“To ask a man to become relationally aware, without being, first of all secure in his maleness is to ask, a man to be less then a man.  It is in some ways asking a man to act like a woman without first knowing what it is like to be a man.  A man  must be sensitive from the heart  of a truly secure man.” Insecure men can become trapped in a sickly, passive mood, in which male energy is paralyzed. Due the cultural demands of a distorted feminine, men become “feminized” or “soft males.”

The reaction to Donald Trump brings to the surface  this feminizing in American culture.  Trust me,  I am in no way endorsing Mr. Trump. But he is exposing the feminizing tendency.  Psychologist, Dr Kent G. Bailey observes that Trump, “is the prototypical and testosterone-driven alpha male who rules by sheer force of his personality, imposing physique, quick wit, mastery of repartee and almost hypnotic control over his gathering masses of adoring followers.”  Bailey maintains that the archetypal warrior male has virtually disappeared in the last 60 years as our nation has progressively become feminized. Trump, however, has “taken  primal maleness to levels unseen for at least a half a century.”  Compare him to some modern politician and you begin to get a picture of the feminizing tendency.

Mr. Trump is a throwback to a masculine expression that is in full flight from the feminine.  We live in a time when the complementary masculine and feminine are seriously out of balance.  The Donld typifies the classic “rambo” mentality, in which men express their aggressive, outgoing, take charge mentality, but disregard their need to be sensitive, relational, while expressing depth of meaning and purpose. It is force over matter.  Our  recent cultural reaction to the rambo mentality, has produced men who feel forced to be more feminine.  Many men intuitively see The Donald challenging this tendency.  The recent Gallup has a 14-point gender gap: 68% approval among men versus 54% for women.

How do we address the  feminizing of men that has produced such a reaction to Mr. Trump.  The last sentence of the above quote, “a man must be sensitive from the heart of a truly secure man” is a key.  In my own stumbling manner I have tried to address this very issue, with some passion in my blogs.  I believe the issue of feminized men does not get the attention it deserves. The best image I have found to express the balance needed in the male soul is “tough and tender” or that of “the lion and the lamb.” The masculine is best expressed in initiative, while the feminine is expressed in response.  As a culture we have been reacting for the last 60 years to a distorted male initiative, that has not been balanced with a feminine response.  Today we have gone to the other extreme;  more feminine sensitivity, with less male initiative.  With the Donald it is fascinating to watch our cultural response to an all out male initiative, which in my opinion, is not balanced with a feminine sensitivity.

Men, Jesus put it very plainly, “Haven’t you read that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female'” (Matt 19:4).  C.S. Lewis observed that, “gender is a reality and a more fundamental reality than sex.” Masculinity and femininity, being rooted in God, have transcendent dimensions.  That is why it so dangerous for a culture such as ours to get out of balance.  Leanne Payne, from whom I have learned so much, gives this warning, “A culture will never become decadent in the face of a healthy, balanced masculinity.  When a nation……backslides, it is the masculine which is the first to decline.”