Deconstruction of the masculine myth

[tsuki]

This one goes deep into the masculine heroic myth that is rampant in our culture and exposes the false promise that it brings.

I will go as far as to say that it cuts directly into the teachings of Leo.

Great stuff!

 

Edited March 4, 2022 by tsuki

[LastThursday]

A mythic video. What better way to oppose the masculine hero myth than to simply: genuinely offer up a piece of yourself when it's least convenient and there's no real glory in it.

[tsuki]

@LastThursday I don't think that the purpose of this video was to oppose the masculine myth. I think that it was more of a reflection of a man that was entangled in it for his whole life.

Don't you think that opposition strengthens the masculine myth? Any purpose higher than life is susceptible to this narrative, freedom included.

[LastThursday]

@tsuki I was being simplistically minded for effect. I realise the purpose of the video was to highlight that the myth exists at all and how many men may fall for it. In a way it's a kind of romantic archetype that a lot of men hold, me included sometimes.

I suppose what I was trying to get at is that there are other ways to be, some of them in opposition to heroic masculinity.

 

[tsuki]

@LastThursday I wonder whether there is a similar deconstruction of the feminine myth? Is there such a thing?

[LastThursday]

@tsuki I don't think in such a strong sense (in cinema anyway). Maybe the myth of protecting your loved ones against all the odds, and being silent and stoic in the face of adversity and having a kind of blind pride in that.

I do think that heroic masculinity is also being more frequently applied to female characters in cinema too, as a way to legitimise those female characters. But I don't know (not being female) how much this embeds itself in the psyche of women, not so much would be my guess. Although, if so younger women would aspire to it more than older.

[tsuki]

@LastThursday Yes, I noticed that too about female characters. I remember Megan Fox attracting a lot of criticism for embodying this archetype: an emotionally detached, sexualized  prize for the hero. Margot Robbie's characters also revolve around this stereotype, but she is also a producer so she has some more creative freedom around them.

It's been a while since I saw an interesting female character in a movie. Maybe I should broaden my consumption? Eternals had a shot at portraying diversity in a heroic movie, but I found it quite boring to be honest.

In Once upon a time in Hollywood, there was a female character that lived a bohemian lifestyle that stuck with me. Into the wild also had some characters like that, but it was commenting on the tragedy of a hero in an inner journey.

Anyways, what's up with the tragedy in heroic movies? Why can't men be happy and engaged in life, finding meaning in everyday tasks and pleasure in the company of grateful family? Why do we have to be misunderstood, detached, lonely and emotionally unavailable? Thinking about stuff nobody else gets?

Or is it just me? ?

[Etherial Cat]

No, you guys are a correct, it also touch females as society shove onto us masculine ideals that are internalized.

Hence the recurrent pattern of female hero with a strong masculine orientation. I suffer from it too.

True femininity isn't very valued because in order to cater for the masculine hero ideal, we tend to collectively go away from anything perceived as antagonistic to that model. Femininity appears to us to be at odds with it.

[Dryas]

5 hours ago, Etherial Cat said:

No, you guys are a correct, it also touch females as society shove onto us masculine ideals that are internalized.

Hence the recurrent pattern of female hero with a strong masculine orientation. I suffer from it too.

In some contexts there isn't a choice? Like when Thanos comes to snap away half of existence, we need masculine girls that can kick ass e.g. Black Widow

[tsuki]

22 hours ago, Etherial Cat said:

No, you guys are a correct, it also touch females as society shove onto us masculine ideals that are internalized.

Hence the recurrent pattern of female hero with a strong masculine orientation. I suffer from it too.

True femininity isn't very valued because in order to cater for the masculine hero ideal, we tend to collectively go away from anything perceived as antagonistic to that model. Femininity appears to us to be at odds with it.

@Etherial Cat As far as I know, I-Ching, the Oracle of the Cosmic Way is the only book that openly and explicitly criticizes the heroic myth and shows how it is connected to the way in which culture forms. The heroic myth is deeply connected to the cultural supremacy of the thinking mind, demonization of feelings, senses, body, interchanging of true purpose for disconnection, and the whole host of unpleasant phenomena that are culturally deemed as unfixable, the "human condition", and that are linked to the idea of the fall and the original sin.

I find it to be a travesty that our culture does not provide any, I mean ANY, ZERO, alternatives to the heroic myth. The so-called heroine myths, are simply re-framings of the heroic myth where the heroine still ventures into the hidden, parallel reality for the initiated, and gains cultural recognition in exchange for personal sacrifice. Complete and utter madness. To some extent, the heroic myth is synonymous to being human, with the implication that it is human to inhabit the parallel reality of our thinking mind. This is collective ego 101, the prime example how it operates and how it cultivates our lives to perpetuate its disconnected existence, by feeding on our energy.

Do you know of any other book that shows the other way, away from the heroic myth that is not a re-framing of it using different content?

[Etherial Cat]

47 minutes ago, tsuki said:

@Etherial Cat As far as I know, I-Ching, the Oracle of the Cosmic Way is the only book that openly and explicitly criticizes the heroic myth and shows how it is connected to the way in which culture forms. The heroic myth is deeply connected to the cultural supremacy of the thinking mind, demonization of feelings, senses, body, interchanging of true purpose for disconnection, and the whole host of unpleasant phenomena that are culturally deemed as unfixable, the "human condition", and that are linked to the idea of the fall and the original sin.

I find it to be a travesty that our culture does not provide any, I mean ANY, ZERO, alternatives to the heroic myth. The so-called heroine myths, are simply re-framings of the heroic myth where the heroine still ventures into the hidden, parallel reality for the initiated, and gains cultural recognition in exchange for personal sacrifice. Complete and utter madness. To some extent, the heroic myth is synonymous to being human, with the implication that it is human to inhabit the parallel reality of our thinking mind. This is collective ego 101, the prime example how it operates and how it cultivates our lives to perpetuate its disconnected existence, by feeding on our energy.

Do you know of any other book that shows the other way, away from the heroic myth that is not a re-framing of it using different content?

I keep hearing about the I-Ching lately. It's the 3rd time this week, I think it means I must have a look at it. 

There are stage yellow/turquoise feminist books that discuss the heroin's journey through the prism of an integrated feminine/masculine way of being.  You might want to see if you can get any insight from them.

These are great books, really. As a woman, I was mind blown to the new reality it opened. So as a man, you might be even more surprise that this way of seeing thing is even a possibility.

Here are the two books:

• The Bridge to Wholeness by Jean Raffa
• The Heroin's Journey by Maureen Murdock

[tsuki]

35 minutes ago, Etherial Cat said:

I keep hearing about the I-Ching lately. It's the 3rd time this week, I think it means I must have a look at it. 

There are various translations of the I-Ching, I am specifically referring to:

I Ching, The Oracle of the Cosmic Way Paperback – November 25, 2002

by Carol K. Anthony, Hanna Moog

[Etherial Cat]

2 hours ago, tsuki said:

There are various translations of the I-Ching, I am specifically referring to:

I Ching, The Oracle of the Cosmic Way Paperback – November 25, 2002

by Carol K. Anthony, Hanna Moog

Great!

Thank you for the recommendation, tsuki !