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Crusade to feminize isn’t a thing

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Apparently there is an ongoing crusade to feminize males in this country. At least according to one local columnist.

In his piece that appeared in the May 29 editions of the Xenia Daily Gazette and Fairborn Daily Herald, Bill Taylor takes serious issues with this so-called feminization movement.

If there is such a thing, someone forgot to tell me. Maybe I missed the memo or the email was lost in cyberspace.

But I know nothing about it. I wonder if anyone really does.

Taylor cited studies that say masculine behavior includes self-reliance, defending one’s own beliefs, aggressiveness and acting as a leader, while feminine characteristics include being emotional, very aware of the feelings of others, yielding and gentle.

I must be some type of hybrid because I’m all of the above. Or perhaps the studies are just plain outdated.

Taylor also says parents are being urged to “feminize their sons” by encouraging them to be sensitive to the needs of others, emotional and helpful and to not be aggressive.

No, that’s called parents raising their sons to be decent human beings.

And pushing daughters, as he said, to defend their beliefs, to take leadership roles, to be self-reliant, competitive and aggressive is masculinizing them. No it’s not.

It’s encouraging them to stand up for themselves in a world where women are too often treated as second-class citizens when they should be treated as equals. My wife is a leader in our religious community and defends her beliefs, and the last time I checked she is not the least bit masculine.

Also, apparently there is something called a feminized school — a place of hugs, no conflict, and where play is to be peaceful, not competitive.

What the what?

Not sure where Taylor went to school, but I’ve been in a few elementary schools in my time and I have yet to see one where conflict and competitiveness is part of the daily lesson plan. This not feminizing a school. This is properly educating kids and creating an environment where learning is a priority and where it can be done in a proper setting.

But what really gets me is Taylor’s comment about men carrying shoulder bags, wearing pink and lavender dress shirts, and sporting earrings and necklaces and makeup. He forgot to mention man buns. How in the world does that make a man feminine? I have an earring. I wear pink dress shirts and I wear a necklace with a religious symbol. If I had hair, I would consider a man bun while I worked out or played sports to keep it under control.

It’s not feminizing. It’s being secure in one’s own skin.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with showing a soft side. I love a good romance movie, like The American President or When Harry Met Sally, as much as I love a movie about a bloody killer roaming around Elm Street. And I know plenty of women who love the blood baths as well.

Doesn’t make me feminine. Doesn’t make them masculine.

It’s simply who we are. Let’s stop with the labels and just let people be who they are.

That’s not just how it seems to me.

It’s how it should be.

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By Scott Halasz

Contact Scott Halasz at 937-502-4507 or [email protected].