Welcome, good day, from the Order and Ordinance. We’ve once again rejoined here in this space on this Sacred Day for another Commentary. As we’re on a mini series of discussion involving the innate personality flaw of humanity, we’ve been tackling many topics relating to how Hubris and corruption lead Humans down paths of evil and division.

Today, we’ll be tackling the topic of masculinity from specifically the Xyphoist perspective. This is a topic that has been running circle in philosophical circles for eons, with various takes on what exactly is considered a healthy masculine image and the impacts of poor application of the concept. We chose this topic for discussion for a variety of reasons, namely the vast and overarching impact that masculinity has had on the development of men in general and the actions that follow from it.

It goes without saying that, through human history, men have held the majority of positions in power, have dominated the control of global culture, and have subsequently have been at the helm for much of the more dire times of such history. We won’t be rehashing all of human history today, however, but we will go into more modern applications of this concept and the crisis of poor masculine image that has overtaken much of male human society, so let’s dig in.

First, it helps to paint out what healthy masculinity looks like from the Xyphoist perspective, and much of it relates to various Sacred Lessons and other parts of the Philosophy. Masculinity in Xyphoist circles is a somewhat enigmatic definition compared to many traditional and modern examples, but what we can draw from the concept is that Xyphoist masculinity rejects the notion of what we call the “superhuman man” or the “Adonis complex.” The ideas of masculinity having to exude a brash, stoic, primal, chiseled, unapologetic and game-changing qualities is an idea Xyphoists would seem almost comical—a caricature or a character rather than a real person.

Far too often, concepts of masculinity are presented as an almost superhuman form, that the man will always be unflappable, that he will always be charismatic, that he will always be a mountain, that he will always make the sharpest decision, that he will be admired for his chambering his own humanity in favor of being a perfect example. We can see this in some modern corners of masculine groups such as the “alpha male” or “sigma male” trends, or those that latch themselves to the stoic movement, or those following social influencers and personalities that preach often destructive versions of masculinity that detract from the potential cohesion we could have as humans.

All of those ideas of masculinity hinge on the idea that the physical vessel is such an important aspect of personality that it overrides any traits that exist in the soul. As we must remind, Xyphoist Philosophy is about the spirit and soul, not the temporary vessel we hold as Mortals. The idea of simply being a male mortal means that your personality should be predetermined to align with certain roles or images is antithetical to the Philosophy explicitly because it demands that one must reject their own inner personality for a “one size fits all” personality based solely off of biological sex.

And we can witness the negative impacts of this on the mental development in boys as they grow into adult men—having struggles on body image and questioning whether they are masculine enough, whether their bodies are fit enough, whether they “size up” in various places in the body, whether they’re tough or command respect from physical appearance alone. This extends to psychology and emotional intelligence as well; we’ll see boys struggle with their own inner thoughts, feelings, and emotions.

Doubts set in about new thoughts young males may have involving their sexuality, or perhaps they struggle with showing and handling some emotions because they worry about looking inferior to other males. These are common hang-ups when it comes to male emotional development, and these hang-ups are entirely manufactured by, quite frankly, outdated human pressures. The idea of the Adonis is such a ridiculous concept that begs the idea that one is beyond the natural circumstances of human reality.

Yes, you will still have those softer emotions as a male; those aren’t going away. You’re going to have those confusing thoughts, that’s just your mind growing. The Xyphoist perspective is to stop trying to pretend the man is not human. There’s nothing wrong with showing masculine traits, but to use that masculinity to create situations of negative consequence for oneself and for those around is a poor application of basic human interaction. And while this isn’t explicitly a male problem, it is extremely prevalent in male psychological development. Some circles would call that type of masculine display as toxic; we prefer to be more direct about it. It is unrealistic.

The man can be many things, but one thing the man is not is beyond mankind. Even looking at the profiles of some of the biggest figures in the Philosophy who are seen as male, they vary in their levels of masculine display and prioritize the spiritual existence over perceptive gendered existence. The Philosophy identifies this irrational latching to a specific image of masculinity as why so many young males struggle with their own Selfs—that they try to reject their own existence and become what others expect them to be rather than what they know they can’t truly escape.

Sound familiar? Why if you’ve been following along in Lord Carnyie’s previous Periods, we once again return to the Child of Purity’s struggle with his inner empathy over his desire to be a stoic and staunch moral pillar. Yet, the Child IS empathetic, IS emotional, and IS insecure. Those traits are NEEDED for the Child to bring Mercy to the innocent. Those traits ARE him. And the Sacred Lesson’s message is that you can’t run from your true self, or you’ll plunge yourself into despair and misery and gain nothing for yourself or anyone else.

We can see this regarding the growth of males with using retreatism to escape those doubts and inner fears. Things like working out too much to escape, bottling up to run away. Some men attach themselves to intoxicating substances and behaviors to escape from…well, themselves—from their own  Human selfs. The Xyphoist Philosophy, as per the attribute of Free Will and the spiritual liberties guaranteed by the Order, doesn’t give a specific model of masculinity, only that men should stop trying to escape their own humanity to become absurd caricatures of themselves in this futile pursuit of peak male perfectionism. You don’t have to be fearful of yourself, after all, in the words of Hayle Ihou to Hubrakiuosia in his youth:

“Inner doubts seemingly plague you, Child. That you are quested for a need for control, a need for quiet compassion, yet you are the entity that has been forth. You are the Child, and you are who you are.”

—voX, kyX