Toxicity Overhead: Struggles Of Men With Social Norms

I don't think we realize just how negatively social norms can impact men as well as women. We tend to think of women because they are the most oppressed by them, but men have their share of undue and inhumane burdens placed on them by ridiculous standards of masculinity perpetuated by our modern culture. These standards normally take the form of what we have come to call Toxic Masculinity, which can be just as harmful to men as women. 

When I am driving home, there is an electronic billboard as I enter the City. One thing it has advertised in recent times is gambling, telling the viewer that they have the opportunity to win big, and the picture is of a smiling man being kissed by a woman. To a man, this says that if you get lots of money, you'll get the women, so come try for it. Men are commonly told this a lot, "no romance without finance." We are taught that our value is in how much money we have, and the only worth we have to the opposite sex is that dollar amount. If a man fails to live up to the success of being wealthy enough to basically buy a woman, he has failed in his manhood. Once this has been established in the minds of men, all of their self-esteem is in this flawed ideal. It also hurts women because it trains them to look for money alone, and not necessarily a partner who is good for them.

For the longest time, I even viewed myself through this scope. I would think back to some of the women I fell in love with and lost, and convinced myself that if I had been rich, they would have never left me. And for argument's sake, that might have been true in some cases. But it keeps men from finding true love, and creates immense self-loathing the vast majority of the time. Men are bombarded with sexual goals by social norms. Not only are we told the above, but also that our success as a man is marked by how many women we've slept with. That's why as early as middle school the boys bragged about having sex on a regular basis. Of course they hadn't, but that social norm of being a man through sexual achievement was burned into our minds from birth, and so we were willing to even lie about it, if it proved our manhood. Modern sexual and social norms have really made mental prisoners of both men and women.

Part of my work as a writer, philosopher and teacher has been to help free my fellowman of this ridiculousness and exploitation. For starters, I've never tried to "afford" a partner, because if she's only with me for money, she's not really with me. And second, I've had my fair share of sexual partners throughout my life. What matters is the strength of your honor and virtue as a man. I'm certainly not saying that sexual satisfaction isn't important. In fact, I don't think we place enough emphasis on it in relationships and life in general. Humans are sexual beings, and that part of us needs just as much care and reverence as any other. In our 12 years together, my wife and I have never lost our passion for one another, and it's one of the things that makes our relationship powerful and exciting. Sex IS important and sacred. But you can be a great man no matter how much or how little sex you've had.

I am aware that these norms are still abundant in our society, but when I saw the billboard in my City, I was a little more disappointed to see it in the liberal state of Illinois. It is certainly free speech, but I would like to think that the people of our state are more enlightened and dignified.

In the Goodness of the Gods,

Courage and Honor,

Chris Aldridge. 

Why Society Hates Boobs, Even Milky Ones

Have you ever noticed that if a beautiful woman displays her gorgeous breasts, she is reviled? In some states, she's even charged with a felony if she does so for sexual purposes. 

This is probably most widely shown today in our society that often resents women who breast feed in public, although the female breasts and sexual organs are also generally hated just for existing in the first place if they are not kept under tight lock and key. But rest assured, it is legal everywhere in the world for a man to walk around topless. 

A man running down the beach wouldn't be given a second thought, even if his body was unattractive, but a beautiful woman would be arrested before she took her first step. Why is all of this the case? Why does the female body insight such hatred and resentment, even in the minds of many women themselves who are in government and vote for these oppressive laws?

Well, when you've spent as many years in ancient, non-Abrahamic religion as I have, and have studied history like I do, it's not hard to realize the truth. It doesn't take a genius, because I am certainly not one, yet it also requires more than just a surface explanation. It takes much study and deep thought into the philosophies and mentalities of our present society.

It all has to do with the Abrahamic take over of the world, namely Christianity and Islam. Before that happened, human sexuality was loved and celebrated among the Polytheists, because Polytheism embraces the Natural World and the life therein. 

The Polytheistic religions literally gave freedom of mind and body, and there was nothing threatening about the sexual powers of either men or women. In the ancient Greek world, the beautiful bodies of both sexes were wonderfully conceived, revered as perfections, and turned into sculptures to be admired. 

Why should anyone have been offended by any of it? The feeling of threat did not come until the religions of mind and body control started to gain prominence, which we know primarily today as Christianity and Islam, both of which have a deep distrust of women. 

