Manhood: What It Means in 21st Century America

By Frosty Wooldridge

May 22, 2023

With all the hoopla about transgenderism, LGTQB+ and drag queens making the headlines in recent years, I felt called to try to bring a bit of common sense and rational thinking as to what it’s like to be a man in 21^st century America.

I may fail…however I know what it’s like to be a man because I’ve been an honorable American male all my life. No regrets. I made my father and mother proud. I will continue to make them proud until my last breath.

Webster’s definition of manhood: Masculinity, also known as manhood or manliness, is a set of attributes, behaviors, and roles associated with men and boys. Masculinity can be understood as socially constructed, and there is also evidence that some behaviors considered masculine are influenced by both cultural factors and biological factors. Standards of masculinity vary across different cultures and historical periods.

For this all-American male, it gets down to the qualities of “being” as a man. Manhood means that you honor your own integrity toward yourself and others. You treat women with kindness, respect, a listening ear and understanding. You treat children and animals with the same respect you would like to be treated. You honor all races, colors and cultures. You try to understand other points of view. You grow in your capacity toward wisdom, knowledge and enlightenment. You honor others who take a different path as long as it does not harm your journey.

My father was the youngest of 11 children. His father left the family when my dad was three. His mother died when he was eight. He grew up with one of his older brothers…very poor. And yet, without any role models, my father raised five kids with kindness, respect, no drinking, no smoking and no cursing. He drew a line as to our good behavior as to what he expected. He and my mother raised five productive and good kids. We contributed to American society with honor.

But today, we’re seeing all sorts of aberrant behavior coming from transgenderism, gay drag queen shows, LGBTQ+ and a host of almost comical if not absurd renditions of human beings.

I respect anyone who wants to pretend to be a woman when they are in fact, a man, or a woman who wants to pretend to be a man, but in fact is a woman. Fact: you cannot change your DNA sex, ever, period!

I do not support a 6’4” man like Will “Lia” Thomas competing in a woman’s bathing suit in the NCAA and pretending to be a female. He and all trans-men or women need to compete in their own National Collegiate Trans Association. Let all trans people live their illusions in their own arenas, but leave the rest of us out of that absurd equation. It will be shown in history books that senile, old men like Joe Biden’s support of trans-men in women’s sports was/is incredibly stupid, moronic and really nuts.

Keep trans-men out of women’s bathrooms. Keep them out of women’s sports. In the history books, future generations will be laughing at our folly for allowing such a charade to continue for so long with “authorities” supporting the ridiculousness of men competing against women…as if it’s reasonable. It is not!

With the drag queen shows in schools and libraries, I’ve got a beef with gay men. A large percentage of them are sexual predators of young boys. My own fifth grade teacher was gay. He sexually attacked my brother. My sixth-grade teacher was gay…and he sexually molested me. I don’t think any gay teachers should be teaching in elementary or high school. Young kids don’t know enough to defend themselves let alone understand what a gay person is doing to them. In college, I was also sexually attacked by gays. By that time, I could kick their asses and fend them off…and I did.

What about “toxic masculinity”? Well, yes, three women die daily in America from being beaten by their husband or significant other. Female abuse in America is a “non-spoken” epidemic. Across the world, Muslim men kill 20,000 of their wives and daughters annually…known as honor killings. Same with female genital mutilation! It’s just plain murder, and assault and battery. It’s “toxic masculinity” plain and simple. But of course, it’s a taboo subject in America today because we are a multicultural society. (Source: UN “Honor Killings”)

More toxic masculinity rears its head in America with 7 out of 10 African-American babies being born out of wedlock to a single mother on welfare. That means those black men spread their sperm without any understanding of masculine integrity or responsibility. We all pay for it in disintegrating cities, gangs, drugs, shoplifting, carjacking’s, school dropouts, illiteracy and endless teen killings in Chicago, NYC, St. Louis, Detroit, LA, Baltimore and beyond.

U.S. Senator Josh Hawley, (R-MO), wrote a book: Manhood. In it, he shows how to rear young boys to become responsible men. He honors the family, the father, the mother, and the family unit. I think we all could learn from that book. It’s sensible, honest, reasonable and filled with integrity.

Please understand that a responsible American male, while he’s young, dumb, and stupid…he still must take responsibility for his actions. We need to force absent fathers to pay for their children…or, send them to jail to pay for their stupidities. One way or the other, we need them in jail to stop spreading their sperm across the landscape.

If we continue to see the massive crime wave spreading across America such as $94.1 billion in shoplifting annually, mostly men, we need to come down hard on them. Prison, prison, prison. We could teach educational courses in prison, but if they don’t learn, keep them out of honest American society.

Same thing with the 14,000,000 drunk drivers on our roads 24/7! Put them in jail to keep them from killing the rest of us at 24,000 deaths annually at the hands of drunk drivers or texters. (Source: MADD)

In the end, yes, I could cover more aspects of “manhood” and what it’s like to be a good, sound, caring, loving, honest and hardworking American man. I think we need to teach honest masculinity in schools, in marriage counseling before marriage, and especially, to our children. How a father treats his wife is how his sons will treat their wives. Not only that, his daughters will learn what to expect from any man they date or marry. In fact, those daughters will expect and demand respect from any man…boss, colleague, co-worker…in their lives.

In the end, I thank my father for being kind to my mother. I thank my mother for being kind to my dad. I thank both of them for teaching me to be a good, wholesome and loving human being. And, along the way, thank them for the laughter…that, to this day, soothes my soul.

It is an honor to be my father and mother’s son.

E-Mail Frosty: frostyw@juno.com