{"id":1391426,"date":"2022-03-21T06:10:45","date_gmt":"2022-03-21T10:10:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1391426"},"modified":"2022-03-21T10:14:41","modified_gmt":"2022-03-21T14:14:41","slug":"zelensky-and-the-battle-over-american-masculinity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/zelensky-and-the-battle-over-american-masculinity\/","title":{"rendered":"Zelensky And The Battle Over American Masculinity"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">14<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fzelensky-and-the-battle-over-american-masculinity%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1391426&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/dw-wp-production.imgix.net\/2022\/03\/Zelensky.jpg?w=1200&#038;h=800&#038;ixlib=react-9.3.0\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" alt=\"image\" \/><\/div>\n<p>On February 25, the second day of Russia\u2019s invasion into Ukraine, a <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/KSPrior\/status\/1497349902111756293?s=20&#038;t=WQkgzNQeRmQy0Xo_8Qg5hQ\">tweet<\/a> from author, professor, and Religion News Service columnist Karen Swallow Prior began to gain traction online. It showed a video of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky standing with his embattled aides on the streets of Kyiv, announcing to the world that he had not fled. \u201cWe are here,\u201d he said. \u201cWe are protecting Ukraine.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of people were sharing the clip, but it was the observation Prior added to it that drew particular attention, both positive and negative. \u201cI doubt these guys tweet about manliness,\u201d she quipped.<\/p>\n<p>The subject of Zelensky\u2019s masculinity has been inspiring a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tabletmag.com\/sections\/arts-letters\/articles\/zelensky-manliness-revives-western-ideal\">cottage<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/qz.com\/2135829\/why-the-world-likes-volodymyr-zelenskyy\/\">industry<\/a> of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thedailybeast.com\/zelensky-is-human-but-ukraines-president-is-more-than-just-a-man-now\">think<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/eppc.org\/publication\/a-tale-of-two-masculinities\/\">pieces<\/a>, with writers across the political spectrum confessing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thetimes.co.uk\/article\/i-have-a-crush-on-zelensky-im-pretty-sure-everybody-does-c5x9chh5z\">crushes<\/a> on the comely leader and other heads of state seeking to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/is-emmanuel-macron-trying-to-dress-like-volodymyr-zelensky-11647362625\">emulate<\/a> his militaristic style. Still, those outside Christian and conservative subcultures would likely have little idea why Prior\u2019s one-line missive elicited thousands of likes and hundreds of angry responses. For those in the know, however, it was a gauntlet thrown.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBattle\u201d might be too strong a word to describe the obfuscating, snarky, side-eye, sub-tweeting arguments conservatives are having in essays and on social media over the subject of American masculinity, but certainly a clash has been taking shape. And since Zelensky burst onto the world stage, laying claim to him has become the focus of it.<\/p>\n<p>On one side of the divide stand those who have been raising an alarm that healthy civilizations are built on muscular male virtue and without uniquely masculine leadership, every kind of vice is claiming our institutions and leaving young men adrift. Some of the most prominent of these Cassandras are Pastor Doug Wilson and theologian Owen Strachan.<\/p>\n<p>Strachan, especially, has come in for heaps of <a href=\"https:\/\/religionnews.com\/2020\/02\/21\/why-christ-doesnt-fit-in-christic-manhood\/\">criticism<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BT_Harman\/status\/1222570492219023361\">and<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/leahbsassy\/status\/1360688136460902400?s=11\">mockery<\/a> in evangelical circles for advancing his concept of \u201cChristic manhood\u201d and posting <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ostrachan\/status\/1222208883118297091?s=20&#038;t=hpIOUvm4_Y8Gw4r46i9aTg\">statements<\/a> like, \u201cThe gospel of grace takes men who have been softened by the devil and makes them hard, strong, lean, loving, and ferocious in pursuit of God and his glory. \u2026 Men aren\u2019t soft. Men must be tough in Christ.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Along with Prior, the other side is home to progressive-lite pundits like David French, The Atlantic\u2019s Pete Wehner, and theologian Russell Moore, all of whom have joined <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/religion\/2021\/07\/16\/jesus-and-john-wayne-evangelicals-surprise-bestseller\/\">The Washington Post<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/02\/04\/opinion\/evangelicalism-division-renewal.html\">The New York Times<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2020\/06\/23\/881992622\/jesus-and-john-wayne-explores-christian-manhood-and-how-belief-can-bolster-trump\">NPR<\/a> in recommending <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Jesus-John-Wayne-Evangelicals-Corrupted\/dp\/1631495739\"><em>Jesus and John Wayne<\/em><\/a> as a cure for the toxic masculinity that ails us.<\/p>\n<p>Months before Zelensky arrived on the scene, the book\u2019s author, Kristin Kobes Du Mez, described the \u201crugged warrior Jesus\u201d she says many conservatives endorse in an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/ideas\/archive\/2021\/10\/evangelical-trump-christians-politics\/620469\/\">article<\/a> by Wehner. \u201cThey believe God ordained men to be protectors and filled them with testosterone for this purpose,\u201d she told him, going on to explain that \u201cmen are to exhibit boldness, courage, even ruthlessness in order to fulfill their God-appointed role.