There is a common joke among women that men never ask for directions when lost. And along with that description is the implied assumption that men are idiots for not asking directions. It is so much faster just to go to someone who knows the area find the right way and get on with business. However that completely defeats the whole purpose of getting lost in the first place to find your way out yourself. It would never occur to women who assume they know everything about men anyway that getting lost actually offers a chance to do what men do best and enjoy most and that is taking on a challenge and beating it. There is much more to winning than just winning against someone else or some other team there is winning over a challenge you set for yourself. We love this. We feel great. We dont even need anyone there to share this great experience as we will get lost all by ourselves just to find our way out. Its who we are. Its in our DNA. So in the arrogance of thinking men are stupid women completely miss what makes men great.
Youve all been watching way too many TV shows where all men especially all white men especially white men in commercials are portrayed as morons. Like that commercial where Tarzan and Jane are looking for the waterfall. Tarzan is made to look like an idiot for not asking directions yet it is Jane who is expecting the chimpanzee to speak English. But lets be blunt ladies. Nagging or harping over stuff that you do not understand about men is why you have no sex life or no life in your sex with your guy. The more years in denying and not appreciating who we are or how we are not like you or how we dont think like you the worse it will get. So if you really want to have the best sex of your life say to your guy lets get lost honey and then well find our way out." And then enjoy the process that follows: the fear of not knowing where you are the challenge of many roads the characters you meet along the way the towns you discover the hidden restaurant no one knew about all these are possible. And once your guy gets to rescue you both the rest well I leave to your imagination. But theres one critical thing you have to do to make this work. You have to turn off the GPS. And this brings us to the point of this article. Technology today feminizes men. Not by making men more like women but by making men less of who we are and what we can be as men.
Back to Global Positioning Systems (GPS). With GPS you cant get lost. Whats the fun in that? Now there is a device that even takes away the challenge of asking directions. It tells you exactly where you are exactly where you are going how long it takes to get there and pretty much anything else you need to know. There is no realization of getting lost no discovery no challenge no accomplishment and no self reward. GPS is the nagging wife or girlfriend who already knows where you are going how to get there and it tells you right there on the screen. GPS takes the man out of men. GPS and other technology feminizes men by taking away the skills talents and instincts that make us men. And that is part of why we have a manhood crisis. It is why millennial guys have no clue of the fun they have missed because they have known no life before this do everything for you" technology. Without challenge who are we as men? Without dragons to slay what is left hiding in the cave? This goes back to our origins. It goes back to a time when men hunted mammoths out on the range no maps no GPS no way but their wit and knowledge to find their path back home with food for the whole village. Now all our meat is killed for us. But men still hunt today. Some women do too. Do we have to hunt? No of course not. From a womens perspective the food is in the store why should anyone hunt? Hunting should be abolished. But men would say that if they cant kill their own food or are unwilling to kill their own food then they shouldnt just let someone else do it for them. We like to do things for ourselves. If that is problematical we at least like to think we could if necessary. Supermarkets with everything done for you internet ordering food delivered to the door all by computer request these all feminize men as well.
Never have we had such automation where so much is done for us. Most would call it progress but whats gained is lost what progress is made costs in independence. How can you find your own path when all the paths are electronically programmed in advance? How can you know the accomplishment of finding hunting and bringing home your own game if all the stores have it neatly packed or ready to deliver with a short text or call on the smart phone? Why do you think food animals are called game?" Because it is a challenge a game if you will. This technologically advanced society is really a tragedy. We need to un-automate and give certain technology a rest. Men need to find ways to be men again and women need to appreciate that understand that revel in that and revel in who we are instead of trying to make men more like women. This is why there are rapidly decreasing numbers of men who know the joy and independence of being men without the technology security blanket. Also there are rapidly increasing numbers of women who have no experience with strong and independent men which I think is a cause of the man shortage and that is a crisis for everyone. Maybe the cause of the real man shortage is not to be found by looking at the problem from a womans perspective of what women want but rather in what men are and can be.
