Written in response to “It’s the United States of Anxiety” written by Los Angeles Times writer Karen Kaplan.
Living in fundamentally peaceful and prosperous times as we do, where what wars we have are fought by a mostly mercenary force and the daily struggle for survival has become an artifact for study, we are witnessing traditional male roles and behaviors being eclipsed by a kinder, gentler and more inclusive mindset. In short, harder-edged male sensibilities are on the decline as concomitant softer female sensibilities are in the ascendant.
Fueling this shift, as it were, has been the heightened emotional octane level of our cultural “gas.” The media, with its inclination to hyperbole, fear, hysteria and such coloring its daily reportage, only feeds the current, highly charged emotional atmosphere, thereby up-leveling the general climate of anxiety.
With what was once the cooler, rational and objective male influence no longer present to provide a more balanced and calming perspective, we witness an increasingly neurotic society fraught with minutiae, fear, worry and care. Arguably, the creator didn’t intend it to be this way, wishing us perhaps to more enjoyably live our lives, with our hearts and minds at peace. But then, even his authority appears to have gone the way of that largely discarded creation, the male.
Jeff Denker