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Again, Du Mez was framing this as a bad thing. Paraphrasing Pastor Claude Alexander, Wehner classified this kind of masculinity as a dangerous form of Southern \u201cmale dominance.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>French, too, has written multiple essays questioning the role of traditional masculinity in modern day evangelicalism.<\/p>\n<p>In a November <a href=\"https:\/\/newsletters.theatlantic.com\/the-third-rail\/618b008931249e0022c258cb\/populists-and-the-masculinity-crisis-physician-heal-thyself\/\">essay<\/a> in which he <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/ideas\/archive\/2021\/12\/the-new-rights-strange-and-dangerous-cult-of-toughness\/620861\/\">lamented<\/a> the \u201ccult of toughness\u201d he believes has taken hold of the Right, The Dispatch editor particularly warned that jokes about \u201cdrinking liberal tears\u201d are the sort of harmful masculinity that \u201c[celebrates] antagonism as a virtue.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The rise of Zelensky and the near-universal admiration he has received in the West makes this position a bit awkward. For who could argue that the Ukrainian leader has not demonstrated protectiveness, boldness, courage, and, yes, even some ruthlessness in leading his nation in its struggle to fend off Putin? Who would hesitate to describe him as a rugged warrior? Who could deny that he has even indulged in a bit of sardonic antagonism to gain attention for his cause (such as when he tweaked the Italian prime minister for complaining that he\u2019d missed their planned call by saying, \u201cToday at 10:30am at the entrances to Chernihiv, Hostomel and Melitopol there were heavy fighting. People died. Next time I\u2019ll try to move the war schedule to talk to Mario Draghi at a specific time. Meanwhile, Ukraine continues to fight for its people\u201d)?<\/p>\n<p>Thus, since Zelensky emerged as a totem of popular masculine virtue, the crux of anti-patriarchy group\u2019s complaint has moved away from charging that masculinity is problematic to insisting that <em>performing<\/em> masculinity is problematic. That is, they have begun to argue \u2014 albeit via oblique sarcasm \u2014 that there\u2019s something inauthentic on the part of Strachan\u2019s side because they write and tweet about manhood.<\/p>\n<p>French, for instance, bizarrely <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DavidAFrench\/status\/1499454341983481858?s=20&#038;t=f25uSIiMjUyvaMqDfV0I7A\">insisted<\/a> that conservatives like Matt Walsh who negatively compared American military ads championing LGBT inclusion to Russian military ads that highlight manly strength wouldn\u2019t have guessed that a male Ukrainian ballet dancer would volunteer to fight Putin (something no one had commented on). \u201cThis is an ideal time to recalibrate \u2018toughness\u2019 away from performativeness to performance,\u201d French said.<\/p>\n<p>That was the angle Prior, too, offered with her post about Zelensky and his men not tweeting about manliness. In a follow-up post she said, \u201cThe huge response shows that this posturing of manliness (rather than embodying it) is a problem that many, many see. I had no idea. Pastors, leaders, please step up.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Step up to do what? Stop the men who are talking about the need for more manliness from talking about it on social media?<\/p>\n<p>The irony, of course, is that Zelensky <em>was<\/em> in effect tweeting about his masculine virtue in a savvy bid to inspire the world to rally to his cause. In fact, using social media in this way is something he continues to do as a successful tactic to inspire his country to keep up the fight and to pressure the West offer their support.<\/p>\n<p>Ukraine\u2019s president seems to innately understand that men behaving as men ought to \u2014 by courageously protecting home and hearth \u2014 appeals to something deep in our core beings. That is, when it doesn\u2019t uncomfortably conflict with prior social and political positions one has staked that necessitate a quick reframing.<\/p>\n<p>Even Zelensky\u2019s snarky response to the Italian PM contained a bit of performance, given that he posted it \u2026 on Twitter.<\/p>\n<p>Writing and talking about masculine virtues are among the first steps to cultivating it in a society. It\u2019s the old \u201cfake it till you make it\u201d principle. Teach boys that masculinity is important, talk about it with them in homes, schools, and churches, and eventually they come to embody it.<\/p>\n<p>The Bible has a word on whether calling for \u201cperformances\u201d of masculinity is a valid form of public discourse. In his letter to the Corinthians, the Apostle Paul summarizes the behavior followers of Christ ought to exhibit. \u201cBe watchful, stand firm in the faith,\u201d he says, \u201cbe strong.\u201d In other words, he finishes, \u201cAct like men.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>The views expressed in this opinion piece are the author\u2019s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On February 25, the second day of Russia\u2019s invasion into Ukraine, a tweet from author, professor, and Religion News Service columnist Karen Swallow Prior began to gain traction online. It<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":112,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1391426","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1391426","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/112"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1391426"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1391426\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1391426"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1391426"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1391426"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}