Masculinity

In the modern world, needs have been obscured by desires, there is a fundamental lack of clarity in one’s identity and purpose and men are directionless, falling victim to the monotony of their daily life. As such, it becomes tempting to fall victim to society’s attempts to tarnish the essence of masculinity.

Contemporary belief encourages men to ‘open up’ and to be emotionally over-receptive, misunderstanding emotional restraint as suppression. However, Praxis Aeternus posits that emotional control is a mastered form of expression. Masculinity is the understanding of one’s own boundaries. Controlled aggression can be used as a weapon, something to cut through the air of weakness, distraction and temptation found in daily life. Aggression is like other emotions, fleeting but powerful; when mastered it helps to serve one’s true purpose. Control of emotions in this manner means they help enrich life, foster love and bring about peace. Mastery means emotions are not suppressed but repurposed, ensuring the workman is always using the tools, and not the other way around.

Strength, as taught in Praxis Aeternus, is absolute; a power rooted in provision, man’s ability to meet his innermost needs. Masculine strength manifests itself as the ability to provide: physically, emotionally and intellectually. Protection and guidance flow only when strength is birthed from within; you can only give when you can take no more. A man must first fulfil his needs, then provide for those around. True provision allows strength to be derived from provision, and this provision is where true purpose lies.

There are those too quick to label any form of strength as toxic, refusing to see its necessity. Violence, when acted under a controlled hand, is a tool to confront the darkness and carve a path of light. Every man has an inner boundary, a line that if crossed, there is no limit to the response. In these situations, violence is no longer a force of destruction but is the emissary of light and prosperity, a true showing of strength cultivating a new way forward in the darkness. Violence is the guardian to love, to joy and to peace. Masculinity calls for this same strength to be used against ambiguity and morally dubious actions, using violence where necessary to create a life free from weakness.

Praxis Aeternus completely rejects the notion of ‘toxic’ in conversations of masculinity, reducing the roles of protectors and providers into power-hungry opportunists thirsting for control and dominance. Masculinity is born through hardship, and must remain unchanged by the pressures of society’s winds. Masculinity encourages adaptability, one must be fierce yet gentle, firm but understanding and steadfast but loving. To act with self restraint is wisdom not weakness, to carry on regardless of situation is resolve not recklessness.

In Praxis Aeternus, masculinity is not a weight but a blessing, bestowed upon those deserving of this respect. A man must embrace his inner masculinity, unmoved in the face of fleeting desires and irrational emotional responses. He must stand as a vessel of absolute strength, a true embodiment of purpose.