The Feminization of the American Male

Recently, the CBMW blog hosted an article by Randy Stinson entitled “The Feminization of the American Male From Top to Toe.” In this article, Stinson criticizes Tony Glenville’s recent book, 2006 Top to Toe: A Comprehensive Guide to the Grooming of the Modern Male, with these words: “I was reminded once again how determined our culture is to make men more like women.” Stinson ends his article with these thoughts:

“Men reading Glenville's book will only be encouraged in their sinful tendency to look out for themselves. If men are focused on such trivial things as dry skin and pampering themselves with long baths, it will be all the more difficult to expect them to lead, provide, and protect. There may be a day when Lowe's and Home Depot have entire aisles dedicated to moisturizers and skin creams for that weathered carpenter. There may be rows of scented bubble bath for that overworked mason. But if the church continues to follow the culture, we will have plenty of 'Top to Toe' men, able to shop with the best of them at Bath and Body Works, but unwilling and unable to fulfill the Gospel demands that require toughness, self sacrifice, and self-neglect. We do not need prettier boys. We do not need softer men. What we need is a church culture that will call boys and men to lives of self sacrifice as exampled by the picture of Christ in Ephesians 5 who loved the church and gave himself for her to his own neglect and sacrifice. What we need are pastors who will boldly preach about and press for an ethos in their churches that expects this type of behavior from their men. What we need is a church culture that will require boys and men to do hard things, to cultivate toughness, resilience, and courage, top to toe” (Retrieved on 7/30/08 from http://www.cbmw.org/Blog/Posts/The-Feminization-of-the-American-Male-From-Top-to-Toe).

What distresses me the most about what Stinson writes is his strong inference that if one is focused on moisturizers, skin creams, and bubble bath, then one is feminine. In other words, one is a woman. The inference is that women can be (and are) focused on their outward appearance while men should be focused on self-sacrifice, self-neglect, and fulfilling the Gospel. That women are to do the “easy things” while men are to do the “hard things.” That women are to shrink with fear while men are to face life courageously.

I’m not sure that this underlying message is what Stinson intended to communicate, but it is inherent in what he wrote. What makes me sad is that his message of self-denial is one that is needed by the entire Christian Church (not just the men) and that both men and women are called by Christ to deny themselves, take up their crosses, and courageously follow our Commander-in-Chief, the Lord Jesus Himself. How much better might his message be if he were more focused on the spiritual aspects of being a Christian and less on whether or not men’s behavior might somehow give them girlish cooties.