I guess the fault is mine, because most of the comments both at Upon Hope and at XYZ on this article Why is this a problem again? are about women. So I think I need to clarify exactly what roles men and women should play in a Traditionalists’ society.
The first thing to understand is that Traditionalists believe in human nature, that we have limits and that we must admit and accept that we have limits. The mistake is to think that we only believe in our limits. However the reason to understand our limits is so that we can concentrate on the things that we can achieve. Far too much effort is expended in trying to do things that are beyond our ability instead of developing the abilities that we do possess.
Further, we need to understand that there is a difference between individuals and other individuals, just as there are differences between one group and another group. We also have to understand that there is a difference between individuals and groups. So for example if I write that most prostitutes are women, that does not mean that most women are prostitutes. Anymore than writing that most criminals are men means that most men are criminals. You can be a member of a group and still be an individual. But at all times we should accept our limitations instead of trying to fight against them.
Liberalism pushes the idea that everyone is interchangeable, disposable, that no one really matters. They frame it as everyone having value, as everyone being equal. But if you are equal to everyone else then you have no value. Value comes from giving something of yourself that others cannot provide. Sometimes that value is unique or rare, other times it is common. A musician gains value by being rare, the more of them there are the less value they have. On the other hand Mothers are quite common, but are very valued. But in each case they have value because they provide things that others cannot provide. Others may be able to imitate them but they cannot replace them.
In a balanced society each person needs to have a place, a place where they belong. A place where everybody knows that they belong. It is belonging that people crave and that only we can provide. Once upon a time that wasn’t true but it is now.
This circle is how Traditionalists view human society, each circle supporting the others, protecting the others.
In the centre are the children, next are women and at the edge are men.
Children are at the centre because they are the most vulnerable, they need care and protection.
Women are in the middle because women care for children and they look after men, they also interact with other women.
Men are at the edge because it is they who need to protect everyone. It is their task to deal with the wider world.
The realm of women is the family, the realm of men is the world.
Why is that?
Because the things that make women so good at running the family are exactly the things that make them bad at running bigger institutions. The exact opposite is also true, the things that make men good at running things is why they are not good in the domestic sphere. If a random child was given to a random women and she was told to look after it, nearly every women would be capable of doing so. Her natural empathy would show her the importance of such a task and her practical nature would make sure that the child was cared for. How many men would be capable of that?
We are encouraged to think of these female attributes as minor and unimportant, but that is a lie. They are of the greatest value. Something that women naturally possess.
Once we accept our limitations then we are able to do those things that we are capable of better. That includes knowing our rightful place, the place in which we belong as men and women.
Originally published at Upon Hope on June 26, 2020. You can find Mark’s Subscribestar here.
