Esoteric Masculinity
Recently I began writing about male rage and violence in smaller and the largest of contexts. That piece has yet to be finished. I began reading the literature about masculinity in our culture — in the very narrow channel of the white male of which I am one of them. Masculinity amongst some males has been an issue.
None of us can escape the social order — the culture of men in which we were raised. It shapes us without our permission or awareness unless we attend to it and examine it on mental, emotional, physical and spiritual levels. Some individuals due to their circumstances are unwitting victims and /or perpetrators of the parameters of their maleness as prescribed by beliefs, environment and the strictures of the larger culture. Other men have an inner compass or identity that while not separate from culture has an eternal or spiritual masculine core that balances elements of femininity with it.
I survived an extended family of secretive severe abuse and an immediate family of intimidation and terrorism to emerge as an invisible male gripped by rage for a time. I was able to work through the rage and anger. I was able to see that I was a survivor of having been a victim and a perpetrator on some levels to emerge with a solid core of inner masculinity that I chose within myself to become visible.
It is difficult to describe my inner core of masculinity because it is something very personal. It is a flexible energy of strength that includes feminine energy when needed. It is adaptable and corresponds to a world larger than the patriarchy. It is spiritual and is immerse I mystery. Once mystery is explained and the spirit is defined the magic and mystery are gone.
Without inner work of a spiritual nature men are slaves to their belief systems unable to be flexible allowing the outer world of work, marriage, formal education and the larger community to dictate their identity as men. Even the literature describing the Type A male personality as part of a hegemonic masculinity which classifies males into three groups: Type A — dominant males over other males, women and ethnic minorities, people of color and LGBTQ persons, Type B — a more submissive male and a third group of “feminine” males. Hegemonic masculinity stems from early 20th century forms of male dominance over women, misogyny and homophobia that can easily become toxic. This type of masculinity is based sole on a hierarchy social system within the collapsing patriarchy and could be antithetical to a spiritual core sense of what it means to feel male energy.
When men begin to recognize the core of their esoteric masculinity it may be easier to identify the toxic elements of social and cultural masculinity and grow through them without falling prey to become slaves to the outer flux of who and what defines men.
