When I began an article celebrating the beauty and value of the male person, I expected it to flow easily. I’m married to one man and raising two more, so I certainly appreciate the masculine.
However, as I began my research, I soon came upon a void on the subject. Who is celebrating the male genius? No one, apparently. In popular culture, the “man’s man” is one who eats steak, drinks plenty of alcohol, and has no control over his sex drive. The reduction of man to such a carnal beast is the work of the devil. In the words of St. Josemaria Escrivia, “There is a need for a crusade of manliness and purity to counteract and undo the savage work of those who think that man is a beast. And that crusade is a matter for you.”
But what should men be crusading toward? Our vision of the masculine is lost somewhere between the listless plains of apathy that plague most of our men and the sex-crazed pits of the manosphere. We’re all swimming in a sea of gender confusion, and more than a few of our men are drowning. The world laughs at them, mocks them, hurls insults, and encourages them to give up their glory and diminish to brutes. Sometimes, like Sisyphus, they fight an endless uphill battle against the evil that grasps at their domain.
However, that is not what God ordained men to be. Men are the backbone of strength, protection, and provision society requires to thrive. This battle against evil can be won only with the help of a man. Our maker set this so firmly in the created order that even his own Son, the incarnate God, humbled himself in submission to a man, his father Joseph. St. Joseph is the essential link between Adam, the first man, and Jesus, the God-man. He is the icon of God the Father and a noble example of the masculine at its finest.
It’s worth noting that Joseph isn’t the stereotypical hero we tend to idealize. He wasn’t climbing mountains, fighting wars, and accomplishing impressive feats of shirtless strength. In the Gospels, he is ascribed no lines of dialogue despite being a central figure in the Nativity story. His glory wasn’t extravagant or showy; rather, it was in his role as a husband and a father.
The glory of the male is in his work and self-giving. Adam was called to cultivate the garden; Joseph cultivated the holy family. It was he who led the family away to Egypt and safely home again. It was he who worked to provide for them and modeled for Jesus how to be a man. It was he who protected and loved the Queen of Heaven. His role was essential.
A family is wrecked without a leader, society is unmoored without good men at the helm, and all of humanity was doomed until God became incarnate as a man. These are controversial statements, even appalling ones in our culture, but they remain true. At creation, Adam was established as the ruler over the created order. When God came to earth, he took the form of a man and submitted himself to the leadership of his foster father. When he established his Church, he placed at its head Peter. Every church and family since the beginning of time has been in need of the masculine in order to be whole and healthy and successful.
My husband and I recently attended the funeral of his business partner, a devout Catholic who died suddenly at the age of sixty-one, leaving behind a wife and six grown children. I was struck, in his son’s eulogy, how clearly the description reflected St. Joseph.
In Redemptoris Custos, Pope St. John Paul II analyzes multiple aspect of the life of St. Joseph including his marriage, fatherhood, work, and interior life. The eulogy followed a similar pattern, lauding how deeply our friend loved his wife, how he supported and guided his children, how he joyfully gave himself in his work and his consistent devotion to his faith. It was the image of leadership in each realm of life, with sacrifice and love. It was the life of a true man, and we are poorer for his loss but thankful for his work and influence. A man who lives his life well is a pillar of strength to all who come into contact with him.
Asking what’s so great about men is like asking what’s so great about having a backbone or lungs. They’re magnificent because they are essential and designed perfectly for the role they fill. They—men—are beautiful in the noble, rigorous work of their function. Without them, we all are lost.
Never fear: this article is one of a two-sided coin. Come back tomorrow for what’s so great about women.