thanks for a good diary.
Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God. – Benjamin Franklin
When Good stands up to Evil, Evil blinks. – Vassar Bushmills
Conservative Education: Suggested Reading List
Activists Taking Action: Unified Patriots
penguin2,
mailloux (Diary) Monday, February 9th at 11:18PM EST (link)Thanks for your comments (and the reco).
“Feminazis’ is an apt description. Rush always hits the nail on the head.
I agree that TV is almost entirely toxic. It’s hard to find good shows for kids. To be honest with you, we haven’t had much TV in our house for about 7 years now. We keep a small one for weather emergencies (in case of tornados). The kids mostly see videos we get at the library.
The TV Land cable channel sounds excellent though.
Take Care, mailloux
But you need TV to attend Obama Worship services :>) nt
streetwise (Diary) Tuesday, February 10th at 8:25AM EST (link)streetwise,
mailloux (Diary) Tuesday, February 10th at 9:31AM EST (link)My transgressions against the Obama deity are legion . . . the lack of TV (and hence lack of Obama worship services) is just the tip of the iceberg.
I fear that the Obamessiah will one day ride in on his infamous unicorn and smote me . . . but, oh well, that’s the chance you take.
Take Care, mailloux
"smite"
Raven (Diary) Tuesday, February 10th at 7:32PM EST (link)“smote” is past-tense…
“If you do not have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one.”
Luke 22:36
Raven,
mailloux (Diary) Wednesday, February 11th at 9:02AM EST (link)Now you know why my wife does the homeschooling!
Thanks for the correction. Even if I fall short, I always prefer proper grammer.
Take Care, mailloux
Living Down to Marginal Stereotypes
kowalski (Diary) Wednesday, February 11th at 11:13AM EST (link)One thing that I do think that people of both sexes will do, but men perhaps moreso than women on the average is:
If you give them images and examples they can live down to, they’ll make a lifestyle out of it. It’s a subtle thing, and it happens over a long period of time. It’s not as though any one single ad or television show or movie “causes” anything by itself. But if the vast preponderance of what men see and watch and have portrayed to them as either heroic or antiheroic behavior, or ready made excuses for acting like losers, I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that you’ll find more of them acting like losers in real life.
It’s a kind of group behavior that really has damaged men and made them more feckless, more amoral, more selfish, and less honorable — and less likely to be responsible as individuals, not to mention striving to achieve.
Men will make a lifestyle out of dropping out and turning into dirtballs if you make it socially acceptable for them to do it. The difference is that I think on the average they’ll do that even more aggressively than women will. I’ve known men who can tolerate a level of dilapidation that most women simply cannot and will not tolerate. If you portray that to them as role models often enough, you’re going to find that more and more of them join up as part of the zeitgeist.
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Another more blunt way to put it is:
kowalski (Diary) Wednesday, February 11th at 11:18AM EST (link)“If you want to have a nation filled with scummy guys, give them more ways to make excuses for being scummy, even if they know they shouldn’t.”
Defend Liberty — Join the NRA | Live in Massachusetts? Join GOAL.
It's like this StatShot from the Onion
kowalski (Diary) Wednesday, February 11th at 11:26AM EST (link)Defend Liberty — Join the NRA | Live in Massachusetts? Join GOAL.
Nancy Boys and Bailout Whores
Jack_Savage (Diary) Monday, February 9th at 9:12PM EST (link)And France Jr. This is what we have become.
Great Diary, and it points out a dangerous trend
Praying (Diary) Tuesday, February 10th at 12:28AM EST (link)in our society and it’s “culture wars”. I just made a comment to another post about how we’ve become a feminine France-loving socialist society. I had three brothers, and I have 2 sons. God knew what he was doing when he didn’t give me a daughter – I would have ruined her. I love my boys, and I embrace all their “boy-ness” James Dobson also has some great books on raising boys. Maybe we lost something in this country when we stopped making military service mandatory – I’m not advocating going back to a draft, but I think that the military taught boys to be men. We’ve lost the idea that it’s OK to fight for what’s right, to defend your honor. Too many men today (like many in Washington (cough Obama cough) want to engage in group hugs and all get along – these are our freaking enemies – you have GOT to be strong and stand up to them! One of my sons wants to attend the Air Force Academy (he’s in 11th grade). Nothing would make me prouder.