Does strength and independence come from shunning all technology? No. But there is a time to use it when essential for survival for productivity for convenience and for other reasons. But there is also a time to turn it off and look inward to keep and increase the skills talents and instincts developed over the millennia celebrating what we can do for ourselves and not what can be done for us.
Why is it that my fathers generation had a compass riding on the car dashboard for use on those long family drives? The freeways are marked north south east and west so why do you need a compass? Because its fun to be on some great adventure where you are the navigator. Maybe these men were sailors or aviators in a time before GPS and they like a compass sitting out front using the Earths magnetic field to navigate across the country. They also used maps. I still do. But maps are best when held in the direction indicated by your compass. Men just know this. We also can judge distance terrain approximate arrival time based on our average speed all in our head and all from a compass a map and a watch. Now thats navigating and it is a completely lost skill. This brings about the second problem. Men are losing basic navigation skills developed over centuries of travel and adventure. There isnt that much difference today between a man his compass his map his watch the angle of the sun and navigation from the ships of old. The only thing missing from the sailing ship era is the sextant. If you dont know what that is or how to use it that again is another problem. If you dont know the difference between True North and Magnetic North how to find longitude by the difference between Greenwich Mean Time and Local Time how to shoot the angle of the sun and read latitude from a chart then you are missing a critical link in man travel. If you have all these skills in your quiver who needs GPS or directions? So you millennial men how about developing yourselves instead of your technology purchases?
One of my greatest freest most wonderful sense of accomplishment periods is the time between my first solo in a Cessna 150 and getting my Private Pilot Certificate. I soloed a week after my 16th birthday. I began flying around New England by myself shortly thereafter. I flew all over New England for hours at a time. The years were 1976 and 77. In these times student pilots were not taught about radio navigation. There was no radar flight following" with air traffic control on the ground. We didnt have a transponder that showed our position on radar. And I wasnt taught about that stuff even if it was on the airplane. We didnt talk to anyone on the ground from just after take off until just before landing. Pilots even student pilots today would be horrified at how I went into the wild blue without any of the modern electronic baby sitters. In those days we drew a pencil line on a chart (map) we measured the magnetic course we marked some checkpoints we timed how long the trip should take we guessed at the wind from forecasts (usually wrong) and we took off. Yes we filed a flight plan. But a flight plan is nothing more than a notice of your intentions your aircraft information to make it easier to find you and when to start looking for you if something goes really wrong. It is no guarantee of safety; that is up to the pilot. To me at the time it was perfectly normal to be alone in a Cessna 150 at some 5000 with weather forecasts a few hours old making my way following a pencil line on a chart in a bouncing airplane hoping to identify checkpoints which looked like nothing on the chart checking them against my watch and not talking to anyone. I was absolutely completely alone and loved it. Although it never occurred to me at the time probably because I was so busy flying and navigating but that was probably the most independent and self reliant I have ever been as a man and I was still a teenager. That feeling has always been with me despite a world and many people in it desperate to make me as dependent as they are and as helpless as they are and as jealous as they are of those who are truly free. In those days up in the air I was completely alone and God really was my co-pilot. Those days are gone never to return. Government and FAA regulations preclude it. But I have that feeling in me and always will even though it can never happen again. I wish the same for all people who seek true freedom. For me freedom is challenge and accomplishment all by myself. For me freedom is what being a man is all about.
There are many women who fly and know this feeling as well. It isnt limited to men but the vast majority of pilots are still men. Flying tests you as nothing else I know. And for anyone who wants to be tested this is a great way. International sailing with ancient instruments is another. Oh sure you might have the GPS weather station radar long range radios and more and those are great in an emergency. But it is better to read the weather from the clouds to use the sextant and clock for position to use the nautical chart and calculate your distance and speed by charts and tables. That is where the fun is. The problem is that sailing which would be relatively easy to teach for schools near water isnt part of any regular program I know. And so another possible outlet for men to use and develop their inherent instincts and talents is lost as they Uber around letting someone else do the driving. Manhood independence accomplishment self reliance these are the qualities being lost to technology.
