Yes, I’m a man.
And I was born a man, which is something not everyone can claim.
In fact, if we believe the statistics, most people are actually women. And more them, every day.
For most of my life, it didn’t bother me that most people were women, because the future looked bright for men. Growing up in the 1970s, men were still in charge of the world. Not only were we generally taller and able to run faster, we — the men — ran the corporations, and the government, and the music business, and the media. Especially, the music business, although we allowed women to sing certain songs. But at least men still wrote most of the songs.
But there were cracks in our armor. Like, for example:
Someone authorized Helen Reddy to put out this 45 RPM single in 1972. The most embarrassing part? The song was co-written by a man, Australian guitarist Ray Burton. I doubt the record would have gone to Number One on the Billboard Hot 100 without a man’s input.
Ms. Reddy was also Australian. Not that it makes the outcome more tolerable.
That same year, the first issue of Ms. magazine hit the newsstands.
There it was on the rack, right next to Sports Illustrated and Field & Stream. If we had only understood, then, what was about to happen.
Now we know what happened. And certain men are trying to fix it. The men in the Manosphere.
As most of us know, scientists have divided up the earth’s atmosphere into five distinct layers. The Troposphere, the Stratosphere, the Mesosphere, the Thermosphere, and — farthest from the earth’s surface — the Exosphere. Certain things happen in each ‘sphere’, and although each of these spheres provides some benefit to life on our planet, humans can survive unaided only in the Troposphere.
We learned about these spheres and their benefits back in fifth grade. But some of us may have forgotten what we learned.
However, none of these spheres has anything to do with the Manosphere, except for the fact that the Manosphere can survive, unaided, only in the Troposphere.
As far as I can tell, the Manosphere was not designated by scientists, but rather, by TikTok. It consists of men who make a lot of money selling the idea that men are worthless — in modern society — unless they have big muscles, big bank accounts, and big egos, and can have sex on demand with numerous women. (One at a time, usually.)
I learned about this phenomenon by watching a Netflix video called Inside the Manosphere, produced by documentary filmmaker Louis Theroux, who somehow convinced some of the more prominent figures within the Manosphere to allow his crew to film them. These men (yes, they were all men) have created fabulous revenue streams by selling advice, encouragement and investment opportunities to ordinary men (like me) who have done nothing with their lives and probably will end up having done nothing with their lives.
At one point in the documentary, a couple of young men reveal that men are born without any intrinsic value and must create that value by increasing the size of their biceps, the size of their bank accounts, and the number of phone numbers in their little black books.
Women, on the other hand, are born with intrinsic value, because men need their phone numbers. Women don’t necessarily need big muscles or big egos.
What women need, according to podcaster Myron Gaines, is a boss.
“I need guys to kind of have this mindset where, like, you’re the leader. You’re assertive. You’re dominant. You’re the dictator of the relationship. What you say, goes.”
Louis Theroux:
“Do you consider yourself a misogynist?”
Myron Gaines:
“No, because misogyny means the hatred of women. I would argue that I actually love women, and I understand them. So, since I understand them, I know what’s best for them.”
Louis Theroux:
“You think you know better than they do?”
Myron Gaines:
“Yes. In many ways, yes. And that’s what women want. They want a guy who can lead them, and dominate them.”
I wish I had understood all this stuff back when I was married. But I somehow developed the impression that Darlene actually wanted to be the dictator of the relationship. Or else.
Myron Gaines admitted in the documentary that he doesn’t currently have multiple wives, but said he would like to head in that direction.
Based on my personal experience, one wife is more than enough.
Underrated writer Louis Cannon grew up in the vast American West, although his ex-wife, given the slightest opportunity, will deny that he ever grew up at all. You can read more stories on his Substack account.