No!!!11!1!!1!1! The Bilderbergers are coming
Praying,
mailloux (Diary) Tuesday, February 10th at 9:45AM EST (link)Thank you for commening and the reco.
There is a nobility and honor about military service precisely because it involves sacrifice. It’s the polar opposite of the hedonistic culture in which children are raised these days. Your 11 year old’s ambition to attend the Air Force Academy is very laudable.
The classics, as you mentioned in your post below, are definitely the way to go. Currently, my sons are enjoying the Hardy Boys. We do about a chapter a day and they are greatly engaged in each story.
The daughters in the family are a bit young (one is 2 and the other is 2 months), but my wife’s old Trixie Belden series awaits them.
Take Care, mailloux
Actually, he's 16 - in 11th grade.
Praying (Diary) Tuesday, February 10th at 10:27AM EST (link)but that’s OK. I think it’s even more noble in that he’s got a maturity and focus way beyond most 16 year old boys. I’ve managed to keep both my boys away from a lot of the “culture” (22 hours a week at swim practice sure helps – not a whole lot of spare time!). Which brings up another point. Sports. Real sports. Where teams are allowed to win and lose. Not this “we don’t keep score and everyone gets a trophy” crap. That is NOT how the real world works – there are winners and losers – if you lose, you try harder. At least BO (before Obama). Now there’s so much attention to leveling the playing field that they’re going to be playing in a bowl… and I don’t mean a college bowl game!
No!!!11!1!!1!1! The Bilderbergers are coming
Praying,
mailloux (Diary) Tuesday, February 10th at 10:39AM EST (link)My apologies for the mistake! I should work on my own reading comprehension, never mind my children.
Great point too about sports, especially team sports where you have actual winners and losers. The training in discipline and the life lessons taught are invaluable.
Take Care, mailloux
I "coached" soccer for my kids
itrytobenice (Diary) Wednesday, February 11th at 9:27AM EST (link)When they were very young. I put coached in quotes because I don’t even know the rules of the game. But they needed a coach and I won.
We didn’t keep score officially, but I promise you, the kids and I knew the score and we knew who won. And we didn’t hide it. At the end of the game, when I was hugging the kids and passing out treats, I cheered for them when we won, and told them that we got really close when we lost.
Proper grammar saves lives.
Let’s eat Grandma.
Let’s eat, Grandma.
One more thing...
Praying (Diary) Tuesday, February 10th at 12:31AM EST (link)Stick with the classics – in books, in videos (DVDs). I never bought any of the “Weekly Reader” hyped new books for my kids – they grew up reading the classics that me and my husband had read – from Pat the Bunny to Encyclopedia Brown to Lord of the Rings… I would NEVER allow a Strawberry Shortcakes book in my house! As parents, we do have some control over what our kids are exposed to… at least so far!
No!!!11!1!!1!1! The Bilderbergers are coming
The Weekly Reader books when I was a kid were pretty good
Raven (Diary) Tuesday, February 10th at 7:38PM EST (link)But indeed, Prydain, Narnia, Belgariad, Lord of the Rings, Ender, Spellsinger…
“If you do not have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one.”
Luke 22:36
Wish Pink Boy could take Pinko-Commie
posterposter Wednesday, February 11th at 3:07PM EST (link)man-child president O with him!
We don’t want Strawberry at our house either because of the bratty little clique stuff in the cartoon. Jack’s Big Music Show, Dora, Diego and Backyardigans are about it.
I only have girls
Elizabeth (Diary) Wednesday, February 11th at 6:41PM EST (link)I only have girls so far (6, 4, and almost 2) so I can’t comment much on the travails of raising a boy these days. But we parents of little girls have to be incredibly watchful too, to make sure that our young ones aren’t taught by society to be “feminists”. (I quote the word, because there’s nothing feminine about them.)