Cars are a whole separate category of man destruction all by themselves. In an effort to bring about absolute safety cars have become totally boring. This is government required technology and it is also feminizing men. What are the cars that men love? The ones made before 1972. Muscle cars fast cars sports cars really open convertibles these were cars. Why? Because they were made mostly by men mostly for men and not government regulated to the point where all style beauty speed and adventure were taken out. Now cars all look the same you are surrounded by airbags they are efficient quiet predictable of no distinguishable color they are environmentally correct with a GPS and will take you anywhere you want to go. In other words perfectly suited to women who just want to get where they are going with no problems. And that is perfectly fine. However these cars are deadly to men. They kill our spirit. One day cars wont even require a driver; the ultimate destruction of manhood. I dread that day. Now Im not saying everything was better in the old days." People drank more smoked more died earlier were killed by lax technology in certain easy to fix areas the roads were worse the cars were less reliable and they didnt last as long as they do today. So not all technology or regulation is bad. The question becomes how to include the maximum requirements for input from the driver when drives want that and how to have style beauty and speed and yet not be subject to injury and death for no reason.
One of the worst things to happen to cars was the automatic transmission. Women love it because it makes driving easier. Men real men despise automatic transmissions because a manual stick shift gives you more control more options more capability and most important it is the driver not the car who decides when to change gears and that is the essence of independent manhood. Muscle cars are like a work out in a car what with all that power. Women and feminist men argue that muscle cars are an extension of or making up for something in the anatomy department. Real guys just laugh at that. This argument shows more about those who are afraid of men of men exercising freedom and men who are afraid of their own manhood or lack thereof. And so they project their fears or envies for activities they would never do themselves onto real mens body parts. Men dont ride Harleys for example because they feel inadequate they ride them because they are fast loud and potentially very dangerous. And Harleys require a certain amount of work to keep running. Again the blend of talent and technology to bring out the best in men. Something that wouldnt happen if motorcycles fast cars and other machines of freedom were legislated out of existence. The real problem is those who feel they have a right to curb the freedoms of men just because what those men do isnt something they would do. Most women and environmentalists have this problem. They have no concept of the freedom of going fast with a powerful engine and how that freedom is critical to manhood. All they see is a big loud engine guzzling gas hurting the environment they think and so it is not necessary and so it should not exist and so they have the right to deny it to anyone else. That attitude is so prevalent in our society. And that is why every generation of men has fewer real men in it. Just because it isnt necessary doesnt mean it isnt good. Some of the best things in life are completely unnecessary. I see a muscle car as a fine piece of machinery where the union of driver and machine is as close to perfection as it gets. It is what makes us us. Not seeing that is how men get feminized in this case by the absence of technology that could set men free.
My essential theory is that women feel free when they are secure and men feel secure when they are free. That fundamental difference is at the root of all relationship problems and in our case here the root of how technology or the lack of it sometimes feminizes men.
There was a time before computerized cars where men knew how to change spark plugs change the oil set the timing change a flat and do most of the basic maintenance without the help of a mechanic or road service. That independence and capability is also critical for manhood. Now cars are so complex it takes a computer to diagnose the problem computer parts to fix the problem and a degree in computer science to work on a car. Modern technology answers some questions but what is lost is the ability to work on ones own car. Men instead of maintaining our own machines are now dependent on mechanics who are themselves dependent on computers.
Cameras have also feminized men. Photography used to be an art. Now for most it is just a push button activity all because of the auto setting. The goal becomes merely the accumulation of pictures. The glory of photography used to be in the choosing of settings of the F stop and shutter speed and not knowing the finished product until you either got the photos back from the processor or set up a dark room yourself. Who are the great photographers today? No one knows really. There will never be an Ansel Adams again trudging through Yosemite winters with a big box film camera holding a light meter setting the focus aperture and shutter speed all based on experience and coming out with the most amazing photos. Not only for the beauty of the picture but for the work and expertise to get the job done. And thats what is lost in modern technology the work it takes to get a great finished product. Why do boys buy models of ships and planes with hundreds of parts when they can get finished ones that look great? Because the glory is in the painting gluing and putting it all together. The same fortunately can be said for cameras. In this one technology the fun stuff hasnt been mandated out. You can still get great cameras with all the manual adjustments. Any man seeking to regain that independent spirit which modern technology and social pressure is breeding out will learn to use the manual settings. Why do you think its called manual" and not womanual?" Okay manual comes from the Latin manus meaning the hand. But I like my version better. To save men and the qualities that are the best in us we need more technology like cameras which have all the benefits of automation but still retain the joy of purely manual settings where everything is the responsibility of the photographer. Another thing that manual settings give you is mistakes. Some of the greatest pictures were discovered from or by mistakes in the settings. Once everything is automated the ability to make glorious mistakes is also gone. This is yet another casualty to automatic technology.
