ModernHealthJournal.com

There's a saying that goes, "Out with the old and in with the new" which pretty much sums up the way that most men in the developed world are feeling these days. That may sound simple enough but there are a lot of other sayings that could also apply which complicate the situation men are in a whole lot more. In the end most men find themselves in a confusing set of changing rules which often leaves them paralyzed when it comes to knowing how they should behave in a world in which their traditional roles are being questioned and even attacked as sexist. So, the question for men is - how do they figure out what their role is in society, their personal relationships with the women in their lives, women in general and who they are in dealing with other men. To understand all of these issues it is important to remember where we have been and how we reached this point.

If one were to go all the way back to the earliest days of humanity there would be little argument as to what a man's role in life was. Very simply, because of their superior physical strength, men were thrust into the role of protector and provider in a harsh world where one false move or a moment of weakness could lead to the end of his life and those around him that he cared for. But, as humans advanced and became more organized and civilized, those roles changed or broadened leaders began to pick and choose what roles men and women play in these fledgling societies. For instance, in most cases, not every man was chosen to be a warrior whose job it was to fight and risk life and limb to protect others. Instead, only those men who proved to the most skilled physically and who demonstrated that they could handle the stress and pressure of combat were chosen to the fighters.

With this being the case, a lot of new demands were created that needed to be filled. There became a need for those who could design and build structures that offered protection from the elements and from enemies both human and those found in nature. And, even though these skills were not of the kind that demanded an obvious display of strength and bravery they did demand a certain and highly coveted display of intelligence and mental agility. And, there is no question that these men gained an extremely high level of respect and were mostly very well compensated for their important contributions. So, with these advances and the need for those who had the skills the very definition of masculinity broadened.

The Division Of Labor

Now, there is no doubt that men were not the only ones who possessed the kind of intellect that allowed them to hold these positions in these advancing societies but the simple fact is that it is easy to see how the basic physical strength, natural aggressiveness and the desire for control lead men in most societies to limit the roles that women played in them. This point leads us to look at what is often seen as the old boys club. In general, this simply means that men, who through their natural inclination, were the ones who took charge and made the decisions as to who they wanted to deal with. And, in most cases, that meant that they naturally gravitated toward dealing with other men who they saw as equals and who they just naturally felt comfortable around.

This development meant that women who were given few options as to the roles that they could play in these societies also had to create a set of rules of our how they would govern themselves inside the inner sanctum of women where very few men either wanted to or were allowed to tread. It was inside this often cloistered world that a power structure for women developed and which dictated the roles of individual women every much as complex as the roles of men. The only difference is that its boundaries were determined by the governing body of men.

Separate But Not Equal

Add to that the issues facing men and women working together and the sexual tension involved and it's easy to see why men and women in almost all societies were largely kept separate. In fact, there are some quite interesting similarities between most societies when it comes to the way that men and women were kept apart and only allowed to connect in the most closely guarded situations. The main difference between all of these social constructions is in the way that they changed over time. This means that while some societies and the ways in which men and women were allowed to interact changed at a certain pace other societies were slower to adopt these types of changes. To see this in action all one has to do is look at societies all around the world and examine how some, at one point were highly restrictive in these areas but loosened up the rules and norms over the centuries while others have been much slower to change their ways. It is this basic evolution in the way men and women interact that is at the heart of most of the issues that face both men and women today.

The Evolution

Looking back at the basic evolution of interactions between men and women it all seems rather clear that this was, indeed, a natural evolution given the way humans seem to be hardwired but with the ever advancing state of technology and ever growing state of general security that our modern civilizations afford us all, many of the norms and rules that guided us have continuously shifted or fallen by the wayside with each passing decade. And, in the last century, those changes have been coming at an increasingly rapid pace. This also means that the conflict, both externally and internally, between men and women has been increasing, as well.

The key thing to remember here is that men and women have been shown to have the same basic intellect which, when allowed to flourish, has become a real source of contention between the sexes as women seek more and more opportunities to compete for the same roles that men have had nearly exclusive access to going back to the very beginning. And, even though it has been proven over and over that women can succeed in these roles as well or, at times, even better than men, this changing dynamic does leave a lot of men feeling as though they are being robbed of the roles that have traditionally defined who they are.

Power Sharing

So, having to face the fact that women are increasingly winning the struggle for access to basically all of the roles that have been traditionally reserved for men, society now finds itself dealing with a new set of rules which are continuously being defined and even redefined as men come to grips with the fact that much of which they had held on to as defining aspects of who they are is basically slipping away and leaving them searching for a new set of defining qualities as well as a new set of rules to govern their interactions with women have, in many ways, become their equals and, in some instances, their superiors. This brings us back to the question at hand which is how do men define themselves in the modern world and what does it mean to be masculine?

It seems from all of the research and general observation that men all over the developed regions of the world are viewing this question from a lot of different perspectives. In some cases men are desperately struggling to hold on to their traditional roles and views of the place in society as well as, in some cases, an increasingly outdated view of women's roles in society and the evidence is quite clear that they are, in many cases, facing a lot of blow back. Still, other men are evolving in ways that, on the surface, may seem to be eschewing many of the traits associated with traditional masculinity but, which many argue, is simply replacing some arguably outdated notions of masculinity with some new and revised versions.

A New World Man

Given that the world is changing in ways that are making many of the old definitions of masculinity more and more obsolete today's men are having to look at the world around them, at each other and even inward to find out what it means to be a real man in the twenty-first century.  For some men this is harder than it looks as they find it nearly impossible to shake the chains of an old way of thinking. And, it may be that some men will never be able to reshape their own understanding of who they are and where they fit into this rapidly changing society. Perhaps they will always be with us but it seems apparent that they will never dominate the way they did in the past. Still, many other men are not only accepting these changes but embracing them as they try to hold on to some forms of classic interpretations of masculinity while redefining it to fit these times that we live.

One thing is for certain, today's women, as they gain access and equality have to understand that it is not only their lives that are changing but those of the males in their lives. This means that for men to continue to evolve in a way that lets them still feel like the men that they feel that they should be they will need to know that women will help them become the mates, partners, family members and fellow citizens that they all want them to be. After all, there is no question that men are losing something in this new world. The question is what will they be gaining?