These religions also rely heavily on human male dominated power alone, giving absolutely none to the female who is viewed as the tempter and destruction of man. It becomes terrifying to think of female power because, one, if you allow the woman to have power, what claim do you have to sole authority, and two, what will she do with that power? For the sake of the entire religion, she must be oppressed and repressed.

One of the central missions of the two new religions that arrived on the world stage, was to control human sexuality, because that makes it easier to control people themselves. When you have your foot on the throat of humanity's basic makeup, you have them completely enslaved. 

That's why the central things that make you human, are condemned by these religions. Everything becomes a sin, even the mere fact that you were born human. So by making your humanity a sin, you are controlled, and additionally important, you are always dependent on the religion and the religious authority who claims they can save you from it.

At this point, one might ask, what does all this have to do with female breasts and breast feeding being resented? Because the precise reason they are resented is because they are the representation, embodiment and action of female power that the ruling religions have conditioned everyone, even women themselves, to hate and cover up. 

Her breasts are her power in sexuality, and breast feeding shows how she also has the power to give life itself. Woman cannot be allowed to freely know and express her inherent powers, because if she does, she might just come out from under the oppression that Christianity and Islam need in order to maintain their rule over her. 

It would also encourage men to come out from under the sexual oppression they have faced. This is the last thing that the present ruling powers want. Once they lose control of the basic humanity that they have kept in check for centuries, they lose control of the world.

In the Goodness of the Gods,
Chris Aldridge.

Women's Day Is A Valuable Front Against Fascism

Today is International Women's Day, and March itself is Women's History Month. On the surface, we may think of it as just another time to honor the contributions and sacrifices of America's often unsung or oppressed citizens, but I think that the observance of women's rights goes far beyond that, and into all of humanity, male and female alike.

Being a woman during times of gender oppression, didn't simply encompass things like a denial of employment opportunity or property. It used to involve sheer crimes against humanity.

Ever since monotheism and namely Christianity took over the West, their establishments have always considered women to be the destruction of man and the place in which he lives. The bible is quite clear about this worldview, starting with the story of Adam and Eve. If you look deeper into the myth, you realize that it's about sex, and sexual power, in part, lying with the female. That's not to say that men don't have sexual power as well, but women hold a tremendous amount. Not only are they very successful at achieving, but they are also the nurturers of the babies. The apple is an ancient symbol of female sexuality. Eve did not tempt Adam with a fruit, but with her sexual power, and that power has been hated ever since, not only because it came from a woman, but because it's considered an "original sin." In short, sex is bad, especially if a woman comes out from under her male counterparts and lives her own life in her own power. Nothing scares a male-dominated monotheistic establishment more. 

In the United States and Europe, if a woman was not sexually conservative, and was considered promiscuous, she could be committed to a mental institution. In other words, the state literally kidnapped women who expressed their sexual power. If a woman dared to enjoy herself instead of remaining sexually oppressed, should could be locked up, and some were.  Yes, you read right. This wasn't Saudi Arabia or the Holy Roman Empire. This was the United States of America and Europe in times like the 19th Century, and although we don't have the same persecution today, women are still demonized for being sexually free in the United States. If a man loves sex, it's fine. But if a woman loves sex, she's a dirty, immoral slut. In general, our society as a whole has been immensely sexually oppressed for nearly all of its existence. Sexual freedom, while tolerated for men, is still not overtly popular or accepted. Both sexes are subjugated in this manner because the establishment knows that such oppression makes it easier to control and manipulate people. When you have your foot on the throat of someone's most basic humanity, you have them enslaved. The enslavement is also causing severe de-evolution. Instead of having people sexually educated and expressively healthy in their sexual activity, our abstinence only philosophy has utterly failed and given us more ignorance and therefore more problems like unwanted pregnancies, STDs, and cheating to such an epidemic extent that we have made reality shows out of it. 

These crimes that were inflicted upon innocent human beings have never been addressed in our culture even to this day, because our governmental leaders still don't want to support human liberation entirely, for fear of offending a large voting population or being painted as immoral or ruthless by fascist-supporting media. 

The reason Women's Day and Women's History Month is important is because there are still people today who want to bring those crimes against humanity back into our society. While we have ultimately defeated fascism at every turn over the last 242 years, the threat is always there as long as America remains free. Like a predator, it waits in the shadows, stalking and hoping for us to let our guard down. We must never turn a blind eye to it, or give it any form of home. We must always be ready and willing to drive it out of human civilization every single time.

In the Goodness of the Gods,

Chris Aldridge.

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