Nothing is valued which is easily acquired. Technology makes things easy and that is the problem. We need technology that can also make things challenging and difficult. Why play chess against a computer? Its always going to win. If you have to ask at this point start the article again.
Considering how much young men have been channeled out of their manhood by technology society and a feminized education system it is most gratifying to see the rise of extreme sports. Usually with simple technology boys and men are jumping bicycles riding treacherous trails going snowboarding and jumping them off ramps and doing a whole bunch of ridiculously dangerous activities. More power to them. This technology will save their spirits but will occasionally be hard on their bodies.
Lets take on the big topic last. Guns. Women until theyve shot them hate guns. All they see are the dangers the deaths and the macho attitude they hate. Women who shoot predominantly do it for the self defense aspect. Men do it more for the art. Now there have been some absolutely horrible things happening with guns. And those are crimes so Im not speaking of the criminal use of guns. Rather Im talking about the legal use. I want to step away from the crimes for just a bit and deal with the technology and the attraction to guns by men who value freedom and dont want to be feminized by technology. Ladies if you really want to get close to a man then ask to learn how to shoot or if you already know then head for the range. So what is the attraction? Youve got a really loud device that fires a projectile at a paper target or plastic bottles or steel plates or gongs or all kinds of stuff that breaks or rings. What could be fun in that? Well… everything! I realized one day everything I liked was loud: rock guitars airplanes and guns. Ill spare you guitars but I could do a lot on that topic. Back to the gun. This is old technology. Its mostly manual. Your typical sport shooter is engaged with shotguns long range rifles semi-auto rifles revolvers and pistols. You have to work bolts cock hammers pull back slides work levers and pull triggers. Most important you have to aim. And that is where the skill comes in.
Guns go back hundreds of years. The technology is simple. There isnt a lot to be added unless you get into computerized gunsights highly advanced scopes or other advanced technology out of the price range of your average guy at the shooting range. So the attraction is to put a bullet in the tiny center of a target sometimes hundreds of yards away. That is an art. Long time shooters will figure temperature ammo type distance wind humidity and any other factor available. It is like telling the weather from clouds or guessing shutter speeds because all of these skills require developing talents skills and instincts in other words man stuff. There is another thing men have lost to technology fussing. Guns can require an amazing amount of fussing. You can take them apart and put them together. You can clean polish work the action practice and do an infinite amount of fussing with the guns themselves. You can mount scopes and all manner of other attachments. If you compete in pistol or rifle there are an infinite amount of modifications and parts that can be added and interchanged. If you load your own ammunition a whole new category of fussing emerges. You match your ammo to your gun you test loads you chronograph loads you try different bullets and powders the list again is endless. Most of this fussing takes place in a man cave; another essential of real men. This is one of the areas of technological manhood that should remain in the manual mode because guns dont really lend themselves well to automation. Thats a good thing. Manual operation makes them fascinating. The fact that guns are also dangerous only adds to the fascination. Being able to control that force and power and responsibility is a huge thrill. Which in a way explains the complete opposition to guns by women and feminist men who dont want that kind of responsibility. They just cant understand the attraction because they just arent oriented that way and because they cant understand guns or fast cars or manual cameras or sextants and ancient navigation or maps and compasses or airplanes without a radar baby sitter or just the simple pleasure of getting lost all of these have to be done away with shamed blocked condemned demonized removed made obsolete by technology or confiscated by government regulation. And that ladies and gentlemen is one huge reason why we have a man crisis. Men have been feminized by technology and with it society has become feminized as well.