The feminization of our culture has gotten so bad that it’s infiltrated much of the church. I’m in a fairly strong, Bible-believing church (not an old mainline denomination), but I’m constantly frustrated by the other mothers of kids in our Sunday School classes who all appear to have been taught by the public school system how children should be treated. They expect that little boys should behave just like little girls and insist on a level of hyper-protectiveness of the kids that is virtually akin to keeping them wrapped up in bubble wrap. I like to let our K/1 kids act out their Bible stories, but some of the parents are pretty unhappy when I let their kids play with rubber swords and shields. (My daughter, of course, is right in there tangling with the boys.) Two of our youngest kids’ classes have stopped serving snacks completely because they can’t agree on any particular snack that won’t offend some parent or other.
A couple of notes — I haven’t heard anyone mention “Veggie Tales” in the cartoon discussion. While the vegetable stars are perhaps not paragons of manliness, the videos do teach excellent, Bible-based lessons about the choices we make every day. (Briefly thinking through a few episodes that come to mind, there’s not a lot of “fighting for what’s right” but there is a lot of “standing up for what’s right, even if it means personal danger and sacrifice”.)
Also, I would warn anyone that’s not aware of it that the Girl Scouts are poisoning our young women. While I fully acknowledge that there are probably plenty of individual troops that have good leaders, the national leadership is bent on removing God from the organization and on turning their members into proud feminists. Recent incidents over the past few years involve field trips to abortion clinics and spiritual journey / leadership training modules written by New Age practitioners. From what I’ve heard from parents that used to be involved with the organization, they also tend to be very anti-family. An excellent alternative is American Heritage Girls, an explicitly God-centered scouting organization. It’s what Girl Scouts was supposed to be and Boy Scouts still manages to be.
Finally, I’m finding it increasingly frustrating being able to buy feminine clothing for my six year old, who is the size of an eight year old. Much of the clothing sold at Wal-Mart or Target type stores in our area looks like it was designed to teach young girls how to train for the oldest profession in the world. Any suggestions on good places online to shop for more feminine and modest clothing?
“‘You come of the Lord Adam and the Lady Eve,’ said Aslan. ‘And that is both honour enough to erect the head of the poorest beggar, and shame enough to bow the shoulders of the greatest emperor on earth. Be content.’” — C.S. Lewis’ “Prince Caspian”
Good luck with that.
itrytobenice (Diary) Wednesday, February 11th at 9:00PM EST (link)The clothes I mean. My daughter is 12 and it’s awful.
We made a rule though, that works very well for us. If her daddy doesn’t like it, it goes in the trash. It keeps her from picking out or putting on anything very outlandish and flashy. He is strictly a Wrangler jeans and button up shirt kind of guy. And he wants her dressed conservatively.
What I told her was this: We will be relying on him to protect you and keep you safe. He is the one responsible for making sure that you get through these next few years with no damage. If he thinks some outfit of yours is going to make his job more difficult, it goes.
It has *ended* a little game of hers where she would put on something outlandish and come in there to him flaunting it around.
And I follow it. Because of him, there is nothing in her closet with stuff on the rear end because he says it draws attention to her bottom and he doesn’t like it.
Proper grammar saves lives.
Let’s eat Grandma.
Let’s eat, Grandma.
Elizabeth,
mailloux (Diary) Wednesday, February 11th at 11:59PM EST (link)Thank you for your comments . . . in fact, my wife and I were just thinking that this could be one of the most valuable comments we’ve ever read.
In addition to my 2 sons, I’ve also got 2 daughters (ages 2 and 2 months). We just assumed that one or both would become a girl scout. Our 7 year old is involved in cub scouts and it’s been a great experience for him and the organization seems pretty sound. What you’ve written about the girl scouts is utterly horrifying. Thanks for this tip.
On a lighter note, I also endorse Veggie Tales. It’s good stuff for little ones.
I’d also recommend The Wiggles for both their music and their videos. It’s wholesome and their Christmas videos are very good.
Finally, I quite agree on Walmart clothing for young girls. It’s very inappropriate. I wish I had a suggestion for you, but we haven’t had to cross that bridge yet. It’s still pretty easy to dress a 2 year old and a 2 month old in cute, appropriate outfits.
Take Care, mailloux